Personal Goal Setting

Personal Goal Setting and Discipline

The sad fact is that in spite of so much information being readily available on personal goal setting, in spite of this skill even being taught in some schools... most people do not - will not decide exactly what they want out of life. Personal goal setting is something they just will not do.

A new year's resolution is about as close as most people get to setting real, effective goals. And you know how many people keep their new year's resolutions. How on earth can you score points if you don't know where the goal is? If you don't know where you're going... you'll end up going nowhere. How can you get anywhere without personal goal setting?

Action without planning, is just activity... busyness... an unproductive waste of energy and time. Personal goal setting is like injecting wonderful little fuel pellets into your mind. When they are properly presented to your subconscious mind they will automatically produce effective, efficient action.

All successful people men and women are big dreamers. They imagine what their future could be, ideal in every respect, and then they work every day toward their distant vision, that goal or purpose.

- Brian Tracy

One of the huge success secrets is that emotionally charged goals motivate and empower - yes, drive you - and keep your eyes fixed on your goals day and night without ever faltering...

So how do you start personal goal setting? If you have time here is a web site dedicated to goal setting.

Get Started with Personal Goal Setting

To get you started here are a few things that you can use as guidelines when you set your goals:

1. Make your goals specific

"I want to loose weight". That is far to vague. How much weight do you want to loose? How many pounds? How many inches should your waist, chest, be? What size clothes do you want to wear? When do you want to attain your goal?

Being very specific has a tremendous impact on your subconscious mind. A vague & generalized goal will leave your mind bored and disinterested... you can almost hear it talking back to you.. 'yeah, right... whatever...'.

2. Make your goals measurable

A definite way of measuring your goals will help you determine you progress. Sometimes change happens so slowly it is hard to notice. If you don't measure you'll never know if you've reached your goal or not...

Suppose your goal is to make more money. Then you should write your goal as having the exact sum, say $100,000.00, by this time next year. Your savings account will be your way of measurement.

A bathroom scale, a specific number of cigarettes, and so on. Make it measurable.

3. Make your goals BIG

Your goal should challenge you. Easy, little goals are not motivating. Big scary goals are. If your goal doesn't excite and scare you at the same time you're probably aiming way too low.

You are going to hit what you aim at so you might as well aim high. Decide what you would do if you knew you would never fail....

Dream, fantasize, use your creative imagination ... this is the begriming of a new thing - make it big! Make it worthwhile, make it impressive!

4. Make realistic deadlines

Lose 30 pounds this weekend! Quit smoking in 15 minutes. Learn to play the guitar in 10 days! These are all foolish and unrealistic deadlines.

The goals are worthwhile the deadlines are not. There is no personal goal setting that is unrealistic. But there are unrealistic time frames. Patience is a virtue and there are physical limitations that you can not get around... give yourself a break!

5. Make goals that are both long & short term

Your BIG end result is your long term goal. The steps you need to take to get to your ultimate goal are your short term goals.

Parkinson's law says "work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion.". This means that whatever goal you make will take as long as the time you give it.

Definite steps that you have to take right now will lead you right up to the BIG one that might take a year or more. Shorter, daily, weekly or monthly goals will help you to stay motivated and keep you on target.

6. Make goals that fire your emotions

Some days are better than others. Some days you just won't feel like making the effort you need to attain your goal. It is the big 'why' that will keep you going on those not so good days.

Figuring out the reason for a goal adds emotion to it. The bigger the reason the more the motivation. This is because your subconscious mind is the emotional part of your mind. Your subconscious responds to emotion.

Your personal goal setting will benefit by answering the question: Why is reaching this goal so important to me?

Related questions could be:

What will the end result look like?
Who is an inspiring role model?
Will I impress anyone - gain respect?
Will I prove something (to myself or others)?
Will I feel better?
Will I have more freedom, time, money?

Personal goal setting is just that - personal - only you can answer these and other questions like them.

7. Make goals that do not conflict with each other

A conflicting goal is to burn fat and bulk up at the same time. Or, relax more while getting more work done.

If you have goals that conflict you will do one or the other or neither. You will never do both.

8. Make your goals in the form of affirmations

Write out your goals - all of them - long term, short term, big goals, little goals in the form of affirmations. Learn how to create affirmations here.

Remember that 97% of the population will not write their goals out... you are different - you are in the 3% of the population that is going to succeed! Write them out. Do it now.

9. Make your goals stick in your subconscious mind

It has been proven that repetition is an awesome way to penetrate and program your subconscious mind. Your personal goal setting will go far beyond mere repetition with affirmations combined with entrainment.

You can re-write the programs in your mind in short order and in a way that YOU want, in a very short period of time.

Affirmations are powerful but they won't do anything for you if you only 'try' them once or twice - be persist ant with them!

10. Believe!

Both William James, the 'father' of American psychology, and Napoleon Hill, the 'father' of the success movement recognized the power of affirmations (thoughts) that have been emotionalized and mixed with faith.

Faith is unshakable belief. Knowing that you know that you know that you know!

The bible states that "Faith comes by hearing...." There it is again - repetition. Keep repeating your affirmations ...

They will become your beliefs

11. Visualize.

When you do your affirmation exercises & programs don't forget to visualize. Personal goal setting will get a huge boost from creative visualization.

Your mind thinks in pictures, so visualize your goal in bright, clear moving mental images. It does not matter if you are good at it or not... just do it. You will get results.

You have done your personal goal setting and now you have achieved a goal. Perhaps it is your first short term goal on your list that will take you to the BIG one. Now what?

~*** CELEBRATE! ***~

Give yourself an appropriate reward! You deserve it. After all you have done something that only 3% of the population has done.

As time goes by you will be encouraged by a record of all your victories so keep a log of all the goals that you've achieved. When you review your log in a years time or so, you'll be very surprised and pleased with what you've accomplished.

Keep setting more goals - keep yourself challenged. Why fall back into old habits when you've worked so hard to make good gains? Make it a point to improve yourself or the world around you every day.

Personal Goal Setting and Affirmations for Radical Success