Do you set goals for yourself and then find it hard to achieve them?
Are the goals you set attainable? 
Or perhaps you have stopped setting goals effectively?

To grow and achieve what we want in life, we need a purpose and direction. Goals can give us both: a sense of motivation, and a path to follow to create success. In addition, a goal also provides us with a benchmark which supports us to determine if we are actually achieving what we want.

However, setting effective goals is not always a straightforward process. If you have been struggling with setting and achieving goals in your life, here are a few things to consider:
 
Know what YOU want
Are your goals based on what you want for yourself? All too often we set goals that are not truly our own, but reflective of what we believe society (or our friends, or family, or coworkers) expect from us. 

An effective goal should align with our purpose and values, developing a strong connection with what is really important to us: the things that give us energy and what we feel passionate about.

Recognising the goal is truly connected with what you deeply identify with can potentially mean you will deliver beyond the success of your original goal.

So, spend some time in self-reflection and examine the motivation behind the goal you are setting for yourself. Will achieving that goal truly energise you? Is it really what you want for yourself? Does it resonate with your personal values?

Make your goal challenging
Our goals should support us to stretch, and to move out of our comfort zone. Because it is only when we step out of our comfort zone that we begin to grow and change and become the person we are destined and want to be.  

Once we get into the habit of challenging and stretching our self outside of our comfort zone, the mind and body often responds well to a challenge and potentially seeks more of what we are striving for. 

So it's important to make sure the goal is supporting your expansion of current experiences. At the same time, you have to make sure your goal doesn’t stretch you too far, too soon because this can be demotivating or seem overwhelming and unattainable. It’s important to make sure your goals are manageable.

One way to do this is to set a series of short terms goals which ultimately support you to reach your long-term goal. Smaller, short-term goals act as stepping-stones towards the bigger, long-term desired target. This allows you to focus on achieving the next short-term goal, and then the next, and so on, providing a much better opportunity for success.
 
Identify future success
 

An important component of successful goal setting is to put our selves in the mindset of having achieved the goal.
 
Spending time imagining what our life is like as if we have successfully achieved the goal means we are programming our mind to understand exactly what we want to experience: what we will see, hear and feel – and maybe taste or smell. When we understand what we want to experience in the future - as if it's happening right now - in very specific details, then we are programming our mind to seek out the evidence to achieve what we do want. 

When we do this, we are effectively asking our mind's equivalent of a 'Google' search engine - the Reticular Activator System (RAS) - which makes up part of our brain - to identify the experiences or the opportunities to create the experiences in order to bring the goals to life. Many successful goal setters recognise this process is important to give their ideas of achievement the best chance of coming to life. Think of athletes who imagine their race - everything they do - every movement they make to win their competition before they even run it. They recognise the process of imagining their goal coming to life and being achieved is key to their success.

To define what you want to experience in relation to your goal/s, ask yourself the following questions:

Get into the practice of reflecting on success often, and see how this impacts your success in relation to your own goals. As Napolean Hill, Author of Rich and Grow Rich says:
 
"If you do not see great riches in your imagination, you will never see them in your bank balance.The imagination is more powerful than any tool you have ever used. It can access the infinite potential of the source and with its creativity one can bring huge shifts in their life. This was how airplanes were built, this was how Edison invented the lightbulb."

As Hill infers in this quote, things have to be imagined first before they are created.

Review consistently
Keep reviewing your goals from time to time. This serves as a check on the progress of your journey towards the goal, and gives you the opportunity to celebrate the small successes along the way. Any action that takes you away from your goal can be rectified as soon as it’s noticed, allowing yourself to put your actions back on track, ready to continue your journey towards the goal. 

"By taking the time to stop and appreciate who you are and what you've achieved - and perhaps learned through a few mistakes, stumbles and losses - you actually can enhance everything about you. Self-acknowledgment and appreciation are what give you the insights and awareness to move forward toward higher goals and accomplishments," says Jack Canfield, author, coach and leadership expert.

By taking on board some of these concepts into your goals setting practice, you will support your goal setting and success. Enjoy the journey ahead.

Listen to the Empower World Coaching and Leadership Podcast Episode 116 during which Jeanine and Marie discuss the importance of goal setting, and how to set effective goals.

Be empowered.

To learn more, listen to the Empower World Coaching and Leadership Podcast, Episode 116 here.

Episode-116 can be found here: 

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