Goals
Top Tips for Goal-setting
Alice came to a fork in the road. "Which road do I take?" she asked.
"Where do you want to go?" responded the Cheshire cat.
"I don't know," Alice answered.
"Then," said the cat, "it doesn't matter."
Taken from Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland.
Goals give your life purpose and direction. A goal can be described as a dream with a date. It is what gets you from “I wish I was” to “I am”. When you set goals, you create clear aims and objectives towards which you can channel your attention, effort and energy. Without goals, you drift and, when you drift, you’re not in control. If you’re not in control, then someone else may be. By setting goals you take control of your own future which brings freedom, happiness and fulfilment.
Here follow my top tips for effective goal-setting.
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Fit it to your values: make sure each goal fits your big picture and is in line with what you value in life.
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Write it down: written goals stand a greater chance of achievement as it makes them more real and fixes them more firmly in place.
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Review often: bringing your goal to the forefront of your mind daily helps to reinforce it, as well as giving you an opportunity to refine or adapt it as needed.
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Share it: making someone else aware of what you are working on helps to provide a sounding board as well as increasing your sense of accountability to make it happen.
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Be specific: a vague goal is unlikely to be realised. For example, if you want to lose weight decide exactly the weight you want to be.
- State it in the positive: you get what your mind focuses on and the sub-conscious struggles to differentiate between a positive and a negative. So instead of “I want to stop being shy” re-phrase that to “I want to be confident” (then be specific – in what circumstances, in what way, when).
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Use the present tense: use “I am” instead of “I will”. For example, “I am working in a job I really love”. This may feel odd to the logical, conscious mind, but the subconscious mind will have no problem with it and will focus on attaining this.
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Imagine it: how does it look, feel, sound to have reached your goal? The more vividly you can imagine this the easier it is to move towards it.
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Make it measureable: ask yourself how you will know when you have achieved it. For example, “I am healthy and strong” could mean when you reach a certain weight and have maintained a consistent exercise regime for a certain period of time.
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Challenge yourself: if a goal is too easy you will become board and drop it. So dream big and then dismantle that into specific goals.
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Make it achievable: whilst goals should be challenging in order to feel inspired, they should also be realistic, otherwise you will become disheartened and may give up. If the goal seems unrealistic break it down into smaller more manageable goals.
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Give it a time-frame: always attach a start and finish time. And do this for each of the action steps you plan. This helps to keep focused and on track.
- Maintain balance: aim to set goals in each area of life to ensure that you are not jeopardising family for the sake of career, for example.
- Keep it legal and ethical: goals should be for your own good and the good of others.