Do you set goals frequently? If you do not then we suggest that you start to work on this immediately. When you set goals you convey about an extremely effective psychological transformation that will do wonders for your motivation.
Let’s face it when you are trying to accomplish something in your life that you know will benefit you it is pretty easy to get lazy about it and procrastinate. “I will do it tomorrow”. Well, guess what? In a lot of cases, tomorrow never comes! This means that you abandon a task or task before you even start it.
Occasionally this takes place halfway through the project.
If you are prone to undesirable habitual tendencies like laziness and procrastination then you really need to pay particular attention to this chapter and set yourself some goals that can really motivate you. When you set the correct goals you will discover that you have a renewed sense of get-up-and-go and an unstoppable impulse to take action.
Add Passion to your Goals
You want your goals to excite you to such an extent that stopping work on them is painful for you. It is very important that you add passion to your goals and that they are definitive. The process that we recommend you use to set your goals will motivate you so much that you will be chomping at the bit to get started!
If you set goals correctly then these will provide a positive boost to your self-image. They will energize you in a way that you may not have felt before. The process of setting goals can help you to uncover your strengths and weaknesses which is very important for you going forward.
Give your Motivation a Boost by Goal Setting
Do not have time to set goals? Think again. We are all busy but sometimes you can wander along in life being busy without actually accomplishing anything beneficial. When you set the right goals you will increase your motivation and take your personal development to new levels.
When you set a goal it provides you with clarity about the future. You will start to imagine a new and more desirable life for yourself which is extremely motivating. It will also help you to identify the areas in your life that you want to work on some more.
To achieve a particular goal you may need to find out and get the hang of some new skills. This can be extremely exciting as you are starting a new journey. When you set yourself goals you are also taking responsibility for your life which should really invigorate you.
Having this new responsibility, you will provide clarity in your mind and be able to stay clear of distractions around you a lot more effortlessly. It will help you to become a more effective decision-maker as well. If you don’t set goals then it is very easy to just wander along and lose your motivation for the future.
Having a passionate goal will make it possible for you to concentrate all of your decisions, habits, actions, and behaviors parallel. When you carry this out your motivation levels normally increase since you will experience a new burst of energy that is totally invigorating.
Probably the most important benefit of establishing distinct and passionate goals is that it gives you a real sense of purpose. This is really inspiring and will work miracles for your motivation. No longer do you have to give in to what others think is the best thing for you. You are in control now!
Your Goal Setting Success Guide
OK it is time for you to take action. Here we are going to provide you with a number of steps for successful goal setting. It is up to you if you want to follow all of the steps but if you do then you will find that you will boost your motivation and self-confidence. So let’s get started.
1. Rediscover your Past Achievements
This is great for a self-confidence boost. Your task here is to identify past achievements and successes in your life. For everything you achieved in the past, you followed a number of steps. You used a process that was right for you to accomplish whatever it was that you set out to do.
So ask yourself these questions:
• What approach did I use?
• What were the steps that I took?
• How did I get everything to come together?
Relive your past accomplishments with passion and get excited. Realize that you have actually achieved a number of goals in the past and celebrate this. How have these accomplishments changed you? Remember that all of these achievements, however small, have made you into a better person.
While you are thinking about past achievements identify those skills and accomplishments that have got you to where you are today. Whether you realize it or not, you are setting and achieving goals all of the time. When you think about this it will make you realize that you have been taking small but consistent action steps every day to get where you are now.
2. What is happening in your life right now?
Take a good look at your current situation to determine exactly where you are at this moment. You can use this approach to identify those areas of your life that you are the most grateful for. It also helps you to discover the areas of your life which are not up to scratch.
3. Use Leverage for Motivation Acceleration
The best way to gain leverage and accelerate your motivation is to apply the pain and pleasure principle. Assess the impact that the weakness in your current lifestyle is having on you and associate a lot of pain to these shortcomings.
Now imagine your life in the future when you have improved all of these areas of dissatisfaction and link pleasure to this. This will give you the necessary leverage to accelerate your motivation.
4. What is your Life’s Purpose?
What is the real purpose of your life? What are your passions? Take some time to identify the unique talents, skills, abilities, passions, and strengths that you possess. This will greatly assist you to clarify your primary objectives and your life’s purpose.
5. Time for Passionate Goal Setting
Now it is time for you to actually set your passionate goals and write them down. We recommend that you use a pen and paper rather than type your goals. There is something about writing things down that creates a real psychological change.
You need to decide which areas of your life you want to set new goals for. So think financial, relationships, health, personal development, and so on. It doesn’t matter how many goals you end up with from this process. Later on you can prioritize them.
We highly recommend the SMART FOR ME goal-setting approach. Here is how this works:
Specific– you must set specific goals. What exactly do you wish to achieve?
Measurable– it is important that you can assess your goals so that you will realize how well you are progressing.
Attainable– this is all about totally believing that you can accomplish the goal.
Realistic– is the goal you have prepared realistic? Do you have the resources, money, and skills to accomplish it?
Timed– there must be a deadline for all of your goals.
Focus– it is essential that you set focused goals. Do not commit to way too many goals.
Optimism– you require to jot down your goals in a desirable way so that they are optimistic.
Ready– you must be ready to start working on a goal right now. If you need to wait for someone to help you then your goal is not ready.
Meaningful– all of your goals require to tie in with your life’s purpose.
Exciting– all goals that you set must be stimulating. They must provide you with an emotional buzz to motivate you at the highest levels.
Motivation Tips for Goal Achievement
Have you ever created goals and then didn’t even get started with them? If you did then you are not alone. This happens to a large number of people. The reason for this is that you didn’t have the right level of motivation attached to your new goals.
So here are some proven tips to develop the necessary motivation to see your goals through:
Every day write out your Goals
Do this in the morning. Write your goals out in full because it will help to keep them uppermost in your mind. We recommend that you keep a journal and use this for your daily goal writing. You can also record your experiences along the way and what you have achieved so far.
Remind yourself of your Goals
We understand that life is busy for most people but don’t use this as a reason to lose sight of your goals.
You need to create reminders of your goals so that you can refer to them during the day. Here are some examples of goal reminders:
• A goal mind map
• Use images to create a collage for your goals
• Get yourself a countdown timer – these are available online and they will show you how many days remain to achieve your goal
• Write an affirmations list for your goals and recite these morning and night
Be a Consistent Learner
Read up on everything related to your goals. Find people that have already achieved the same goals you want to achieve and find out everything that you can about them. How did they do it? What new skills did they learn? How long did it take them? This will keep your motivation levels high.
Use others to support you
Do you have someone in your life that can be your goal accountability buddy? This is a person who is going to ask you what progress you are making and push you hard. Setup a schedule to discuss your goals with this individual once a week.
If you can we always recommend that you find a good mentor. This will be someone that has succeeded in the same areas of life that you want success in. You can use your mentor to learn about how they achieved their success and to discuss ideas with you.
Small and Consistent Steps
Get into the habit of taking small actions towards your goals every day. This is a great way to stay motivated and fight off laziness and procrastination. Sometimes life is going to get in the way of you doing this so if you miss a day then just get back in the saddle the next day.
Come up with some creative ways that you can make your daily tasks more exciting and fun. Maybe turn your tasks into a game? This will definitely boost your motivation as you will be doing fun things on a daily basis.
Track your Progress
You need to check to see the progress that you are making with your goals on a regular basis. Don’t go overboard with this but track your progress weekly especially when you are starting out on new goals.
It is essential that you perform these regular reviews as you may find that some of the actions you are taking are not moving you closer to your goal. If this happens you need to find out why and take the best remedial action.