The Worlds Best Strategic Goal Setting Hack – The Well-Formed Outcome 

Achieve absolute clarity, create a sense of purpose & fine hone a vision by defining your goals

Mastering goal setting – the first step for success

Proverb – “Where there is no vision, the people perish” 

Setting goals is a fundamental step in achieving success, particularly for members of the Australian Defence Force (ADF) who cleverly invest their disposable income to secure long-term financial independence.
At Capital Properties, we swear by the importance of a comprehensive and thoughtful goal-setting strategy that leads to a Well-Formed Outcome. This technique ensures that your goals align with all aspects of your life, not just the financial ones. Read on to learn how you can define your goals and achieve your Well-Formed Outcomes.

By taking the time to define your goals and know what a Well-Formed Outcome means for you, you’ll be well on your way to achieving your dreams and living the lifestyle you desire. The FREE Capital Properties Discovery Session is an excellent way to meet the team and begin this process.

But we’re not just there to get you started, the Capital Properties Pinnacle Support Program means that we’re with you the whole way through. And you can access our Property Investment Tools & Apps whenever you want.

On the go? Here’s 30 seconds of take outs:

• Goal setting achieves 3 fundamental behaviours for success: motivation, perseverance & focus.
• The Well-Formed Outcome propels people to success by making goals personal and aligned with overall lifestyle.
• The first step is to commit your goals to paper.
• The Wheel of Life has 8 segments representing facets of life: money, health, romance, fun & recreation, career, physical environment, family & friends, personal & spiritual growth.
• When writing your goals, be specific, identify what’s within your control, visualise your achievement, define measurable outcomes, imagine what success feels like, outline the steps to achieve your goal, identify your resources & ensure your goal enhances your life.

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The importance of goal setting

Numerous experts have emphasised the importance of goal setting as a motivator. According to behavioural psychologist Professor John B Miner, goal setting achieves three fundamental behaviours for success:

• Motivation: Goals energise performance and motivate people to make a bigger effort to meet the task and achieve the desired result.
• Perseverance: Goals motivate us to stick with it – i.e. persist in activities that’ll help us reach our goals over extended periods of time.
• Focus: Goals helps us to focus and direct our attention to the behaviours that’ll help us get where we want to be, while ensuring we don’t waste time on any behaviours that are irrelevant or detrimental to the achievement of our goals.

James Allen, a British philosophical author, puts it simply but eloquently: “You will become as small as your controlling desire; as great as your dominant aspiration.”

And one of our favourite quotes by American psychologist William Moulton Marsden really nails it: “Realise what you really want. It stops you from chasing butterflies and puts you to work digging gold.”

Define your goal setting strategy: the Well-Formed Outcome

The Well-Formed Outcome, created by Capital Properties owner, Marcus Westnedge, is a powerful technique that propels people to success by making their goals personal and aligned with their overall lifestyle. Unlike vague dreams, a Well-Formed Outcome sets a clear direction and provides a detailed plan to achieve specific targets. This method encourages action and is an excellent motivator, because it’s specific to you and the future you want to create.

Dr. Banfield from Harvard University highlights the value of a long-term goals: “A long-term perspective means creating a personal vision of the type of person you want to be.”

Step 1: Define where you are right now

The first step is to commit your goals to paper, marking a pivotal point in your life. Begin by setting aside an hour or two for this exercise. Now, find a quiet, comfortable place where you can focus without distractions. Take some coloured pens and a piece of paper. And you’re ready to assess your Wheel of Life.

Step 2: Assess your Wheel of Life

On your piece of paper, draw a circle and divide it into 8 segments that represent different facets of your life: money, health, romance, fun & recreation, career, physical environment, family & friends, personal & spiritual growth. As you’re doing this, you’ll probably already notice some thoughts coming up about each of these areas.  Now, sit with those thoughts and critically assess each area.

Rate each segment on a scale from 1 to 10, with a score of 10 meaning that part of your life is the best that you could imagine. Therefore, anything less than 8 is where you can focus your goal setting on. Settling for less is doing yourself an injustice, why not aim for 10s all round?

