What do you want to achieve? Or change?
Perhaps you want to get rid of a bad habit?
Or improvement in a relationship that is not going well?
Or do you want to stand up for yourself better?
Or do you want to get rid of your stress, agitation and restlessness?
Or from your short fuse?
Whatever it is, setting yourself a goal is valuable. You probably already know that you should write down your goals and phrase them in a positive way. So what you well want instead of what you not want.
Where focus goes, energy flows. And where energy flows, whatever you're focusing on grows. In other words, your life is controlled by what you focus on. That's why you need to focus on where you want to go, not on what you fear.
- Tony Robbins
Why do you often fail to set a goal?
Sometimes you don't feel like setting a goal at all. This is then often due to an experience from your past. Recognisable? You may not always have achieved your goal then. For example, because of one of these reasons: too little action, no flow, myself, excuses, time, there is 'something' on it, no discipline, doubt, tired, distractions, no focus...
Of course, that doesn't motivate and then next time you avoid the risk of fear of failure and just don't set any more goals.
Why I challenge you to set that goal anyway?
Research by Harvard shows that the people who had a plan with clear goals after college (3%) were more enthusiastic about life, happier and better adjusted to life 20 years later. This is interesting, but what was particularly striking was that this 3% is worth more financially than the 95% combined!
"Wow, how glad I am that we got to work on my personal goals for this year. It was starting to itch for me to apply for jobs again anyway. I had proverbially slammed the doors shut because I was rejected time and again. But after the training day, I had resolved to go full steam ahead. I now have 3 appointments in my diary. Even with companies that had not invited me before!
But then how do I set a clear goal?
A clear goal is something you write down SMART. In addition, the following points are very important in setting your goal:
- Look back
- Determine WHY achieving that goal is so important to you
- Visualise your goal
- ACTION
Setting goals by looking back first
You may sometimes forget to look back, while that is where your gold lies; the lessons learned. You can do this using the following questions:
- What was truly FANTASTIC in 2022?
- What were your magic moments in 2022?
- What did you really achieve in 2022?
- What made you make a breakthrough? What were the elements?
- What do you want more of in 2023?
- What didn't work out? What did you get stuck on?
- What were you missing in terms of knowledge, skills or auxiliaries?
- What would you like to achieve this year?
The essence of goal setting
When setting goals, it is very important to determine for each goal WHY you want to achieve this so badly right now. Because what if you can't keep it up on just your discipline?
Why do you want to achieve your goal.
My morning routine and exercising 4 times a week were once a goal for me, for which I elaborated extensively on the why. The main reason for me at the time was to feel healthy and fit.
Gradually, I discovered that my why was bigger. My why expanded to having enough energy to achieve my goals, feeling good all day and being confident. I also got better relationships, could do more in a day and things took less of my time.
The essence of my goals for me is to have more energy and look better and longer can be for my children. And that's a very strong WHY!
Living & visualising goals
Besides the why, research also shows that experiencing your goals as if you have already achieved them works well. Athletes use this too; the power of visualisation.
- How do you feel about this?
- What really gets you excited?
- What does this mean to you? How much fun will you have from this?
- How is it going to be for you?
What first small step can you take right now?
Research shows that if you engage in an action within 24 hours, the likelihood of reaching your goal increases by 33%. For example, requesting information about the gym membership or dance class.
How can you move forward?
- Make a list of goals with timelines and formulate 2-3 main goals you want to achieve within a year.
- For each goal, write why you are committed to it with strong reasons.
- Watch your top three goals daily
- Take initial action on your goals within 24 hours
- Make a plan on how you will achieve your goals; do, do, do....
Want more inspiration and concrete tools? Also listen to the accompanying podcast.
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