Personal Development Blog and Podcatst

How Do You Set Goals?

Posted on 10. Jun, 2009 by admin in Mindset

How do you set goals? Surprisingly enough that is a question that I get over and over again. When I first started on this journey to teach people how to live a better more fulfilling life, I did not think I needed to go over goals that much. For some reason I thought it was just a natural thing to set goals.

Come to find out, most people don’t do this. I was very surprised to say the least. I don’t know why, but for some reason I was always a goal setter by instinct. So, when it came to teaching other people how to set goals I figured it was natural. But, that’s what I get for assuming. I guess you know how the old saying goes, when you assume you make an… okay, I won’t go there

Anyway, here’s my point… Goal setting is an extremely important facet of life. It is said that the people who achieve the most in life are the people that know how to set their goals. Plus, if you know how to set your goals you’re more likely to achieve them.

Again, it is said that people that actually write their goals down are three times as likely to accomplish those goals. So, it is essential that we write our goals down. But, I have an entire system that goes in-depth and shows you exactly how you set your goals. I cannot go through the entire system here in this post because, frankly, I just do not have enough room.

So, I will go over my goal setting system as best as I can for you in this format.

First, let me tell you what goals are to me. Goals are simply Gearing Objectives and Actions towards Lifelong Success. It’s a simple acronym I use whenever I am doing things. If I cannot look at my activities and say it is gearing me towards lifelong success, then I do not do it. But, if I can look at my objectives and activities and determine that it is leading me towards lifelong success, then I continue doing them.

Next, I want to talk about a quick way you can learn to set goals the right way. Again, I use an acronym and I will go through the acronym for you here.

Get It on Paper

The first step, is getting your goals on paper. As I said earlier, it is said that if you put your goals down on paper you are three times more likely to actually achieve those goals. So, it only makes sense that we put our goals on paper. Right?

So, once you determine what your goals are you want to put them on paper.

Observe Your Goals Daily

Next, you want to make sure that you are always observing your goals. The more you look at your goals the more fresh they are in your mind. The fresher they are in your mind the more likely you are to act upon them. So, if you can keep your goals fresh in your mind, you can structure the way you live your daily life to achieve those goals.

So, these two steps correspond with each other. First, get it on paper and then observe them daily. Here’s how you can combine the two. After you write down your goals, take a separate piece of paper and rewrite your goals. Then, keep that piece of paper with you wherever you go. You can stop me and 90% of the time I will have my goals in my pocket. I do live in Florida, so I wear “baggies” or swimming trunks quite often. Whatever I’m wearing those you will not find my goals on me. There’s simply no place to put them

Action Daily

Next, you want to make sure that you are taking action daily to achieve your goals. So, every day you need to wake up and decide, how am I going to move closer to my goals today. Today, I put together a to do list that gears my life towards lifelong success. I have goals, have them written down, I observe them daily and now I’m taking action on them.

One of my goals is to change the life of a least one person every single day. In order to accomplish that goal I need to take action every single day so I can attempt to change the life of a person. So, one of my action steps is writing this post. So, now if someone comes along and reads this post and it changed there life, well I have achieved my goal.

So, make sure that you wake up every morning and structure your day so you move closer to your goals every single day. Day in and day out.

Let Everyone Know

Next, make sure you tell everyone you know about your goals. It is good to be held accountable. If you set your goals and not let anyone know, who’s going to hold you accountable? You? Well, unfortunately most of the time our own determination and motivation is not quite enough. We need other people to hold us accountable.

It is on those days when we feel like slipping and a person holds us accountable that we get the most done. Plus, once you accomplish your goal it feels good to let everyone you told about the goal know that you accomplish it. Actually, I think it is that sense of gratification once you accomplish your goal that makes this part of goal setting so important.

Specific Goals with a Deadline

A goal without a deadline is nothing more than a long shot. It is imperative that if you want to accomplish your goals you set a deadline to it. If you do not set a deadline what is your motivation to actually complete that goal? Really, there is none because you can always say you are working towards it. So, you need to make sure that you set that deadline.

Be as specific as possible on the goal and deadline. For example, I want to get rich by next year, is not a good goal.

I want my gross income to total $2500 per month by September 18, 2009.

That is a much better goal. It is specific and sets a deadline.

Okay, now you have a good look in to how to set and achieve your goals. Of course, I could go on and on and on. But, you get the idea by this post. Next, you want to make sure that you get more information. Find a coach, find a mentor, find someone who has done it before you. Then, do whatever it takes to get as much of their knowledge as possible.

I’m starting a coaching program that you might be interested in. We will go over goal setting and much more. As of right now the program is not available, but if you sign up for our the blog notification list you will be the first to know whenever it launches.

So, make sure that you fill out your name and e-mail address in the sidebar to the right, or in the box below.

Talk soon…

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Technorati Tags: goal setting, Motivation

Tags: goal setting, Motivation