Step 3: Goal setting – your personal vision

A goal setting plan bridges the gaps between today’s dreams and tomorrow’s reality. Your personal vision is the foundation on which you can develop your long-term plans.  If you’re struggling to identify what really matters to you, our recent blog post on Ramit Sethi’s “The Rich Life Concept” is worth a quick read.

Get creative when you’re writing down your goals. The different coloured pens will help to stimulate your brain and help you get creative. Use large text and images if you want to. However, you don’t need to get into the nitty gritty of your plan now – this is big picture stuff. Keep your statements simple, clear and positive. Focus on what you want to achieve in every aspect of your life. The goals you set must be realistically achievable and not be dependent on someone else changing their behaviour.

Tips for writing Well-Formed goals:

All of us have heard about SMART objectives – Smart, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Time-bound. These are great if you’re running a business, but they won’t work for the complexities of living your best life. Here’s what Marcus advises you think of while writing down your goals:

1. Be specific: Define the specifics of your goal. Describe what achieving the goal will look, feel, taste, smell, and sound like. The more senses you involve, the more tangible your goal becomes. Consider how each goal will impact the different facets of your Wheel of Life. Keep it positive – focus on what you want, not what you don’t want. And include a timeframe for when you’d like to experience this outcome.
2. Identify what’s within your control: List the resources you currently have that will help you reach your goal. For example, these might include your salary, career path, educational opportunities, mentors, and supportive friends and family.
3. Visualise your achievement: Think about when, where, and how you want to achieve each goal. Project yourself into the future and visualise what it’ll be like when you’ve reached your goal. Imagine your loved ones there celebrating with you. Think about how you’ll feel with that sense of achievement. Again, don’t get too bogged down in details, right now, the “how” can be as simple as “following my plan”.
4. Define measurable outcomes: Determine how you’ll know you’ve reached your goal. If you’re using property investment as a tool to achieve your goals, your goal could be receiving the keys to your third property, reaching a healthy savings account balance, or signing a building contract. By breaking down your goals into smaller, achievable targets, it’ll help to track progress effectively.
5. Imagine the feelings of success: This is the fun bit! Write down how you’ll feel when you achieve your goal. Imagine the celebratory moments with friends and family, the things you’ll say to yourself, and the emotions you’ll experience. The richer your visualisation, the stronger your motivation.
6. Outline the steps to achieve your goal: Start at the beginning. What’s the first thing you need to do? List the logical sequence of events needed to reach each of your goals.
7. Identify your resources: Based on your plan, identify any additional resources you’ll need. This might include saving $10,000 for a deposit, which means putting aside 10% of your fortnightly salary (one of your greatest resources)! Or, seeking family support, or professional guidance in the form of a coach or mentor and the team at Capital Properties.
8. Ensure your goal enhances your life: Finally, ensure that your goal aligns with all facets of your Wheel of Life. It shouldn’t compromise important relationships or negatively impact other facets of your life, or harm the environment, or other people.

The power of a Well-Formed Outcome

Working through this process will take some time and a fair bit of reflection and brain power, but once it’s done, you’ll be well on your way to achieving your goals.

Having this detailed, actionable plan that aligns with your personal vision and lifestyle is an effective strategy for turning today’s dreams into tomorrow’s reality. This is the power of a Well-Formed Outcome.

If you’ve made it to the end of this blog post, then you’re already on the path to creating a better future for yourself. Though you might not see it clearly now, each step you take towards your goals leads to greater prospects.

At Capital Properties, we provide tools and resources to help you set and achieve your goals. Obviously, the sooner you get started, the brighter your future will look, but it’s never too late to start. Our mentoring and coaching services can guide you on your journey to financial freedom:

FREE Capital Properties Discovery Session  and the Switched-On Strategy Series.

For more details on goal setting and The Well-Formed Outcome, download our eBook “The Psychology of Success” here.