In the personal development world, people are always talking about setting goals. By now, we all know that goals are important, but fewer people recognize that there are right ways to set goals and wrong ways. If you go for the ‘wrong’ way, what you end up with is little more than a hope or a dream. For example, many people set goals like “My goal is to lose weight”. If I hear something like this, I always ask “how much weight, and by when?”
You see, goals have got to be laser-focused for them to motivate us. A goal should be something that we’re driven to achieve. It should be something that inspires us to take effort in order to reach it. It shouldn’t simply be an intention or a “nice to have”.
In order to produce good goals, it’s helpful to follow the “SMART” goal setting formula:
Specific – Your goals should always be precise. Instead of “lose weight” you should think of a precise amount of weight that you want to lose – i.e. “I will lose 20 pounds”.
Measurable – It’s no good being specific if it’s not something that can easily be measured. Weight is a great example as it can always be measured (even if we’re often reluctant to actually measure it!). It’s helpful though, if it can be broken down into smaller chunks so that you can measure whether or not you’re on track as you take action towards your final goal.
Achievable – It’s no good setting goals that are simply out of your reach. Goals are meant to stretch us – not break us!
Realistic – Following on from achievable, the goal needs to be realistic. If your goal is to earn an extra million dollars next month and you’re currently working as a janitor, then short of a lottery win, it’s simply not going to happen. The problem here is that your brain is not dumb! It takes one look at your goal and if it’s completely unrealistic (as opposed to just being a stretch) then it says “not going to happen” and stops even trying. Trust me – your brain needs to be on side with goal setting!
Timeable – I’ve often heard it said that a goal without a deadline is just a wish. “I’m gonna lose 30 pounds” meets all of our other criteria (assuming I’m at least 30 pounds overweight) but if I don’t specify a date, it could be “before I die” or “within the next 10 years. Your goal has to be specific, such as “I will increase my income by $50,000 a year by 1st July 2010”. Now we’re talking – we have a deadline and our subconscious mind will start working towards a solution.
One tip I can give you here is that once you’ve come up with your SMART goal, write it in the present tense, as your subconscious doesn’t process past or future all that well. Using the last example above, I would write “Today is the 1st of July 2010 and I’m thrilled to have increased my annual income by $50,000!” Notice the emotion that I’ve added, too (“thrilled”) as this helps the brain to be excited about the goal.
Take these tips away and look at your own goals. Make sure they’re all ‘SMART’ goals and make sure you’re living life to the fullest extent possible.
Why not share some of your goals in the comments?
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