Goal Work: Basic Strategies
Posted on April 06, 2015 by Tim Peterson, One of Thousands of Life Coaches on Noomii.
Basic strategies on how to reach your goals
One of the most critical issues for goal work is knowing “exactly” what you want.
Goals need to be specific and measurable in terms of amounts and time frames.
Example:“I’m so happy to own a 2014 Porsche 911” or “I’m so happy to be earning 250K per year by 2016.
Consider influences when developing a positive attitude about your future as those close to you will have a huge impact on your outlook and decisions.
Influences can include friends, family, co workers and especially the daily news. Influences can bring you down or build you up. Listen closely to the language of those close to you or the people you live with. What are they saying overtly or subtly about your dreams, capabilities, and goals? Are they supportive or dismissive? What are their views on money? Do they like/love money? Do they complain about never having enough or always struggling to make ends meet? Are they jealous of or even hate the wealthy? Do they hate having to pay bills or complain every time gas prices go up a few cents? Do they work a 9-5? Are they unwilling or too scared to ever take a chance and change their lives with a new business venture?
Find positive people to spend time with and minimize contact with negative people, if you are trying to turn your life around and develop something bigger or more positive.
Influences that are positive are people that run a business, work on themselves, put an effort into their growth, have a positive outlook on life and money, and are willing to take a chance and make mistakes in pursuit of their dreams. They think big. They don’t usually work a 9-5 but prefer the freedom and challenges running or owning their own business offers them. They roll with mistakes rather than quitting and understand that mistakes are stepping stones to learn from rather than give up. They are supportive of your efforts and dreams. They are successful.
If it is not possible to find people like this in person, there are always books, books on CD and DVD’s of people like this. There are also seminars you can attend for support and ideas. Companies like Nightingale-Conant offer 100’s of books on CD with authors, self help gurus and entrepreneurs that cover everything from goal work to starting a business. These items can also be found in the library.
New set points need to be created. Change is challenging and old thought patterns rule or control outcome until new ones are developed and start to kick in. Negative thought patterns keep you in a familiar or somewhat comfortable zone. Change, even if for the better, may be uncomfortable so we often avoid it, even if it means maintaining habits that are ineffective or unpleasant.
Example: If you’ve been making 35K a year, it may be difficult to break that set point. You may also have fears of success, which can entail more work, more travel, less time for yourself, being away from home and the family, more travel, more attention and being in the public eye.Often times, negative limiting thought patterns have been a part of one’s mindset for years, even decades. It takes diligence, clarity of purpose, intent, paying attention, and time to turn that around.
Making goals realistic: When asked about financial goals, a classic response is that I want to be a Billionaire. Or I want to be a professional football player. While these goals are possible, they are unlikely for most, but it is still positive to have lofty goals and think big rather than thinking small. Thinking big is always better than thinking small.
A specific plan: Goal attainment requires more than just sitting at home visualizing your goals and looking at your goal board every day. A specific plan with action steps that are being taken is needed. This might include reaching out to the community with your business ideas, starting a Social Media campaign, talking to a bank or finding investors to help start your business.
Homework Ideas
Create affirmations you can think about every day. They should be focused on or repeated to yourself as often as possible. They can be written on things you can see often such as a piece of paper or poster on the wall, a note in your wallet, or a note in your car.
Put together a Goal board that includes pictures of toys you want such as cars, boats, a hot tub, airplane, or a home. Pictures of role models such as Steve Jobs, Warren Buffet or The Donald. Pictures of hobbies and activities you want to experience such as sky diving or skiing. Pictures of people doing what you like, want, or dream of doing with your face in the picture instead of theirs. Pictures of places you want to travel to such as the pyramids of Egypt, Paris, Venice Italy or Easter Island.
Visualization:It is recommended that you visualize your goals with as much feeling as possible.
Example: Feeling the wind and the water as your sailing on the sailboat you’ve dreamed of owning. Hearing the noise of the wind and surf. Imagining holding on to the rudder. Make it as vivid and with as much feeling as possible and the more often and longer you do it, the better.
Journal: Purchase a notebook and write your goals every day or as often as possible. Write down feelings and experiences. Journal about successes, challenges and perceived failures. Journaling can cover all topics or goal areas as well as basic ideas and issues you experience and prefer to process on paper.
Goal cards: Write down goals and ideas you’d like to pursue on cards that can be kept on your bed stand, in your wallet, or in your car so you can look at them as often as possible as well as before you go to sleep and when you wake up.
Motivational Speakers: There are many Self help gurus skilled at teaching goal work and strategies that you can learn a lot from either in person, on DVD, listening to them on CD or reading their books. Brian Tracy has an excellent book on tape called “The Ultimate Goals Program”.
