Happy New Year!
For many people it is the time where we make our New Year resolutions. We tend to make huge goals that are not realistic and not time based.
Start your new year with the education to be successful in your new year resolutions.
Goal setting is something everyone has doe many times, whether they knew theywere doing it or not. Goal setting can be as simple ad being determined tofind a lost object or as difficult as finding a cure for cancer. It all boils down to determination and perseverance, your commitment to accomplishing a task. Goal setting can separate the successful from the failure, the WINNERS from the LOSERS, and is one of the most important parts of achieving success, whether in business, education, career or athletics.
There are techniques to help people become more effective in setting and accomplishing their goals. These techniques work for any situation, because all goals set are worth achieving. The most effective way to set a goal is stating that you want to accomplish something you have thought about, and have imagined what it will feel like to achieve the goal. Usually this is motivation enough to keep you on track to achieving your goal. Sometimes there are detours along the way that make you stray from the path of accomplishment. Most people can set goals, but where failure occurs most often is what people do, or don’t do along the way to reaching their goal.
When we want to go on vacation for take a trip in the car, most of us look at a map to see how to get to our destination to make sure the trip goes smoothly. Using the map is very similar to goal setting. The goals we want to accomplish need to be complete and focused. Like the map, our goals tell us exactly where we want to go. The way you set your goal strongly affects its effectiveness. A common and often-used plan for setting goals includes:
· Positive Goal Statement: Express goals positively. Avoid using goals like, “Don’t eat the cake” or don’t skip meals.”
· Set priorities: When multiple goals are used, prioritize each one.
· Stair-step Approach: Use smaller goals as stepping-stones to larger ones.
· Set Performance, not Outcome Goals: Set goals over which you have as much control as possible.
· Set Specific, Measurable Goals
· Set Realistic Goals: Goals usually become unrealistically high if:
· They are set for other people (friends, co-workers)
· You do not have clear understanding of the sport or techniques needed to be successful.
· You always expect your best performance and make it more consistent.
· You have lack of self-respect, not respecting your right to rest, relaxation and pleasure. This can lead to burnout.
Set Goals at the Right level: Set goals that are slightly out of reach, bust not so high that you can never accomplish them.
Plan for possible setbacks along the way: (tiredness, illness, injury, intangibles, ect.) Thinking about things that may hinder you path to achievement and planning ways to overcome prepares you for detours along the way.
To make goals happen, we can’t gust keep them as ideas in our heads. We have to write them down and make ourselves aware of them daily. Once the goals are written down, you must act on them and use them as a map to guide you to accomplishment, this can be done by reading them out loud, each morning when you wake up. Visualize the complete goal. Then each night before going to bed, repeat the process. This process starts both your subconscious and conscious mind on working towards the goal. Every time we make a decision during the day we should ask ourselves, does this get me closer to or take away from my goal?
If the answer is closer then we made the right decision. The more conscious awareness we have of our completed goal and the path to get there the more likely we’ll succeed in achieving our goals.
Goals should bring real pleasure, satisfaction, and achievement for the person setting the goal.
Common mistakes in goal setting include:
· Setting goals which are general
· Unrealistic goals
· Not establishing a series of interrelated goals
· Setting goals but not establishing a plan to carry them out.
When actually setting goals it is best to think in terms of a staircase with a long range goal at the top of the stairs. Your present level of ability representing the first step and each succeeding step representing a progression of more immediate short range goals.
Examples of precisely setting observable goals include: Losing an inch off of you waist, being able to walk faster with less effort in the same amount of time.
First and foremost all goals must be recorded and placed where they can be seen every day. A person should look at their goals everyday and think about what they will do today to accomplish them and then evaluate at the end of the day by asking themselves what did I do to get closer to the goal.