Successful Goal Setting

I got this from an institute class:

Top Ten Reasons to Establish Written Goals for Your Life

10. Written goals strengthen your character by promoting a long-term perspective.

9. Written goals allow you to lead your life as opposed to simply managing it.

8. Written goals provide intermal, and consistent motivation.

7. Written goals help you stay focused - to concentrate on what's most important.

6. Written goals enhance your decision-making ability.

5. Written goals simultaneously require and build self confidence.

4. Written goals help you create the future in advance.

3. Written goals help you control changes, to adjust your sails, to work with the wind - rather than against it.

2. Written goals heighten your awareness of opportunities that are consistent with your goals.

1. The most important benefit of setting effective goals, is the person you become as a result of the pursuit.

7 Reasons People Don't Set Goals

1. They have not yet accepted personal responsibility for their lives.

2. They fear criticism.

3. They don't know how.

4. They don't realize the importance of goals.

5. The curse of early success.

6. Fear of failure.

7. Fear of success.

Highly Effective Goals Are:

1. Written.

2. Stated positively.

3. Time-Bound. (I will.....by December 31, 2015 at 5pm.)

4. Challenging and reasonable.

5. Consistent with your ambition and desires.

6. Specific and measurable.

7. Thoroughly planned.

8. Tracked. (Chart, graph, track online, fill in the bubble, calendar, etc.) Whatever you do, you can see your success along the way.

9. Performance goals, not outcome goals. (Base your goals on personal performance which you can control, not that someone else can control the outcome. Example: Your goal is to get married in the next year. This isn't the best goal because the person you ask may say no and that would lead to you not succeeding with your goal. You could make a goal to date a lot of people in the next year and go from there.)

The Goal Setting Workshop

Step #1: Brainstorm your dreams/Ideal lifestyle (no limitations, write 50-150+ goals to cover the next 25-30 years of your life)

Step #2: Prioritize (choose 5 goals to focus on for the next year).

Step #3: Convince yourself (what are tangible/intangible rewards of accomplishing your goals?).

Step #4: Plan on paper (what has to happen for you to accomplish your goals? Be specific. This should take awhile. Write down everything you can think of.)

Step #5: List available resources.

Step #6: List potential obstacles.

Step #7: Identify ways to overcome obstacles.

Tips for Success

1. Review your written goals regularly.

2. Get a mentor for important goals. (get direction, advice, ideas, motivation, etc.)

3. Be accountable to someone- tell someone about your goal and deadlines.

4. Be balanced- set goals in several areas. (spiritual, physical, financial, career, family, recreation, travel, community service, education)

5. Create a "triumphs" journal. (create a list of things you have accomplished in the past. This helps you realize that, "I can do hard things.")

6. "Visualize" your goal as already accomplished. (screen saver, pictures, goals book, etc.)

Resources:

"Success is not an Accident" by Tommy Newberry

"The Success Principles" by Jack Canfield

www.joesgoals.com (website to track goals, habits, provides reports, etc.)

www.maintainfit.com (website to track running, swimming, hiking, biking, and walking)