Goal Setting

Goal Setting - Kinds of Goals
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Thursday, 12 April 2007

Today we're going to talk about the different kinds of goals and what this means to and for you.

It is just as important to understand and act upon the different kinds of goals that you have as it is to have goals in the first place. I am sure you will agree that all aspects of your life are inter-related, yes? The physical part of your life, your health, body condition, your environment whether it's home, work, or where you play, affects the spiritual or metaphysical areas of your life which is also related to and affecting your financial situation in life, or at the very least reflected in and by it.

When one area is lagging, the others are affected.

This is why it is imperative that you not only focus on one area of your life and goals. One affects the other, and success in one area will affect your ability to attain success in another.

It's often not easy to separate your goals, even when you try, so why waste the effort? Why not use that to your advantage?

Maybe we could categorize our goals more simply into three very basic groups: physical, financial, and emotional. Much easier to see the inter-related factors when they are viewed like this, isn't it?

Physical goals can be for your own physical needs, health related such as losing weight, being stronger, more fit, or something like stopping smoking.

Financial goals aren't always about your bank account either. Financial goals here are any that are related to money in your life. That can be reducing debt, reducing spending or costs, improving income, savings, or investments. They might also include the 'reason' you are trying to reach that goal; purchasing a new home, the car you dream of owning, taking vacations, visiting friends and family, more time to spend with your family, taking up or spending more time with hobbies, giving more to your church or community or other causes, caring for your family,

Emotional goals are the toughest to define, but perhaps the easiest to affect change. A goal such as "I want to be happy" isn't a real goal, you first need to define what makes you happy, what you think would make you happy. Personally, I'm not a big believer in 'making' anyone, even myself, happy though. I believe it is a simple choice we make and not a choice made by others for us. That, my friend, is just an excuse and a way to not accept responsibility for ourselves, our actions, or our situation.

If we are to attain happiness then, is it solely through our own efforts? By our own making? Or are you mistakenly looking for someone else to 'make' you happy?

Emotional goals might be aimed at your relationships, personal, professional, spiritual. A goal to be in a happy marriage, or to control your anger, or to not be manipulated by others, is an emotional goal.

They are all part of what makes you be you. The person you are now, the person you want to become.

So, take your notebook and write across the top Physical Goals, Financial Goals, and Emotional Goals.

Then list beneath each one the things you are trying to attain in each.

Next, write at least one reason 'why' you must reach that goal.

Notice how many times one goal from another column relates or reflects goals in another? Even the 'why' will be repeated.

Now, write at least one thing for each that you can begin to do, today, that will move you along that path to attaining that goal.

Prioritize the list then choose the top 3 from each column. They can be inter-related, that's even better. One goal helps you reach the other.

Set a time limit where possible, then dedicate yourself to reaching that goal

Take action. Rinse and repeat.

posted by ezimind @ 11:38 am 0 comments

The ABC's Of Goal Setting For Moms
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Sunday, 18 February 2007

I once heard that G.O.A.L. stands for Go Out And Live. This is especially exciting for a woman who has recently decided to stay at home with kids full time, is buried in laundry, spends hours clipping coupons, and is constantly cleaning and wiping a myriad of bodily fluids off of little people all day. Just because you have committed the bulk of your days to your children, does not mean that your personal hopes and dreams are over or even on indefinite hold.

I’ve extended these tips to be the ABCDE’s of Goal Setting. They can be applied to your dream of leaving full time employment and staying home, quitting smoking, losing weight, running a marathon, or to any of your personal ambitions.

A- Accountability. Tell everyone your goal. I know this sounds scary. It is, but the more people you share your goal with, the more people will hold you accountable to your goal. My friend Kari is a Mary Kay rep and she let all her current customers know that she was trying to make it to the “Queen’s Court”, which is a prestigious accolade within her organization. Did we help her by purchasing more product? You bet. We also followed up with her on a regular basis asking her how she was doing. She did make it to the “Queen’s Court” and we were all very proud of her and felt like we helped play a part in achieving her goal.

The other part of accountability is setting a date. Make a realistic time line of exactly how long you think it will take you to achieve your goal. You may want to start with mini time lines within your ultimate dead-line. This will help make you accountable to your goal and you will have a much greater chance of achieving it. You also increase your odds if you write this time line down and tape it in a place that you will see everyday. A goal without a deadline is just a dream.

