Goal Setting - How it Really Works
Posted on November 12, 2011 by Sharon Schierling, One of Thousands of Christian Coaches on Noomii.
Everyone makes setting goals so mysterious, it really isn't. The mystery comes in the achieving. Setting is easy.
I often hear from my clients and team members that goal setting is a waste of time for them. It doesn’t matter what they do the goals they so desperately want to achieve, seem to allude them. So are there any goal-setting secrets that Steven Covey didn’t tell you? Well, no not really, but setting and reaching goals is about attitude and determination.
If you don’t believe that setting goals really is a worth-while endeavor for your life, then right out of the shoot you are set up to fail. To improve your belief level, don’t set a lot of goals at one time and set some goals you really think you can make happen. Believe it or not, setting a goal you know you can achieve will help you believe that achievement is possible and help you move on to bigger goals. The process of making yourself believe in goal-setting can take a little time, but taking these baby steps toward goal achievement is very affective.
Once you have decided that you could achieve some goals in your life or business, take some time to contemplate what you really want to achieve. Do you want to become the number one in your business, or do you just want to be “pretty good”? Get some clarity about what you really want apart from what others want for you. One of the reasons we often fail to achieve our goals, is not because the goals are inherently bad, but rather they are the goals that someone else, like a friend or family member, expects us to achieve. In order for goals to work for you, they must really be your goals. Don’t set a goal to lose weight or go to school if you really don’t want to do these things. Here are some other tips for setting goals that will help you to embrace goals and achieve at much higher levels.
1. Set some goals that get you excited! Rather that setting a goal that you think you should be setting, set a goal that makes you excited every time you think about it. Maybe it is not the goal that excites you but rather the reward you give yourself when you achieve it. When I lose 25 lbs, I am going to take a trip to Cancun. Maybe you can’t getting excited about dieting, but you can about the trip.
2. Write your goals down someplace where you will see them and read them often. I know that seems stupid, but just try it, it really works!
3. Give yourself a reasonable time limit for completion. For most people, failure occurs, because it was just impossible to achieve success in that limited amount of time provided. Losing 10 lbs in 10 days is pretty aggressive!
4. Make sure that you have the skills to achieve your goal. Don’t set goals before you have the training necessary to make you good at the goal. Having a goal of climbing Mount Everest will require a little training.
5. Create celebration milestones for your goals, especially if they are large and daunting. No one likes to walk up a long hill all in one session. Stop and enjoy the view as you reach certain milestones.
6. Count the cost. If you put some lofty goals on your list, make sure you think through what accomplishment will cost you in time and resources. Don’t set goals that will be limited by your resources and things that you can’t control.
7. Find someone to be accountable to. Many goals fail from lack of accountability. If you are in sales need to make 40 calls a day to make a sale, you may need to have someone to hold your feet to the fire when it comes to making calls. Lack of accountability is often the reason most goals and resolutions for that matter, never get accomplished.
Life is not complex, but it does take a concentrated effort and steady goal-setting to achieve at the levels you are destined to achieve. Learning to set goals for all aspects of your life will help you achieve much and make you truly remarkable.
