If there is one thing that you can do to help you achieve anything you want in your life, and that thing will be goal setting. Studies have been shown that goal setting works and it works great if you know how to set powerful, inspiring and driven goals. However, most people do not know how to set their goals. Therefore, you are going to discover the top 5 secrets to successful smart goal setting today.
Many people just set their goal and forget about it. They thought that after they set their goal they can just sit and watch television and their goals will automatically come true. This is not possible. That is why you need to make use of the power of goal setting to help you achieve much more in your life. What you want here is smart goal setting, not just plain and ordinary goal setting.
So are you ready to discover the top 5 secrets? Make sure that once you read this article, continue to read until the end, and don't stop in the half way. And make sure that you take every single steps mentioned in this articles. Now, let us digest the meat of this article...
Secret #1 - Know What You Really Want
Most people fail in goal setting because they don't really know what they want. Today, maybe you have a very clear financial goal, maybe you want to make $1 million dollar in 2 years. However, the question is, do you know why you want to achieve it? Too often, people do not know why they want to achieve their goals. As you know, it is the reason that will drive you, not the goal itself.
Therefore, you must make sure that you know exactly why you want to achieve your goals. If your reason is not clear, even if you have a crystal clear goal, you will soon lose your drive to achieve it. This is because you don't have a strong reason to achieve it in the first place. The thing you need to do now is to find out what you really want before you really start. This is your life and your future; take your time to find out what you really want in your life.
If your desire for your goals is very strong, you will somehow achieve your goals no matter how impossible it may seem. Remember, it is your reason that will drive you to take the necessary action to achieve your goals.
Secret #2 - Set Clear and Specific Goals
Once you have found out what you really want in your life, it will be time for you to set your goals. I believe that you know how to set your goals. Goal setting cannot be done without having a pen and a paper. So get ready with a pen and a paper. Think about what you really want, and then write them down. A goal without writing it down is not a goal, it is a dream. You must write down your goal.
Another thing is this; your goals must be as clear and as specific as possible. Why? This is because the clearer your goals, the easier your mind will create a strategy to achieve them. Write down every single detail about your goals. For example, if your goal is to purchase a sport car, then make sure you know exactly what model it is, what color it is, etc.
If your goal is not clear, it is difficult for your mind to come up with a plan to achieve it. Just like if you are not clear with what you want in your life, you will be like a lost sheep that follow the big crowd. You don't have a clear direction to focus on and you will just follow what others are doing. Hence, set it as clear as possible. This is one of the very important factors in smart goal setting.
Secret #3 - Develop Momentum after Setting Your Goals
This is what a lot of people will now do. They do not develop their momentum after they set their goals, and this is the number one killer why most people fail to be driven by their goals. This is a very important step, after you have set your goals, you must develop the momentum to achieve them. So how can you develop the momentum? Very simple, just take 3 action steps within 72 hours after setting your goals.
For example, if your goal is to own a sport car, what you can do is you can visit your local car dealer, and have a test drive. You can obtain the brochures about your sport car as well, and stick them on the wall where you can see it often. Surf the web for more information about your sport car and place it as your wallpaper. If your goal is to achieve financial freedom, for instance, you can visit any bookstore and buy some wealth books, pay the deposit for wealth seminars or courses.
By doing all these, you will develop the first momentum to get you going. There are a lot of steps you can take to develop your momentum, just take at least 3 and done them in 72 hours. After that, keep on developing your momentum and keep yourself driven all the way. Once you have your momentum going, it is harder for you to stop, this is the law of momentum.
Secret #4 - Put Yourself On the Line
In order to achieve your goals, you must put yourself on the line. What I mean here is that you must make sure that there is no other way out but to achieve your goals. This way, it will be for sure you will achieve your goals because there is failure is not an option anymore. So how can you put yourself on the line? Make a public commitment about your goals.
Tell everyone you know about your goals, tell your parents, tell your neighbors, tell your friends, tell anyone. The moment you did this, you know that there is no other but to achieve your goals. Your words have gone public, everyone knows about what you want to achieve and this is going to put you in a situation where failure is not an option.
Think about it, you don't want your friends to laugh at you right? So make use of them as the power to drive yourself toward your goals. I know that many people don't dare to do this, because they somehow leave an escape path for themselves. If you do so, your mind will tell you that it is fine even if you are not achieving what you want; you are not going to die even if you did not achieve your goals. This is the main reason most people fail to achieve what they want.
Secret #5 - Set an Interesting and Stretch Goal
Your goal must be interesting and must be a stretch goal. What I mean by stretch goal is that, your goals must be something that you cannot achieve by just simply work harder. Your goals must be high and interesting. If your monthly business profit is $1,000, and you set your goal as to achieve a profit of $1,200, this is not a stretch goal, this is an incremental goal. You know that by just working harder and spending more time into your work, having a small increase of $200 per month is a mission possible.
Stretch goal is a goal that will stretch your mind, because you cannot achieve it by using the simple strategies that you are using currently. Take the example above; if you set your goal to achieve a monthly profit of $5,000, you know exactly that you cannot achieve this goal by simply working harder or spending more time in it. You need to come up with different strategies to achieve it. For instance, you can look for partners to expand your business, invest in research and developing new products or services, etc.
Another reason you need to have interesting goals is this, they can motivate you. Imagine that you are sleeping, which goal is going to wake you up? Is it to achieve a monthly profit of $1,200 or a monthly profit of $10,000? Of course, the latter is more interesting and it can make up jump out of bed when you think about it. That is why you need to make sure that your goals are interesting and must be able to stretch your mind.
These are the top 5 secrets to successful smart goal setting. Always remember this, goal setting is free. Since you are going to set your goals anyway, why don't you set them big and interesting?
I believe that you want to set an inspiring and driven goal that will motivate you to achieve what you want in your life right? So just follow the 5 secrets here, and you will achieve the things you wanted the most in your life. The journey of a thousand leagues start from a single step, take your first step now do what you are supposed to do.
This article comes from Ezine Database and is written by Shawn Lim from July 17, 2008. Setting your own goals and following the secret steps described here by Mr. Lim will allow you to advance as a person and accomplish more in life.
Article Source: https://EzineArticles.com/expert/Shawn_Lim/105772
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