Goal Setting
The practice of goal setting is critical for anyone trying to accomplish something. In contrast, the person who sets no goals has no direction or motivation. Are you someone that likes to set goals for yourself to keep you moving in a positive direction? Do you know the things in life you want to accomplish and have you figured out how you are going to accomplish them? A good way to keep the focus on what you want from your life is to set some guidelines to determine your path by way of goals and when you want to complete them. Many people set goals and in one week they give up. You want to quit smoking, lose weight, run a marathon, or raise money for a local charity? Whatever your goals may be, you need to ask yourself, how am I going to achieve them? Planning helps you to keep your destination, provided you know what the destination is. Unless we focus, we cannot achieve our goal. It is hard to focus and concentrate, but it is a skill that can be learned.
People often confuse goals with dreams and wishes. Dreams and wishes are nothing more than desires which may be weak or strong depending upon the determination of the individual?s and the efforts taken to realise them. But goals are dreams with a deadline and an action plan. ?A goal without a plan is just a wish. ? ? Larry Elder .And to realise goals, goals must be SMART:
1.?S ? Specific
The reason many fail to complete their goals is because, people have goals that are way beyond their expectations. If you want to get rich how do you expect to give yourself a goal of getting a million dollars by next year? You need to be reasonable with yourself.?? Form a goal of exactly what you want. This goal needs to be crystal clear in your mind. If you don’t know what you want, you won’t get it. Develop the WHY for your goal. Why do you really want this goal? Dig deep. Your WHY is paramount.
2.?M- Must be measurable
If you cannot measure it, you cannot accomplish it. Measurement is a way of monitoring your progress. It is the energy that will propel you toward your goal. Formulate measurable action steps to reach your goal. The clearer the action steps, the easier it will be to reach your goal.
3.?A- Achievable
Goals must be challenging at the same time should not be out of one?s reach, or the pursuit of your goal becomes disheartening. You must remember, behind every goal there are challenges that might shake us and if you don’t persevere you would eventually give up.
4.?R- Realistic
Goals should represent what is real; not abstract or ideal. They should be capable of happening or existing and not unrealistic or illusory. “If your goal is to lose 40 kg?s in 30 days, you are being unrealistic. Goals should be in line with your action plan to achieve the goal.
5.?T ? Time-bound
You should set a start date and end date to reach your goal. Without which your efforts towards achieving the goal will be vague and futile.
Goals may be:
1.?Short-term ? up to one year
2.?Mid-term ? up to three years
3.?Long-term ? up to five years
The easy way to achieve goals without giving up:
Set an action plan: Set clear steps to achieve the set goal. It is the energy and the focus that will propel you toward your goal. Formulate measurable action steps to reach your goal. The clearer the action steps, the easier it will be to reach your goal. You must remember, behind every goal there are challenges that might shake us and if you don’t persevere you would eventually give up. In this process, it is important to keep thinking positive to buck yourself up and you must not withdraw from your challenges, you got to get through it. You have to commit yourself to that goal you just decided.
Write down your goals on paper: Write down your goals somewhere where you will see it every day. Take a look at your goal setting map everyday and try to figure out, if there is any part that you need a certain skill for? Or is there any step on the way that would require a certain skill that you don’t have at the moment and begin acquiring that skill. Look for a place to learn those skills through Books, registering for online courses, attending seminars, webinars or trainings. By doing this you will constantly upgrade yourself But you need to be consistent. Without consistency, you will never make it. This is because, consistency is also means sowing your seeds knowing that you going to reap a harvest. When you expecting a harvest, it means huge results, you need to sow your seeds regularly, you need to water it regularly and you need to maintain it by being aware on what you had planted.
Change your attitude: This is perhaps the most essential part of goal setting. This is the part that if you do, you will achieve your goal. Most highly successful people are successful because they model other people who already have what they want. This is one of the differences between the people who have and don’t have in society. Let’s say that money is what you want. You want to get rich right? Well what you need to do is, research wealthy people like Bill Gates, or any other person who you think can influence you. Research how they act, how they think, and how they live their lives. If you want to get rich you have to think like a rich person. From now on start thinking rich. By doing this everyday you will start doing things in a way that the rich do it. This method works for anything that you want. Health? Well think like a healthy person, try to think what a healthy person would eat. By doing this method you will severely increase your chances of achieving your goal.
Conclusion:
However, goal setting might seem to be a simple process but taking the right step is crucial to achieve them. Successful people set goals, hence the reason for their success. Whatever your goals are in life, they can be realized through the process of goal setting and dedication to achieve the goal. Starting today by simply identifying the goal and making the time to work on it.