There’s been plenty written about the power of goal setting.
In a nutshell, by creating a clear goal in your mind, you unleash the power of your subconscious (which just loves to solve problems) to get on with the job of guiding you towards that goal. Don’t believe me? Before you go to bed tonight, focus very clearly on an issue or challenge. Write it down on a piece of paper. Then forget about it. Tomorrow morning, you’ll have a deeper insight, or even a solution. It will probably come to you in the shower, where some of history’s greatest problems have been solved.
So now we know why goal setting works. How to do it?
The textbook response… SMART Goals
Google ‘SMART goals’ and you’ll get about 900,000 results, so maybe SMART goals are worth considering.
SMART Goals are:
S – Specific
M – Measurable
A – Achievable
R – Realistic
T – Time-bound
Setting SMART goals works for many of us, but not all of us.
Alternatives…
Some may find the rigid structure of SMART goals a bit of a turn-off. If you are one of these people, don’t turn your back on goal-setting. Find what works for you. Here’s a few suggestions.
Give Your Brain Some Space
Your goals should lead you closer to where you want to be. Where do you want to be? If you’re not sure, take some time out. Lie on the beach, sit in a rainforest, head out of town for the weekend.
Reflect on what drives you, what inspires you, what gives you satisfaction. Then work on a plan to get yourself there. Guess what.. those steps in the journey are your goals. Now that wasn’t too hard, was it?
Share
Another option – share your dreams with your partner, a friend or mentor. You will be surprised how much they might know about you and what makes you tick. Working out a game plan together can challenge your self-limiting beliefs and open up new horizons.
Just Do It..
However you choose to do it, set yourself some goals. Write them down, glue photos to your ‘Dreamboard’, write your ideal weight on your bathroom mirror. Life is too short to drift.
If you would like a hand developing some meaningful goals for your business, give us a call.
Tony Ozanne
Small Fish Business Coaching Canberra
Hi Tony 🙂
Excellent post and it’s so true that goals need to be SMART (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic and Time Bound).
There is also a little technique you can use, if you have the courage that will almost guarantee the achievement of big goals and dreams. It is based on the idea of “social pressure”.
Think about this; let’s say you have a goal to lose a certain amount of weight or achieve some desired level of fitness. You can set the goal privately and tell yourself, “I am going to achieve this goal by August 1.” On the other hand, you can make the goal public by telling all of your friends and family what you intend to do and even give a date for your desired completion.
As soon as you take that goal public, you move into a different state of mind. No longer are you at the mercy of your own self-discipline (which has been tarnished by years of bad habits). Now you have a much more powerful force dictating your day to day actions and decisions.
Hi Shanna,
Absolutely agree….I know this concept as the staircase of committment and it replicates just what you say, if you ‘go public’ on a goal you will be more likey to acheive them due to that social pressure you mention.
It was with this in mind that I recently posted my business goals ‘public’ on my LinkedIn Group at the start of the year and offered others to share theirs, but didn’t get too many takers!!
Guess the pressure is on me to do it now!
Appreciate the comment.
Tony