Crushing Your Goal Setting Like A Pro: The Game-Changing D*E*B Method®

By Doug Bennett aka The Goals Guy® with special guest Debra Eckerling

Setting a big juicy goal can feel pretty amazing. However, the true reward – the actual sweet spot – comes when you achieve a goal that’s aligned with the life you want to live.

I’m known as The Goals Guy® and I recently chatted with The “Goals Guide Gal”, Debra Eckerling on her famous D*E*B Method® (pun very much intended). Debra is the award-winning author of Your Goals Guide and the host of the DEB show podcast. 

You can hear our full conversation on the Goals Do Come True podcast (click here to listen). Debra, who began her goals journey 20 years ago, is a seasoned pro when it comes to goal setting – she’s got more tricks up her sleeve than a magician at a rabbit convention!

In this blog, I’m sharing her insights on how the D*E*B Method® can help transform your goal setting and lead you on the path to success.

D- Determine Your Mission

Debra: “D stands for ‘determine your mission’ and that’s really the core of everything. During my workshops, most of the time is spent on this first factor because if you don’t know what you want, you can’t build something that’s going to bring you that happy, fulfilled life that you so deeply desire. And so, it starts with visualisation. What does the life you want look like?

After visualisation, you want to take an inventory. What is your current bio? What are you working towards? What do you want your bio to say about you at the end of next year or in a few years from now? 

And then my favourite part is writing your mission statement. Think about it in terms of both your personal and professional life. Who are you? What makes you unique? What do you do? You’re most likely going to wind up with a long mission statement and so, you want to shorten it into a succinct phrase and title. I chose the tagline: ‘Goal setting simplified.’ for my brand and I ensure that my journey revolves around this mission statement. Since life is challenging enough on its own, I try to ensure that everything I create is with easy instruction in mind.”

It’s incredibly important to simplify things and break down your juicy goals into smaller, achievable steps. Writing your goals down is simple enough. The simplest thing is to start  to visualise, and the madness of it all is that anyone can do this irrespective of your current situation or life desires.

E- Explore your options

Debra: “You’ve got what drives you. But it can manifest itself in so many different ways. So the E factor is the education research aspect. Explore your options. I like to begin with what I call directed journaling and this involves scheduling personal appointments with yourself. It’s highly important to commit to yourself and stick to these.

During these appointments, you want to brainstorm on a question or specific set of questions. What’s next for me? What do I want to do? Basically, just let the pen flow. The trick is to do it a few times and not read anything until after you’ve completed the exercise. Because when you’re finally done, you can go back and read through it and find those common themes – the goals that pop up multiple times. 

It’s a little like dreaming on paper, but with a purpose to truly explore and visualise. Once you’ve read it over and over again and pulled out those common themes,  you can do some research and reach out to your network. Go out, ask questions, drill it down to your priorities and then really hone in on what makes sense for you to do next.”

But it’s not just about drilling it down to your priorities; it’s also about having the right ones – the ones that align with your passions and aspirations, rather than those that are thrust upon you by external forces. That’s why it’s incredibly critical to be mindful of what truly matters to you.

Currently, my priorities revolve around my new podcast and goal setting, and as someone who has already explored and visualised all my options, I’m honing in on getting more people involved in goals and goal setting.  

B – Brainstorm your path

Debra: “This is when you write down everything – your personal goals, professional goals, the action items and even those big dream goals as well. The idea is to spill everything out of your head and divide and conquer. 

So, categorise all the different personal goals and the professional goals. Let’s say you need to start a side hustle. First, you’ll need a website and a blog. What are the different things that you need to do to create that? You need the tech specs, the creative aspect and then the content. And then within these categories, you have different tasks. The idea is to just get everything out of your head, divide and conquer and then organise it. 

So,  tasks lead to benchmarks, benchmarks lead to short-term goals, and short-term goals lead to long-term goals. When you do all the different pieces, it adds up to achieving your long-term goal.”

At the end of the day, it’s all about breaking your goal down into manageable, bite-sized pieces. After all, the only way to eat an elephant is by taking bite-sized chunks! Think of it as a game where each small victory brings you closer to winning the grand prize. Not only does this approach make your goals less intimidating, but it also helps you stay motivated and on track. Plus, who doesn’t love the feeling of ticking off items on a to-do list?

Moving forward

Debra: “Your life is your choice. Gift yourself the time and energy to figure out what you want. This way, you can make a plan to turn it into reality.”

Debra’s final golden nugget is simple: choose your own adventure and begin to actively work towards it.  If you’d like to learn more about her D*E*B Method®, you can find Debra on LinkedIn or her website. 

I hope this blog has inspired you to create your own path and set meaningful goals for your future. I’d love to hear your thoughts and if you’d like my professional support as your mentor, click here to book a complimentary discovery session today.