We all want to set goals, but it can be a bit confusing and maybe scary.
We know that once we commit to a goal, we have to start to take action to reach the goal.
I have outlined some ways to write and work towards your goals so that you have a greater chance of success.
First,be positive.
Notice what happens when I tell you not to picture an elephant in your head.
You picture an elephant, right? It's the same concept with life.
The things that you say you don't want seem to have an uncanny ability to creep into your thoughts.
If you are thinking that you hate your fat thighs all of the time, you are focusing on your fat thighs and when you give that much energy to something it just makes it bigger.
Take the focus off of what you don't want and focus on what you do want.
Give energy to those things and the things that you don't want in your life will start to fade away.
Your focus creates your reality.
so if you focus more on what you don't want, you will get what you don't want.
Another way of thinking about it is, are you looking at the obstacles or the finish line? When we spend all day looking at the obstacles in our lives we loose sight of the finish line, or, our goals.
So have your goals reflect the things you want to create in your life.
Second, be specific.
If I say, "I want to lose some weight, sometime in the future.
"Then how will I know when I have reached my goal?On the other hand, if I say, "I want to lose 30 pounds in 6 months.
"I have something to work toward.
Be as specific as you can, writing down the date that the goal will be complete, along with specific details about your life at that time.
What season is it? Are you inside or outside?Who is with you as you realize your goal?Is there a party or celebration?Or is it a quiet time where you reflect on your inner strength and abilities? Get a very specific picture in your mind of what will be happening in your world when you reach your goal, then draw it or cut out pictures and make a collage of the emotions that you will feel and any thing that represents what you will gain by reaching this goal.
Remember that there will be a lot of learning on the path to reaching your goal and you may want to incorporate things you see yourself learning along the way.
There is a story of a man who made a "dream board" when he was young, pasting on pictures of things he dreamt of having or achieving in his life.
When he moved he packed the board away and really didn't think much about it for many years.
When going through some old boxes,years later, he came across the dream board.
He was shocked as he realized that he had achieved the same or better than everything represented on his old forgotten "dream board".
This story represents the importance of puttingyour dreams and goals on paper in some way.
Third, Take baby steps.
How do you eat a 1,000 pound elephant? one bite at a time.
Please don't expect yourself to change drastically overnight, there are phases to change and many baby steps will make a long journey easier.
Look at what you can do in the time you are givingyourself, take into consideration your emotional state at this time.
Maybe many little goals that can be easily reached is what you need right now, that is alright, set that up foryourself.
Sometimes when we are down we need to have some successes under your belt to boost your confidence.
There is nothing wrong with that.
I encourage it.
Don't expect that you will have 100 new clients in the next 10 days, the chances of falling short of that goal probably outweigh the chances of being able to complete it.
Set yourself up to win.
Maybe start out with 1 client in 10 days and then 2 clients in the next 10 days and so on.
As your confidence increases so will your ability to more easily reach goals.
Setting goals should be a challenge, and a challenge that you can meet Fourth, Ask yourself "what will happen to my life when I reach my goal?" Your goal will surely incorporate changing your behavior in some way.
Ask yourself why you have kept this behavior for this long.
There must be something about it working for you.
What are you getting in return for this behavior.
Be sure that you can replace any payoff that you are getting for the current behavior with something more positive and rewarding.
Implementing these tools into your daily life will assist you in reaching your goals more quickly.
Getting what you want takes commitment and hard work, and once you reach your goal you can look back on the journey and see that it was all worth it.
Good luck
We know that once we commit to a goal, we have to start to take action to reach the goal.
I have outlined some ways to write and work towards your goals so that you have a greater chance of success.
First,be positive.
Notice what happens when I tell you not to picture an elephant in your head.
You picture an elephant, right? It's the same concept with life.
The things that you say you don't want seem to have an uncanny ability to creep into your thoughts.
If you are thinking that you hate your fat thighs all of the time, you are focusing on your fat thighs and when you give that much energy to something it just makes it bigger.
Take the focus off of what you don't want and focus on what you do want.
Give energy to those things and the things that you don't want in your life will start to fade away.
Your focus creates your reality.
so if you focus more on what you don't want, you will get what you don't want.
Another way of thinking about it is, are you looking at the obstacles or the finish line? When we spend all day looking at the obstacles in our lives we loose sight of the finish line, or, our goals.
So have your goals reflect the things you want to create in your life.
Second, be specific.
If I say, "I want to lose some weight, sometime in the future.
"Then how will I know when I have reached my goal?On the other hand, if I say, "I want to lose 30 pounds in 6 months.
"I have something to work toward.
Be as specific as you can, writing down the date that the goal will be complete, along with specific details about your life at that time.
What season is it? Are you inside or outside?Who is with you as you realize your goal?Is there a party or celebration?Or is it a quiet time where you reflect on your inner strength and abilities? Get a very specific picture in your mind of what will be happening in your world when you reach your goal, then draw it or cut out pictures and make a collage of the emotions that you will feel and any thing that represents what you will gain by reaching this goal.
Remember that there will be a lot of learning on the path to reaching your goal and you may want to incorporate things you see yourself learning along the way.
There is a story of a man who made a "dream board" when he was young, pasting on pictures of things he dreamt of having or achieving in his life.
When he moved he packed the board away and really didn't think much about it for many years.
When going through some old boxes,years later, he came across the dream board.
He was shocked as he realized that he had achieved the same or better than everything represented on his old forgotten "dream board".
This story represents the importance of puttingyour dreams and goals on paper in some way.
Third, Take baby steps.
How do you eat a 1,000 pound elephant? one bite at a time.
Please don't expect yourself to change drastically overnight, there are phases to change and many baby steps will make a long journey easier.
Look at what you can do in the time you are givingyourself, take into consideration your emotional state at this time.
Maybe many little goals that can be easily reached is what you need right now, that is alright, set that up foryourself.
Sometimes when we are down we need to have some successes under your belt to boost your confidence.
There is nothing wrong with that.
I encourage it.
Don't expect that you will have 100 new clients in the next 10 days, the chances of falling short of that goal probably outweigh the chances of being able to complete it.
Set yourself up to win.
Maybe start out with 1 client in 10 days and then 2 clients in the next 10 days and so on.
As your confidence increases so will your ability to more easily reach goals.
Setting goals should be a challenge, and a challenge that you can meet Fourth, Ask yourself "what will happen to my life when I reach my goal?" Your goal will surely incorporate changing your behavior in some way.
Ask yourself why you have kept this behavior for this long.
There must be something about it working for you.
What are you getting in return for this behavior.
Be sure that you can replace any payoff that you are getting for the current behavior with something more positive and rewarding.
Implementing these tools into your daily life will assist you in reaching your goals more quickly.
Getting what you want takes commitment and hard work, and once you reach your goal you can look back on the journey and see that it was all worth it.
Good luck