Goals: 7 Top Steps on Goal Setting

Goals: 7 Top Steps on Goal Setting

The following guidelines will help you to set effective goals:

#1 Declare each goal as a decisive statement: Express your goals positively - ‘Implement this procedure well’ is a much better goal than ‘Don’t make this stupid misstep.’

#2 Be clear-cut: Set a precise goal, putting in dates, times and amounts so that you can gauge achievement. If you do this, you will know spot on when you have achieved the goal, and can take complete satisfaction from having achieved it.

#3 Set priorities: When you have a number of goals, give each one a priority. This helps you to prevent feeling overwhelmed by too many goals, and helps to direct your attention to the most significant ones.

#4 Write goals down: This magnifies them and gives them more force.

#5 Keep operational goals small: Keep the low-level goals you are working towards small and realistic. If a goal is too heavy, then it can seem that you are not making development towards it. Keeping goals small and incremental gives more opportunities for reward. Develop today’s goals from larger ones.

#6 Set performance goals, not outcome goals: You should take care to set goals over which you have as much power as possible. There is nothing more disappointing than failing to achieve a personal goal for reasons beyond your rule. In business, these could be bad business environments or unexpected effects of government policy. In sport, for illustration, these reasons could include feeble judging, bad weather, injury, or just plain bad luck. If you base your goals on personal accomplishment, then you can keep control over the achievement of your goals and pull satisfaction from them.

#7 Set realistic goals: It is crucial to set goals that you can reach. All sorts of people, employers, parents, media, society can set unrealistic goals for you. They will often do this in ignorance of your own requirements and ambitions. Then again, you may set goals that are too high, because you may not realize either the obstacles in the way or recognize quite how much aptitudeyou need to develop to achieve a precise level of performance.

Achieving Goals

When you have achieved a goal, take the time to benefit from the satisfaction of having done so. Bask in the implications of the goal achievement, and survey the progress you have made towards other goals. If the goal was a considerable one, reward yourself appropriately. All of this helps you create the self-confidence you deserve!

With the skill of having achieved this goal, review the rest of your goal plans:

If you achieved the goal too easily, make your next goals harder.

If the goal took a dispiriting length of time to achieve, make the next goals a little easier.

If you learned something that would guide you to change other goals, do so.

If you noticed a discrepancy in your skills in spite of achieving the goal, determine whether to set goals to resolve this.

Failure to meet goals does not matter much, as long as you can be trained from it. Supply lessons learned back into your goal setting program.

Remember, too, that your goals will transform as time goes on. Fiddle with them systematically to reveal growth in your learning and experience, and if goals do not hold any attraction any longer, then let them go.

Reference: Some material used from MindTools.com

Written by John Stone. More on Goal Setting. John is looking for 10 people to mentor that are serious about changing their Financial Future

Set SMART Goals for success in life ~

A great friend and mentor of mine shared the following article...
~ Pay it forward ~ Share your goal setting tips here too :)

Effective Goal Setting:

“The successful person keeps their mind fixed on what he wants in life – not on what he doesn’t want”. Napoleon Hill – Think & Grow Rich.

The SMART system is a proven method for defining and developing goals. Use these guidelines to identify and write your goals….

S ~ Specific ~ Identify your precise why and what you are passionate about. It may be financial, spiritual, health, material, etc. For example, if your goal is financial, what exact amount do you want to earn, and most importantly, what it will provide. If your goal has to do with weight reduction, how much do you wish to take off and what size will you wear? If your goal is to buy a car--know the color, make, model, options and all the details of the exact car you want. Take time to visualize having achieved what you desire. How do you feel now that you have achieved your goal? Get emotionally involved with the result.

M ~ Measurable ~ Identify your marker. How will you know you are moving in the right direction? Your goal must be measurable. Saying “I want to be out of debt” definitely isn’t going to get you the results you want. Thinking about debt is is probably going to have the opposite effect, so refuse to give debt or lack any attention. Rather, saying, “I will earn £50K by December 1st 2010 is powerful. The result, of course, will be that you are out of debt as well.

A ~ Attainable ~ You must believe that you are able to achieve your goal. It may seem somewhat unrealistic to you now, but it shouldn't seem insurmountable.

R ~ Relevant ~ Your goal should be something you are passionate about, you should be emotionally involved with your goal. If you are married or have a partner, each person should have his or her own goals - ones that are personal to you that you desire to achieve

T ~ Timebound ~ Your goals should have an expected date of completion. This is usually an educated guess. Keep in mind that work expands to fill the time allowed for it!.

Once you have set your goals, spend time daily reflecting on them. Write them onto your goal cards and carry them with you everywhere. Identify which actions are necessary to take on a daily and weekly basis to achieve your goals. In addition, identify which actions you currently are taking that are NOT in alignment with achieving your goals (eg: TV). Follow through with consistent, focused action. When you have goals you are emotionally involved with and are passionate about, taking action will be easy.