Six key steps to setting goals
Well, it’s the New Year and I am guessing most of you (me included) have set at least one goal or New Year resolution. So before you go much further, make sure that you set yourself up for success and give yourself the best possible chance to achieve your goals.
Today I share with you 6 key steps to writing goals that will help you achieve them.
- State your goal positively
- Put your goal in context
- Express your goal in specific, sensory terms
- Choose a goal you can fulfill yourself
- Evaluate honestly the effects of achieving your goal
- Choose a worthwhile goal.
Many of the people I coach have radically improved different aspects of their lives by using this approach to setting and achieving their goals.
1. State your goal positively
State what you want (not what you don’t want!!). The brain works in such a way that stating a goal in negative terms can have completely the wrong effect. What most occupies your mind, whether intentionally or unintentionally, tends to turn into behaviour and reality.
Focus ONLY on what you want.
Examples
| 1: | Unresourceful: I want to lose 5 kg |
| | Resourceful: I want to be 65kg by June 2010 |
| 2: | I want to stop arriving late |
| | I want to start arriving on time |
Below are some questions for you to test if your goal is positive. You don’t have to answer all the questions – just do a check against a few.
§ What do I hope to change?
§ What outcome do I want to have?
§ What would I like to achieve?
§ What do I want to do differently?
2. Put your goals in Context
Your goal has to be contextual for YOU and have meaning for YOU. It has to ‘register’ as realistic. Setting a goal involves more than just writing it down, you need to really connect with it emotionally.
Ask yourself the following questions to ensure it is in a real life context.
§ Where will the change take me to?
§ In what context would I use the outcome of my goal?
§ When do I want this?
§ Where do I want this – in every relationship, in every situation etc?
§ In what contexts might the outcome of my chosen goal not benefit me?
§ Do I want this all the time in all areas of my life?
§ How long do I want to take to do or get this? (is there a deadline)
3. Express your goals in specific sensory terms
What will you see here and feel when you actually achieve this goal? What you see, hear and feel inside gives a foretaste of what will actually happen. Put yourself into the future and imagine enjoying your achieved goal. Visualise the outcomes of your goal as if it is a reality. – Close your eyes if it helps
Visualising ‘tunes’ your brain and helps it understand the importance of achieving your goal and the pleasure it will bring you. If you brain is on board it will ‘steer’ you in the right direction.
Answer the following questions in mental pictures, sounds and feelings as well as words and you will help to create the outcome you want.
§ What will I see, hear, feel when I have achieved my goal?
§ How will I confirm I have reached my goal?
§ What evidence will I need to know I have reached my goal?
4. Choose a goal you can fulfill yourself
You need to initiate and maintain your goal yourself. There is no point blaming other people or circumstances if you don’t achieve your goal. We may sometimes feel like a pawn in a bigger game and some things are outside our control. However, those people who regularly achieve their goals take responsibility for their own outcomes and try not to depend on other people. Control the controllable and let the rest take care of itself!
5. Evaluate honestly the effects of achieving your goal.
By achieving your goal will you loose anything that you have now that you actually want to keep?
For example:
Fulfilling a career goal, such as promotion, may mean loosing out on time with your family or spending less time on a hobby or leisure activity.
Giving up smoking may in the short term negatively affect your social life.
Consider any positive (to you) aspects of your present situation before you embarkon your new goal. Remember no outcome stands alone! We cannot act independently of those around us.
Questions to test this goal are:
§ What will I get once I have reached the outcome of my goal?
§ How will my life really differ, having achieved this goal?
§ How will I integrate the outcome of this goal into my present life?
§ What effect will it have on my life?
§ What will happen after I achieve my goal?
6. Choose a worthwhile goal
Your goal should feel worthwhile to you. To identify this you need to identify the positive consequences of achieving your goal. This means as well as the questions in the previous sections you must also test your goal against your identity and long-term purpose in life.
Asking the following questions will help you uncover any disharmony between your goal and you as a person, your values and beliefs.
§ Is the outcome worth what it will take to achieve it?
§ What consequences will follow my achieving this goal?
§ How will my life differ?
§ Does this goal reflect my identity and aspirations?
§ For what purpose do I want this outcome?
You now have a checklist of guidelines for setting your goals.
Next time I will talk about how and why we self-sabotage and why we definitely are our ‘Own worst enemy’ when it comes to achieving our goals and dreams.
Regards Louise Carter
Please contact me through Click a Life Coach if you want to know more.