Goal setting is an extremely powerful technique for helping anyone to get what they want out of life, no matter in which area they’re seeking improvement. If you have any doubts about this whatsoever, head down to your local Barnes & Noble or Borders book store. Head for the self improvement section, and you will see scores of titles on motivation, success, achievement, etc. Browse through as many of them as you feel like, and you’ll see that they all talk about the power of goal setting. But goals are about more than wishes or hopes. There are two basic goal setting steps that must be followed if you want this technique to work for you.
The first of the goal setting steps is writing down a clear and specific goal with a target date for completion. Let’s break that down. You’ve got to write your goal out (long hand or on the computer) because that’s the critical step in changing it from a wish into an actual goal. And it has to be clear and specific, because vague goals can’t motivate you, and even if they could, you would never know if you had accomplished it or not. Losing weight isn’t really much of a goal; but losing 25 pounds is. Next, you’ll need to set a target date for the accomplishment of your goal. The target date is a crucial part of measuring success and failure, and every goal will need a target date. You can adjust it later if need be, but always begin with a date.
The second (and just as critical) of the goal setting steps is to write out some specific behaviors, actions, activities, etc., that you will undertake to help your achieve that goal. This is a big part of the magic of goal setting. By forcing yourself to think ahead of time about just how you’re going to go about making your dream happen, you’ll be able to come up with a real life plan for seeing it come to fruition. How many action steps you outline will depend in large part on the nature of your goal, and how difficult it will be to accomplish. The more you can break it down into small, manageable steps, the more likely you are to accomplish your goal. So take your time, and be thorough. Don’t rush the planning stage of goal setting. By doing it right from the beginning, you’ll be setting yourself up for success, not failure.
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