Making Goals Work for You: 5 Tips for Setting Goals
Making Goals Work for You: 5 Tips for Setting Goals
http://info.profilesinternational.com/profiles-employee-assessment-blog/bid/59861/Making-Goals-Work-for-You-5-Tips-for-Setting-Goals
Yesterday is history, Tomorrow’s a mystery; Today is a gift – which is why it’s called the present! – Anon
Realistically, we live and will always be living in the present. Our minds may focus on past experiences and dream of future possibilities, but no one can question that the present moment is all we have to work with. Therefore we must focus all our efforts on ensuring that we are as productive as possible in the present.
Focusing our current efforts now will allow for equally pleasant time in the coming future. Goals are a crucial part of building your self-confidence as they give you strength and assurance about what you are doing in the here and now. They allow you to take control of your life and career and live it to the fullest. Even more so, clear and compelling goals provide focus and direction for your actions at any given time.
Prioritize your goals now —invest in your present moments so they can produce a future return on investment.
These challenging goals allow you to forget the future – this is allowed! After all, the future doesn’t exist anywhere except for in your imagination. Completely invest in the best life you can make for yourself now!
As outlined in Leadership Charisma, here is a five-step approach to create great confidence setting goals:
1. Set goals in all aspects of your life.
Do not sacrifice or disregard your personal life to focus on your career. A happy personal life will complement and aid a happy work life. At a minimum focus on these areas:
- Career and business
- Personal development
- Relationships and family
- Finance
- Health
2. Write your goals down.
Putting pen to paper will allow you to visualize your objectives more clearly. It will be easier to remind yourself exactly what it is you are aiming to achieve. When on paper, they become more concrete and real to you.
Don’t stop at just one draft; write and rewrite until they have sunk in and you are excited. In research by Gail Matthew of Dominican University, those who wrote their goals down “accomplished significantly more than those who did not write their goals.”
3. Create a combination of large, medium, and small-sized goals.
Make it so that you have a continuous stream of goals of all sizes, and take time each day to recognize your achievements towards of any of them, no matter the size. After all there is nothing quite as confidence-affirming as achieving a goal. Be satisfied that every day you are that one step closer to your larger goals.
4. Create word pictures.
The Dale Carnegie program instructors have always advised creating ”word pictures” for your goals. They should be excited, elated, and positive descriptions that light up the image of each goal in your mind. This is my favorite step as outlined in Leadership Charisma, and I’m happy to share some of my word pictures with you:
- I want to see the world
- I want to be financially secure
- I want to achieve an MBA
What are your word pictures? Show us yours on Facebook and be entered into a drawing to win a copy of Leadership Charisma: www.facebook.com/Profilesinternational
5. Setting goals is not the final task.
Make sure you don’t get so hyped up in the excitement of strategically planning your life and mistake that this is the only action required. It is crucial that you plan action steps to achieve these goals. Create milestones with dates that will help you work away at them daily, weekly, and monthly.
With your goals now defined and your action plan set, you have a clear direction and a new air of optimism about you. This will be evident to all those around you and before you know it, everyone will sense the new more self-confident you. For more, visit www.leadership-charisma.com.
