Introduction

     We have goals to save for the future, or to  travel, take      a vacation, or purchase the things we need and want to make our lives more enjoyable. An important distinction, however, is that top achievers are very intentional and focused on their goals,while many of the rest of us are not. So what are some of your biggest goals in life? To lose weight? To earn more money? To be in your dream career? To set up your own business? To live in abundance? To be in the peak of your health? To meet your life partner? To have a loving family? For any of these goals,have you ever felt the resolve to achieve it, devote resources toward it,work on it for an extended period of time, only to have it fall flat

on your face eventually? Let me tell you that whatever you face, it is always possible to reach your goals. However, it requires a lot of energy and good planning. 

          

The ESPER 5-Step plan

          E-S-P-E-R is a 5-step framework for successful goal achievement. These 5 steps are:

1.  Establish: Set the vision and goal in place.

2.  Strategy: Devise strategies to succeed in the goal.

3.  Planning: Identify plan elements based on the strategies.

4.  Execution: Bring the plan and goal to life.

5.  Review: Assess the outcome and next steps.

1. ESTABLISH

Establish is the first step of ESPER.

            In Establish, you establish the goal that you are going to be pursuing. Since you are reading this goal achievement series, you probably already have a goal in mind which you want to achieve. Yet, establishing your goal is more than just identifying a goal target you want to achieve. There are numerous lists of factors of consideration to ensure that your vision is robust, accurate, and most importantly, what you really want.

            Unfortunately, instead of investing quality time on this step, many people run into the mistake of being hasty. They skip past proper goal setting and jump straight into the planning and execution. At the end of the day, they end up causing a lot of backtracking and rework because they did not set the goal properly in the first place. Some of them actually achieve their goal, and then find out that they did not want the goal in the first place.

         Your time and energy are extremely precious, so it is better to invest a small portion of time to set the right goals. You do not want to waste your efforts on poorly set goals and end up crying over spilled milk after finding out you have spent your energy in vain. You do not want to be wasting time on goals which you never really wanted to begin with.

         Briefly, Establish is sitting your goals wisely so as to work on them carefully later.

 

2. STRATEGY

Strategy is the second step of ESPER.

What is Strategy?

        Strategy refers to a game plan which enables effective pursuit of a specific goal or result. It is a set of underlying principles which determines your action plan toward achieving your end goal. ESPER itself is a strategy for successful goal achievement. The S in ESPER refers to the specific strategies that pertain to your goal.

          Strategy is like your blueprint for success. Think of it as the cross sectional map that shows you the best way to lead you to your goal. In war, generals gather together to devise strategies to secure an ensuing victory. In the world of business, companies invest millions in research to develop strategies to win in the market place. Consultancy is such a lucrative business because they identify patterns and strategies for corporations to get an edge over the competitors. In stock markets, the most successful traders spend years studying market trends of the past, identifying strategies and applying them. It is really not much different when it comes to your goal achievement.

           Strategy is the one step which most people totally miss in the process of goal achievement, which then leads to their failure. Remember that for every goal, there is always a certain blueprint underlying it that guarantees its success. If you are to identify that blueprint, you pretty much have the goal in the bag.

           At the end of the day though, remember your goal is your responsibility solely and its success depends on you. People around you can only serve as an aid. The strategies you develop will form the foundation which your goal plan will be built upon. We will be discussing about Planning in the next part.

3. PLANNING

“Organizing is what you do before you do something, so that when you do it, it is not all mixed up.” – A. A. Milne

       Planning is the third step of ESPER framework. Where in Strategy you identify the overall principles to nail your goal, in Planning you use those principles to develop a fully structured plan, complete with all the specific details. In this step and the next (Execution), you will find that your left brain and organization skills play a very important role.

          The objective of developing a plan is to organize your tasks and allocate your resources accordingly so that you can achieve your specified goals within your desired time frame. It is a reflection of where your time and energy will be channeled into. If it is well developed, it will keep you organized in your goal pursuit. If it is messy and haphazard, you will find your tasks get thrown into disarray when you are pursuing your goal.

