Goal Setting

Are You Really Ready to Set Your Goals?

Are you one of those people who have certain goals that never seem to get accomplished? Have you been saying for years that you will lose weight, get out of an unhealthy relationship, get up earlier or exercise and you haven’t been able to effectively master the task? Don’t beat yourself up about not reaching your goals. You may not have had the right elements for effective goal-setting. People fail at achieving their goals because of four very common reasons:
• Lack of motivation. Before you even get started, check your motivation. Out of a possible one hundred percent, how motivated are you to really work at achieving your goals? Do you really want to change? I have clients that say they do, but when I assess their motivation, they want the goal without the work. Give it a percentage, and if you’re under 85%, you are not ready to accomplish your goal.
• Negative mindset. Do you immediately focus on how you have failed in the past, how you can’t succeed, and how you are doomed to fail because you focus on what you will lose as opposed to what you will gain. If you aren’t positive about the changes you are about to make, you are not ready to meet your goals. You must look at your goal with excitement. It is important to have a positive attitude about goal setting. You have to psych yourself into wanting it. Do not look at it with dread, but as an opportunity to enjoy the changes. If you can’t muster positive energy you will not be able to stick with a plan to obtaining your goals.
• Not ready to work. Clients sit in my office indicating that they want to attain a certain goal, but their mindset is that the work will be too agonizing. I have a magic wand in my office and I frequently ask my clients if they would like to use it to accomplish their goal. They grin and tell me they wish they could have a magic wand or could be hypnotized to get, or keep, themselves motivated. Although I do hypnotherapy, I never work with a client who is not willing to go 110% to get the work done. Discipline, coupled with a positive attitude, builds the character assets needed to accomplish your goal.
• Goals are too big. Your goals need to be broken down into “doable steps”. They should not be global, they should be specific. People want the quick fix—they don’t want to rely on small steps that contribute to getting the job done. Small steps are the key to a good action plan. Create a lifestyle that supports small goals. If you really want your life to be different, you need to have an action plan that keeps the goal at the forefront of your daily life with very doable, accomplishable steps.

What’s your plan for achieving your goal?
• Assess your motivation.
• Write it down.
• Break it into small steps.
• Focus on what you will be gaining, as opposed to what you will be losing.
• Be positive!

If you meet these criteria set before you and follow the plan, I have no doubt that you will be successful in reaching your goals.

Previous Article     Back to Goal Setting Articles     Next Article