Personal Development Goal Setting
Achievement starts with setting goals.
Personal development goal setting is necessary for success.
The process or act of creating or accomplishing an objective.
And the act of achieving an ideal mental and social condition, usually through self-discipline, asceticism, or education.
Without goals one cannot set a course for their life and thus cannot properly develop themselves as a person.
Setting goals is the first step to reaching your destination in life; without it you'll find that you're running in circles with no ultimate destination in sight.
The word "goal" is a derivative of the Greek word "ge-" (γη-), meaning "aim, goal, object".
With the advent of setting goals, one can improve their personal development. If a person does not set measurable goals they can never truly know where they stand. Any notion to do something great is hindered by those without direction and without definition. For example: setting the goal of washing cars for a living is a meaningless goal because it lacks an objective; we cannot define what we are working towards and therefore have no idea how we are going to get there. Without a destination, people are free to wander aimlessly through life with no purpose in sight. This is why goal setting is necessary.
"Goal-setting is a powerful process that focuses your mind on what you want out of life." – Les Hewitt
A goal is an objective that an individual or group has decided to achieve by a specific time in the future. The purpose of setting goals is to enable the group or individual to evaluate how well they are performing and how well they are progressing towards their objectives, so as to ensure that their plans are being implemented effectively.
For this process to be effective, it needs to be done in the right way.
There are two types of goals: life goals, which are the objectives that people set for themselves at a certain point in their life and personal development goals. Personal development goals are both of these, but in that they represent objects of greater value than those which are needed for our survival – family, health, education and so on.
Personal development goals can be set by one or more people; however it is important to define them from a common goal as there may be disagreement about the priority to give each of them. It is also important to set out a deadline for their achievement.
The first step of setting goals is to write them down.
In order to make the goal clear, it must be defined, quantified and the time limits must be established. It's important that these goals are clear in your mind before you write them so as to avoid confusion with every passing day. Writing down your goals also forces you to think realistically and take responsibility for your actions.
The next step is that you share these goals with those who know you best and can be of help, because they will encourage and support you when things get hard for you.
The final step is to prepare a plan for their achievement. Having a plan means that you will not only achieve your goals, but also it will show other people who can inspire and help you with this process.
Long-term planning is required for the achievement of personal development goals, because these plans should be based on short-term plans and this in turn leads to long-term planning. More importantly, long-term planning needs to be realistic; therefore it should not be based on achieving miracles or extraordinary feats in just a few days or weeks.
In order to meet the requirements of "long term" the timeline should be defined in years, months and even days if necessary.
The main short-term plan should be laid out in detail and must include activities, plans and goals. For example: "I will raise money to travel this summer." "I will complete a specific project by the end of the year."
This three-step process can be summarized as follows:
1. Envision the goal or objective
2. Set a timetable for achieving it and break down that timetable into smaller time periods with associated goals and plans for each of those time periods3. Follow your plan decision by decision, action by action, until you achieve your goal/objective.
There are an innumerable amount of methods to set goals, some of which may be as follows:
The most popular and effective method is the SMART method, which stands for "Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Time-bound". The goal that you decide to set should be realistic; and because there is no such thing as a free lunch in life it has to be time-bounded!
The next step is that you have to decide which techniques (or methods) will work best for you. You must experiment with these techniques until you find the one that works best for your situation. For example: "I will write daily on my goals for the next 2 weeks. I will write about how I'm feeling and what my motivation is for completing the task."
Personal development goals are necessary for success. If a person does not set measurable goals they can never truly know where they stand. Any notion to do something great is hindered by those without direction and without definition. For example: setting the goal of washing cars for a living is a meaningless goal because it lacks an objective; we cannot define what we are working towards and therefore have no idea how we are going to get there. Without a destination, people are free to wander aimlessly through life with no purpose in sight. This is why goal setting is necessary.
"Goal-setting is a powerful process that focuses your mind on what you want out of life." – Les Hewitt
A goal is an objective that an individual or group has decided to achieve by a specific time in the future. The purpose of setting goals is to enable the group or individual to evaluate how well they are performing and how well they are progressing towards their objectives, so as to ensure that their plans are being implemented effectively.
For this process to be effective, it needs to be done in the right way.
There are two types of goals: life goals, which are the objectives that people set for themselves at a certain point in their life and personal development goals. Personal development goals are both of these, but in that they represent objects of greater value than those which are needed for our survival – family, health, education and so on. Personal development goals can be set by one or more people; however it is important to define them from a common goal as there may be disagreement about the priority to give each of them. It is also important to set out a deadline for their achievement.
The first step of setting goals is to write them down.In order to make the goal clear, it must be defined, quantified and the time limits must be established. It's important that these goals are clear in your mind before you write them so as to avoid confusion with every passing day.
Conclusion
The most important and effective step of your goal setting is that you share these goals with those who know you best and can be of help, because they will encourage and support you when things get hard for you.
By doing this step, the most important thing is that you stay consistent with your planning; otherwise the vision of your goal may become distorted.
Most people are aware of the importance but are still unsure about how to write goals which could be in line with their own personal values. The great question then becomes: "How do I determine my values?" When asked to do so, most people default to either religious or philosophical views and/or theories from other fields, such as economics and psychology.