B- Believe in yourself Of course believing in yourself is a key to anyone’s success. To help this along, you might want to make the first few people you tell about your goal, support people in your life that also believe in you. I always start with my loving and always supportive husband and my parents. I also started recently sharing some of my personal goals with my in-laws and they have been an amazing source of unconditional support. Once you believe in yourself, you really can accomplish anything.

C -Changes Be willing to stay flexible enough to make changes to your plan along the way. Life does happen to all of us. There will always be pregnancies, babies, car problems, lost jobs, and computer viruses. Find the balance between being flexible enough to change course a little and still be determined to accomplish the goal.

D - Drive and Determination Do whatever it takes to fuel the drive and determination to achieve your goal. Make the time to stay on course with your time line. Check in with your support group to help encourage you and keep you accountable. Tape pictures or written versions of the goal all over your house, but just keep at it. Put visual reminders of your goal (pictures or notes) in 5 places: Your mirror, refrigerator, desk, car, and by the front door.

E - Encouragement Surround yourself with reminders of previously accomplished goals. If you have ever won a contest, a trophy, or medal of any kind, take them out and remind yourself you can do it. Also, while God sometimes has a way of putting a fire under us to accomplish our goals, He also can put wind in our sails to encourage us. Sometimes the small voices of our children telling us we can do it or even a compliment from a friend can be the encouragement we need to keep going. So get started and Go Out And Live!!

posted by ezimind @ 11:39 am 0 comments

Goal Setting Success
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Friday, 5 January 2007

The importance of setting goals often only becomes clear when we realize we haven't achieved them. This is one of the reasons it is so important to write goals down in a notebook or journal, where you can track them over time. This is particularly true when it comes to reaching our career goals, where goal setting success is crucial if we are to enjoy a happy and fulfilled life.

If you set clearly defined short term and long term goals you will be able to measure your progress and eventually achieve personal satisfaction in all areas of your life. As you move towards your goals, your self-confidence will also improve as you see the progress you are making – progress which would be hard to measure if you have not formulated your goals properly and written them down. You will also find that with progress you become more aware of your capabilities, skills and talents, which in turn will also boost your self-esteem.

Learning how to set goals is not something which happens naturally, as we are encouraged to do what other people think we should do and give up our dreams as early as possible, since they are often considered impractical, if not impossible, by parents and teachers.

To start your goal setting, you should spend some time really thinking about what you want in life, not just in your career. It’s important to make sure that your goals will create a balanced lifestyle and not just career success, which, if not accompanied by friendship, family and fun, can be very hollow and lonely.

Start off with your long term goals and work backwards, considering job goals, financial goals, relationship goals, goals related to your interests and passions, and spiritual goals. Although your eventual career goal may seem a long way off, setting goals and objectives which will take you there will make the process a lot easier. For each goal you have written ask yourself what it will take to get you there. For example, if you want a senior management position in a specific company, the step before that might be middle management in the firm or a similar organization. If you are currently working in a different industry, you’ll need to find out what experience you’ll need to make the transition. There may also be qualifications and additional skills which you need to develop. As your list moves back towards the present, you’ll be able to plan each step and should find something which you can do today. That could be simply doing some online research into your chosen career or it could be checking out advertisements to see if you’re ready to move a little closer to your goal, or contacting a local college to enquire about night school classes.

As you uncover the steps you need to take to achieve your goals, you will see if your career goals are compatible with your lifestyle goals. There will be times when you have to compromise, such as when first starting out in a career which makes big demands on newcomers. An example of this is medicine, where junior doctors have to work extremely long hours. If you have a plan, you will be able to see where compromise is necessary and where it should end.

Another important consideration is that goals change as you get older. So what was important in your 20s may not matter at all by the time you reach 40 or 50. So it is essential to realize that goals will change and you must be flexible – there is no point in working towards a goal if it no longer interests you or conflicts with more important goals which have shown up later in your life.

Goal setting success is not the result of simply making a plan, it’s the result of developing that plan, making changes as necessary and perhaps even ditching it for a better one.

posted by ezimind @ 11:35 am 0 comments