How many times have you had a dream or wanted to achieve a personal or professional goal but failed at the first hurdle? Maybe you put it off, or felt...
How many times have you had a dream or wanted to achieve a personal or professional goal but failed at the first hurdle? Maybe you put it off, or felt it was too difficult after all. Maybe your goal was simply too overwhelming to even know where to begin. Maybe you even felt that achieving your goal would compromise other areas of your life too much to make it worth it. Too often, the goals we set let us down right from the very start. By following the 8 simple principles below, you can be sure of getting off to a much better start and therefore of being much more likely to actually be successful in achieving your goals and dreams.
To be effective, goals must be:
1. Congruent with your values
For example, your goal might be to bring in a higher income for the sake of your family, but by working long hours at the office to do so, you might end up spending less and less time at home and therefore sabotaging the very family values you considered to be so important. If your goals do not match your values, they will not be achieved, nor will they serve your overall objectives.
2. Written down
A goal that is not written down is simply a dream or a fantasy. Having written goals will provide focus and allow your subconscious mind to find ways of achieving them. You may like to make a list and keep it at your office or on your fridge, or write down your goal on a small piece of card to keep in your wallet or on your desk in front of you. Or you may like to find a photo or create a collage to place on your wall. You are much more likely to achieve a goal that is written down.
3. Reviewed regularly
To achieve your goals you must review them every day. By keeping your goal close to hand, your subconscious mind will form a habit of seeking ways to achieve it. Take a minute to go over it. Think about the benefits of achieving your goal. Don’t forget to update your goals. Priorities change and our goals change with them. This will keep you moving forward.
4. Specific
You should be able to describe your goal in one very clear and specific sentence. ‘I want to change jobs’ is too vague. Make it more concrete, for example ‘I want a job where I am earning € 50,000 a year’. This is a much more inspiring and motivational goal.
5. Framed in the positive
Instead of saying what you don’t want, e.g. ‘I want to give up smoking’ or ‘I want to stop feeling nervous when I give presentations’, or ‘I want to lose weight’, state your goals in the positive e.g. ‘I want to enjoy being healthy’ or ‘I want to feel confident when giving presentations’ or ‘I want to reach my target weight of 60 kg by July 1st’. You will get what your subconscious mind focuses on. By focusing on the positive, you are much more likely to move forward and achieve your goals.
You can take this one step further by putting your goals in the present tense, e.g. ‘I am a great presenter’. This gives your goals life and vibrancy.
6. Set within a time frame
To achieve your goals, you need to feel a sense of urgency. Your goals therefore need a time frame. A goal without a date is a dream. If you don’t set a date, there is nothing to stop you from putting off your goal again and again until ‘the time is right’. There is never a better time to start achieving your goals. Set a deadline, and keep to it!
7. Challenging
Make sure you set challenging goals that stretch you by taking you outside of your comfort zone. If you set goals which are too easy, you are likely to lose interest, become bored and give up. Dare yourself to dream big!
8. Achievable
While setting goals that are challenging, don’t be tempted to make them unrealistic. Only set goals which you know are within your ability to achieve, with a little motivation and effort of course! This might mean initially setting manageable, bite-sized goals which will boost your confidence. Once you gain momentum, you will be inspired to take on greater and greater challenges!
