Setting Your Goals - Easier Said, Easily Done
Setting your goals is one thing, achieving them is another. But if we’re being totally honest with ourselves, the difference between just thinking about it and actually getting off our duff to do it is a pretty slim margin.
So, you might as well read this blog post on "Setting Your Goals" and see if it helps you get unstuck in a major way! You can also take advantage of our nifty checklist that will help make sure you don’t forget anything along the way.
Learn the tricks and steps that help us stay focused long enough to achieve our goals, and see whether or not there are any areas in your life that you might be lacking with immediate action.
To help get you started and on “the path of least resistance,” one of our favorite quotes from the late Jim Rohn is: "You will become what you believe."
So it comes down to this - whatever you believe is true, will be true. Plain and simple! Think like a millionaire? You’ll be one. Think like a failure? You’ll be that, too.
How easy is that? NOT! Yet so true.
So as we get started on our goals and dreams, let’s focus on the positive, think big, believe in ourselves and take some immediate action to make it happen! I know this may sound "pie-in-the-sky," but it’s how to get what we want in life.
First Things First - What Are You Working Towards?
The very first thing you should do to help ensure success with your goal setting is decide WHAT exactly you are working towards.
“To succeed, do what’s meant to be done.”
― John Wooden
Think about that quote for a moment. So what is "meant to be" in your case? What is it you are REALLY after? What do you want to achieve? What is the first step that will take you there? Write it down!
A great way to get clear on this, if you are having trouble putting thoughts and objectives down on paper, is to work with a David Allen style system of Getting Things Done. This method has helped millions of people across the world organize their thoughts, as well as maintain focus and motivation in order to achieve their goals and dreams.
As with anything, this will work best for you if you give it a shot and stick with it.
Creating your goals with focus, clarity and direction is hugely important – but without taking action to achieve them, we’ll never reach our goals. We’ll just be thinking about them all the time, getting frustrated and distracted by those things that are just outside our control.
Let’s cut out the “wasted space” and dump all that junk out of your head!
To help you do this, I found a quote by Napoleon Hill, who was an early 20 th century self-help author. He said:
"When you acquire definite purpose, you commence to attract the means to realize your purpose."
Alrighty then... Let’s do it! Start with setting your goals - one at a time.- one at a time. But first let’s get clear on exactly what it is we want. So write down your goal and list the 3 main activities that will help you achieve it (write them down!).
The “Plan a Path for your Goals” Checklist
This whole process can be overwhelming at first, so we want to make sure you don’t forget anything along the way. For this reason, we put together a plan (a “goal setting checklist”) that will help you go through this process with focus and clarity. As with any goal setting or planning exercise, it helps to have everything written out in front of you.
This will always be available for free on the Abundance-and-Happiness.com website. We created this to help our readers and members create a plan of action that can be used immediately to help them achieve their goals. It will work for you, too!
So here is the document that we put together: "Goal Setting Checklist". You can access it for free by going to abundance-and-happiness.com and selecting "Learn More". Alternatively, you can request it from us with a quick email: info@abundance-and-happiness.com .
You can also download a PDF version of the “Goal Setting Checklist:” Goal Setting Checklist . Keep it with you while you read through this short article.
Here is a quick rundown of the “Goal Setting Checklist”:
Part 1 Goal Setting Checklist - First Things First!
1. What are you working towards? (What is your goal?) We recommend starting off with writing down everything that comes to mind that pertains to your goal or dream. You can use a large sheet of paper, or if you like, keep this document handy on your computer or mobile device. Have no fear! The more the merrier! In the end, the secret is getting started and staying focused for long enough to succeed. We know how hard it is...
2. Write down one stepping stone activity to help you reach your goal. We encourage you to focus on the steps or activities that will help get you there. Think of this like a “road map” for how to get things done – a plan for your actions that can be executed as soon as you decide on a course of action. But don’t worry about getting TO the goal itself. That is where the magic happens in the end!
3. Write down 3 factors that will help you achieve your goal. We know that life tends to throw you some curveballs, and sometimes things just don’t go according to plan. But how many times have we been able to turn seemingly impossible situations into opportunities for growth? How much does this help us reach our goals?
4. Write down a specific action that will help you take the next step towards reaching your goal. This can be anything from an email message or phone call, to applying for a job, taking action on one of your great ideas or just starting off your day with one up-front task (or a series of related actions) that will lead you where you want to go in life.
5.
Conclusion
You’ve just taken the first step towards achieving your goal. And remember, every time you take a single step, you’ll get closer and closer to reaching the next one.
As we said earlier, defining a goal this way really helps you focus on what it is you want and the action steps needed to achieve it. It also helps clear away all that “space junk” that clouds our thoughts and takes us away from achieving our goals.