Goal Setting

Most people who have a goal (s) , do not write them down. And the majority of those people that do not write them down also do not reach them.

You may be someone who has always written down your goals or this may be your first experience with writing down your goals. Regardless of which one you are, the following tips will allow you to get of the launching pad.

Writing down your goal as opposed to just having a goal does two important things. When you have a goal writing down it gives you a visual to look at and to read everyday so that you can program your mind with your goal and condition yourself to carry out the goal, to make that goal a reality.

There are a few important things in order to make a goal work for you.

First thing is

I personally like to use a word document / notepad on my PC. You can use pen and paper as well. Of course you can keep a spiral notebook . Point is - Write it down somewhere that you can read it everyday.

It is important that you have your goal writing somewhere that you can read it everyday. Perhaps every morning when you wake up and every evening before you go to bed. Some people like to make a small card that they can carry around with them to look at through out the day.

If you do not believe you can achieve your goal……….then you won’t. So the next important thing to keep in mind when setting your goal is that

YOU MUST BELIEVE YOU CAN ACHIEVE IT.

If you do not believe in your goal or if you do not believe in yourself and your abilities to achieve your goal. You are setting yourself up for failure. It is not motivating to strive for a goal that you do not believe is realistic. The goal MUST BE believable by YOU! It does not matter what others believe can or can not be done. It is completely up to you to believe in yourself and your abilities. Keep in mind- many people DO NOT WANT TO SEE YOU SUCCEED! On the other hand there are people , I am sure, who want to see you succeed ………so be careful who you share your goals with. Do not let other’s tell you what you can and can not accomplish. Believe in yourself. And also, you can not think that because a goal is achieveable that it has to be an easy goal- some goals that seem impossible have been accomplished.- the Wright brothers believed they could fly and others thought they were crazy.. Landing on the moon was a goal that seemed impossible .

“ I want to lose weight ” or “ I want to lose 20 lbs” are not real enough to get you motivated to do them. They have no emotion attached to them. They have no clarity. They really represent nothing. A goal needs to be SPECIFIC and MEASURABLE. If your goal is to lose weight a more you may want to make a statement such as………… “ on March 1^st 2009 I will have lost 20 lbs of body fat and will have increased my energy” . That is a more specific goal.

As stated in the “more specific goal” above. A time to reach the goal is included. Thus “most” goals need to have a deadline for their completion. So Goals must have a DEADLINE. You need to set a achievement or completion date for your goal. This will allow you to work toward a specific date. If your goal had no deadline - most likely you will never reach it because there is no since of urgency to accomplish it. Now, some goals have no deadline. Only a starting point. Such as “ To eat nutritious healthy food and exercise three times a week”. This of course is a lifestyle and will be ongoing. Some goals are like this and you do not want them to end, obviously.

These are the basic starting points for setting a goal. Write it Down. Make it believable. Be specific. Have a deadline for completion.

START DATE : 1/ 07 /09 END DATE : 5 / 07 / 09

GOAL: “To lose 20 lbs of body fat and increase my energy and reduce my stress by May 7^th 09 .”

EXAMPLE :

Monday , Wednesday and Friday

Engage in 20 - 60 minutes of Aerobic exercise.

Tuesday and Thursday

20 - 60 minutes of Strength training .

I , YOUR NAME, will eat from my list of healthy foods everyday. I will not eat anything that is not on my plan. I will engage in at least thirty minutes of aerobic exercise three times a week and thirty minutes of strength training at least two times a week. By following this plan I will attain my goal of increasing my energy and losing 20 lbs of fat by May 7^th 09. To reduce my stress I will sit in meditation and do breathing techniques every morning and evening . I know if I follow this plan I can not fail. I will read this statement everyday so that I can keep my goals in front of me.

What we have done is taking a specific goal and broke it down into daily activity that will lead up to that goal.

It is important to keep a journal of your progress. It is just as important to check your progress at the end of each week. Make any necessary adjustments.

These example of goal setting can be used for every and any type of goal you have.

So, in order to help you achieve your goal keep in mind some of these other tips.

• Be careful who you share your goal with
• Be sure to share your goal with those that will help, encourage and support you.
• Make a list of all obstacles and challenges you may face along the way
• Read your goal everyday
• Believe in yourself
• Re-exam and re define your goals as necessary . Set new dates if needed.
• Never give up- If you face challenges and set backs- just keep going
• Stay focused
• Have a reason for accomplishing your goals. Make it emotional, spiritual.
• Believe , believe and believe in yourself and your abilities.

 

Most important ………. Remember that change requires growth and that growth takes time.

Every failure is not an end - let it be an opportunity to examine yourself. And, if you start a goal - it is never a failure because from the starting point until wherever you got - was progress. Progress is success!