Goal setting is a formal process, which must be done by anyone with a quest to excel. By setting goals on a routine basis you decide what you want to achieve, and then move step-by-step towards the achievement of these goals. The process of setting goals and targets allows you to choose where you want to go in life.
Goal setting is a standard technique used by top-level athletes, successful business-people and achievers in all fields. It gives you a long-term vision and short-term motivation. It focuses your acquisition of knowledge and helps you to organize your resources. By setting sharp, clearly defined goals, you can measure and take pride in the achievement of these goals.
1. First you decide what you want to do with your life and what large-scale goals you want to achieve.
2. Second, you break these down into the smaller and smaller targets that you must hit so that you reach your lifetime goals.
3. Finally, once you have your plan, you start working towards achieving it.
Setting Your Lifetime Goals
The first step in setting personal goals is to consider what you want to achieve in your lifetime, as setting lifetime goals gives you the overall perspective that shapes all other aspects of your decision making. To give a broad, balanced coverage of all important areas in your life, try to set goals in some or all of the following categories:
Ø Artistic:
Do you want to achieve any artistic goals? If so, what?
Ø Attitude:
Will I be optimistic or pessimistic?
Ø Career:
What level do you want to reach in your career?
Ø Education:
Is there any knowledge you want to acquire in particular? What information and skills will you need to achieve other goals?
Ø Family:
How do you want to be seen and know by members of your family?
Ø Financial:
What type of income should I have?
Ø Physical:
How fit do you want to be?
Ø Pleasure:
How do you want to enjoy yourself?
Ø Public Service:
Do you want to make the world a better place by your existence? If so, how?
Once you have decided your goals in these categories, assign a priority to them from A to F. Then review the goals and re-prioritize until you are satisfied that they reflect the shape of the life that you want to lead. Also ensure that the goals that you have set are the goals that you want to achieve, not what your parents, spouse, family, or employers want them to be.
Achieve Your Lifetime Goals
Once you have set your lifetime goals, set a 25 year plan of smaller goals that you should complete if you are to reach your lifetime plan. Then set a 5 year plan, 1 year plan, 6 month plan, and 1 month plan of progressively smaller goals that you should reach to achieve your lifetime goals.
Set a daily-to-do-list of things that you should do today to work towards your lifetime goals. At an early stage these goals may be to read books and gather information on the achievement of your goals. This will help you to improve the quality and realism of your goal setting.
Finally review your plans, and make sure that they fit the way in which you want to live your life.
Once you have decided your first set of plans, keep the processes going by reviewing and updating your to-do list on a daily basis. Periodically review the longer-term plans, and modify them to reflect your changing priorities and experience
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Setting Goals Effectively
The following broad guidelines will help you to set effective goals:
Ø State each goal as a positive statement:
Ø Be precise: putting in dates, times and amounts so that you can measure achievement.
Ø Set priorities: When you have several goals, give each a priority. This helps you to avoid feeling overwhelmed by too many goals, and helps to direct your attention to the most important ones.
Ø Write goals down: this crystallizes them and gives them more force.
Ø Keep operational goals small: If a goal is too large, then it can seem that you are not making progress towards it. Keeping goals small and incremental gives more opportunities for reward.
Ø Set performance goals, not outcome goals: You should take care to set goals over which you have as much control as possible.
Ø Set realistic goals:
Ø Do not set goals too low
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