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Tips on setting goals
I've heard so much about the the benefits of setting goals - some of my friends with no more talent than me seem to have achieved so much more - just because they have set detailed goals and have focus - so I've decided to really set some. Does anyone have any tips??? |
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Hi Churchy,
I've been setting goals for some time with great success and here are a few of the top tips I've picked up on the way.....
Make sure you set a goal for something you really want. This will make it easier to work towards.
Make sure none of your goals contradict each other - e.g. a goal for a job paying £50k per year does not tie in with buying a house for £2m....
Develop goals for all areas of your life - this will lead to a healthy balanced life. For example - setting purely financial goals may mean you focus on them to the detriment of other areas. Possible categories are friends and family, relationships, finance, career, health and fitness, spiritual, learning. Actually, this site lists all the major categories you might want to select your goals from.
Write down your goal in complete detail - this is key. Write down your goal and identify a plan to get there. This site has provided me a fantastic resource to do this.
Make sure your goal is high enough! You are unlikely to hit higher than you aim.
Find support for your goal and speak to people who have achieved it before - you should find plenty of people doing the same goals as you on this site.
Look at your goal every day and take at least some small step towards achieving it.
I hope this helps - all the best!
I've always found that I have much greater success with my goals if they are SMART....
S = Specific
M = Measurable
A = Achievable
R = Realistic
T = Timely
Specific - what are you going to do - be specific! For example, 'I will be healthier' is not as good as 'I will run three times per week'
Measurable - choose a goal where you can measure the progress and see the change. E.g 'I want to lose 10 pounds by Christmas' is more measureable than 'I want to lose weight'.
Achievable - if goals are far out of reach, you may not commit to doing them. By all means set big goals, but set a plan of achievable first steps and milestones. For example, 'I will run a marathon' may not seem achievable, but if you set a plan with easily acheivable steps and milestones it will be easier - e.g. 'I will run 10k in two months', 'I will run a half marathon in 6 months'.
Realistic - make sure the goal is realistic. Sit down and write your plan of how you will get there - this is the best way to see how realistic it might be to achieve it. By all means make your goals big, but be realistic.
Timely - give yourself a clear date of when you want to achieve it. This will give you focus.
This site gives you fantastic resources which will pretty much guide you through this whole process - you simply need to follow the process of setting goals with dates and detailed plans and you are well on your way.
Keep at it!