 

         The amount of planning needed varies across goals, since it is a function of the scale and time span of the goal. If your goal is a huge one that involves other resources and people (such as setting up a new business), you may find that there is a significant amount of planning to do before moving to execution. On the other hand, if it is a short-term goal managed at a personal level, you may find that there might be very minimal planning needed.

Some guiding questions would be:

• What: What is the full list of tasks you need to undertake? What are the action steps needed to trigger each task? What resources do they involve?
• Who: Who is required to perform each task? (that will typically be you)
• When: When does each task need to be performed? How regularly does each task need to be performed? How much time does it take? Are there any deadlines?
• Where: Where is each task supposed to be done?
• How: How is each task going to be executed?

       Not all the questions will be applicable for your goal, so use them where appropriate.

4. EXECUTION

“Execution is all that the world sees.”

        Execution is the fourth step of ESPER framework. This is the step where your goal really gets brought to life in physical reality. When you were establishing your goal, you created the virtual image it in your mind. In Strategy, you developed the key pillars and principles you need to build your plan on. In Planning, you develop the specifics of your plan, right up to activities you need to do and integrated it into your schedule.

             Execution is an extremely critical step. Because, execution is all that anybody ever sees. You can spend all your life establishing goals, strategizing and planning, but if you never get down to the execution, nothing is going to happen.

It is the step when things manifest, get brought to life, takes physical shape. It is when your goal becomes reality.

 

5. REVIEW

Review is the final step of ESPER.

   Review serves two important objectives: (1) Accountability (2) Feedback.

           Firstly, Review strengthens accountability to yourself. When you review, you make yourself answerable to your goals. You take ownership of and responsibility for your actions. If you don’t review, how will you know how you are reaching your goal? This is especially important if your goal is not immediately perceptible, such as how much weight you are losing or savings generated in a month. You can always operate under the assumption that you are at your goal, but you will never know for sure until you review.

           Secondly, Review is where you get feedback on everything you have strategized, planned and executed. Reviewing lets you understand what’s working, what’s not working and how you can improve. Without Review, you will have no clue on whether your actions are leading you toward or away from your goals. You will be stabbing in the dark, blindly repeating the same steps, wondering why you not seem to be getting closer to your goal. You may attribute it to some inherent inability on your part or random external factors when the truth may be far from it.

        To sum up, as you pursue your goals, remember to enjoy the journey. The goal achievement is but one point in time; the journey is the longest of the whole process. Only when you enjoy your journey will you be able to permeate your final goal. 

CONCLUSION

          ESPER is applicable for any goal. No matter what goal you have, it is totally applicable and relevant. In short, it can be used for virtually any goal in the world. If we take the example of building the Eiffel tower, this is what we will see with the framework:

1. Establish: Set the vision of building the world’s tallest building and decision to bring that vision to life by engineer Gustave Eiffel.

2.  Strategy: Devised strategies to build a “300-meter high tower”, such as overcoming wind resistance, ensuring the tower can support its own weight, among others.

3.  Planning: Identified plan elements such as building location (Champ de Mars in Paris), size of team, safety precautions, exact type and quantity of materials to use in construction, etc..

4.  Execution: Hired 300 workers, Procured construction materials, started actual building of the tower.

5.  Review: Assessed the final structure. Gustave further improvised on the elements regarding operation of the tower.

         Do not let the simplicity of the framework fool you. While these 5 steps look very simple (too simple, in fact), they underlie successful goal achievements, especially for huge goals where the ‘What?’ and ‘How?’ Toward achieving them becomes elusive.

           Finally, as long as you follow through with the ESPER framework, you will experience success with your goals. No matter how insurmountable a goal may seem to be, it will be possible to crack it down. If you feel the goal looks unachievable, it is because you have not uncovered the underlying set of patterns and paths that allow you to reach it. Once you successfully do that, you will find that the goal is extremely accessible.

References

ü An article by DR. Philip. Humbert, writer, speaker and success coach. http://www.philiphumbert.com

ü https//personalexellence.co/blog/goal-achievement-    esper/.

ü Chris Widener March 25, 2014-Pesonal Development.