How to set Goal! 1. Set a goal and WRITE IT DOWN! Writing down your goal makes it more concrete and helps you to stay focused. Be specific. Decide exactly how much weight you will lose or how much money you will save. State a date by which you will have accomplished your goal. When you are writing your goal, write it in the PRESENT TENSE as if you have already achieved it. Your subconscious mind is very literal. If you think of your goal as being in the future, your subconscious will work at keeping it in the future. If you think of it as if you have already achieved it, then your subconscious mind will work with you to make that a reality. There are some examples of good goal statements at the end of the article. 2. Choose a new goal instead of re-visiting an old one. Professor Richard Wiseman, from the University of Hertfordshire, completed a year long study of 3,000 resolution-setters and believes that “deciding to revisit a past resolution sets you up for frustration and disappointment. Choose something new, or approach an old problem in a new way”. 3. Use your imagination to really feel what it will be like to have achieved your goal. Make a picture in your mind of that moment when you know you have succeeded. It may be seeing that magic number on the scales or making that final deposit at the bank. Get in touch with that feeling of pride and success. Focusing on the result will help to keep you motivated. 4. Have some way of measuring your success. If your goal is to get fit, then checking your resting heart rate or how many flights of stairs you can climb without getting breathless would be ways of measuring your progress. 5. Focus on what you want rather than what you don’t want. When you focus on what you don’t want, e.g. “I don’t want to be in debt” or “I don’t want to be fat”, then you are motivated to begin with but once you reach a level where you begin to feel more comfortable, your motivation starts to slide. You find the weight piling back on or the debt starting to mount again. Instead focus on being a certain size or having a stated amount of money in the bank. 6. Don’t overdo your commitments – it is better to concentrate on one goal (and get there!) than set three or four goals and achieve none. If you have more than one thing that you want to attain, prioritise. Decide what would make the biggest change in your life and concentrate on that. 7. Create a plan NOW! Break your goal down into small, achievable steps and give each of these steps a time frame. For example, if your goal is to save for a deposit for a house, decide how much you will need and when you are going to have saved this by. Then break that down into how much you need to save weekly. Decide how you are going to achieve that. Where are you going to cut down on spending? Are you going to get extra work? A good plan will tell you what steps you need to take and when to take them. Do your planning as soon as you have decided on your goal and while you are still motivated. 8. Share your goal with others – this helps to make the goal more concrete and to keep you motivated. You may even find a friend who wants to achieve the same goal (e.g. stop smoking or lose weight) and you can support each other. 9. Decide how you will deal with temptation to skip that exercise class or have one more cigarette. Perhaps you could enlist the help of friends or family to help you stay focused on your goal or practise positive thinking and self-talk, or remind yourself how your bad habit is affecting your life. 10. Be realistic – don’t set a goal and expect to complete it straight away. Your resolution is just a starting point. Keep revisiting your goal and your plan. Have a way of measuring if you are on track for reaching your goal. If you are saving money for a deposit, you would regularly check the amount you have saved. Make sure that the goal is attainable. For example, it would be really hard to save $10,000 in a month if you earn $4,000 a month unless you have other opportunities. 11. Reward yourself when you have achieved set milestones. Every time you save $1,000 or lose 10 kilos have some way of celebrating – perhaps buying some flowers or going to the movies. 12 . Be flexible – unexpected things happen and you must be prepared to change your plan and possibly even your goal to meet new challenges. There may be times when you don’t meet your milestones or when you appear to be going backwards. An unexpected car repair might deplete your savings but it does not mean that you will never get there. Or, if your goal is to lose weight, there might be times when you gain weight. 13. Be committed - it takes about 21 days for a new activity, such as exercising, to become a habit, and 6 months for it to become part of your personality. Keep going, even when it seems really hard! 14. Be forgiving to yourself! Don’t get discouraged or beat yourself up - just stay focused on the big picture. Examples of Goals: It is now 20th December 2009 and I am standing on the scales and I can see that I now weigh 60 kilos. I feel excited and proud that I have reached my goal weight. It is 30th November 2009 and I am at the bank. I have just deposited $300 into my savings account and I now have $20,000 saved. I feel elated and excited because I can now apply for that housing loan. It is January 26th 2010 and I am sitting in my new car (specify the make and model). I can smell that ‘new car’ smell and I feel excited as I turn the key in the ignition and hear the purr of the engine. Remember to stay focused on your goal!
Posted on: Thu, 05 Sep 2013 15:34:00 +0000
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