We’ve all heard the same message; It’s important, Goals must be SMART, Goals must be aligned in an organization. You set your goals to inspire yourself to further success and achievement and to measure your progress on worthwhile contributions and accomplishments.
What about your personal goals? Personal goals establish how you choose to spend your energy and your time.
By beginning with a solid direction and desired outcomes in mind, you set yourself up for success and to achieve your goals and live your resolutions.
What is it that causes us to reflect upon our lives and our accomplishments? I believe each of us has a natural inclination to grow our self-esteem and capability through new accomplishments. Most of us want to make a difference in the world. Most of us want to live life as fully as we possibly can. As a result, we draw a line in the sand and claim a starting point for our next chapter when we set goals.
We all start with a tremendous level of initial enthusiasm and the best of intentions; yet keeping yourself motivated, committed and moving toward the accomplishment of your goals, is often tough. Tired of setting goals and making resolutions or commitments that typically fade fast from your daily thoughts and actions? It is not complex, it can be rather simple. Consider adopting some or all of these tips to experience remarkable success in accomplishing your goals and living your resolutions.
Whether the goal is a job promotion at work, a new client, continuing your education, losing weight, trying a new sport or exercise program, the goal must be your goal. You are highly unlikely to achieve your manager’s goal, your spouse’s goal or any goal that you think you should be working on. Your goals need to generate excitement and enthusiasm internally. Your goals should clearly show you there is something in it for you if you accomplish them.
Believe You Can Accomplish the Goal
On a daily basis, you engage in self-talk; you comment on each situation you encounter. You discuss events and plans in your mind. Your self-commentary is both positive and negative. Positive thoughts and planning support the accomplishment of your goals. Negative thoughts and comments undermine your self-esteem and self-confidence, and negatively impact your ability to accomplish your goals. Up your game in the positive self-talk!
Paint a Very Vivid Picture or Outcome
With goals that are hard measure, start with a picture in your mind. Commit that picture to paper and describe it in detail and the outcome you are seeking. Revisit this picture.
Write Your Goals
Writing out your goal is your commitment to achieving the goal. Writing a goal is a powerful statement in comparison to half-formulated thoughts or half-planned actions in the back of your mind. It is the purposeful and conscious promise to you to pay attention to the accomplishment of the goal. Writing out potential action plans and due dates will make the goal even more powerful.
Check Goal Setting and Achievement Progress Regularly
You are most likely to accomplish the goals you set if you review them daily as part of your normal planning process. (You do have a normal planning process, don’t you?)
Whether you use a paper planner, (my preference, I enjoy the checking off activity) your smartphone or a computer, schedule daily and weekly actions that support their accomplishment. The discipline of the daily review is a powerful goal accomplishment tool.
Take Action to Identify and Eliminate Obstacles to Goal Setting Success
Ask yourself what obstacles you are experiencing that are interfering with your ability to accomplish the goal. If you are not making progress on a particular goal, attempt to do a root-cause analysis to determine why. Only by honestly analyzing your lack of progress can you determine steps to take to change this picture. Enlist the help of friends, co-workers and family that support your goals.
Re-visit that vivid picture you painted, now get after it!