Let’s talk about Goals

It’s that time of the year when many amongst us turn our mind towards New Year’s Resolutions. Over the years I stopped making these because I think I set myself up for failure by aiming too high too quickly. Last year I tried a vision board for the first time. I realised that the trick to goal setting was not to put too much stress on myself and to keep at the goals all year long. The vision board gives me a daily reminder of what it is that I am striving for. I take it one step at a time. If I become overwhelmed I know I will give up and not continue.

This morning during my meditation I focused on what my ‘calling’ in life was. Whilst I was meditating on this, the subject of goal setting popped into my mind. Any goal that we wish to achieve needs our spirit to be a part of it. If we aren’t 100% on board with things (mind, body and spirit) the job becomes more difficult.

Part of my job at work is writing plans for our clients. It involves setting goals for them for the coming twelve months. The process that we use for our clients is one that I believe is excellent for all of us. It works in three parts:

Long Term Goal

Your long term goal could be something that may take may years to achieve e.g. writing a book or attaining perfect health. Think about what you really want to achieve and write this down. If you set this goal and then leave it at that, I guarantee that very few of you will actually achieve it. Therefore, we need the next step.

Short Term Goals

What do you need to achieve in order to attain your long term goal? If it is perfect health, there may be many steps you need to take in order to reach this. Break your long term goal down into short term goals e.g. Have regular doctor checkups, Maintain a healthy diet, Get regular exercise and Make time for Relaxation. There could be as many short term goals under your main goal as you like. Don’t be stingy with them if you don’t want to.

The next step is to break this down even more:

Strategies

Say you’ve set your short term goal as “Maintain a Healthy Diet”, how do you think you could break that down? Strategies for this could include:

• Aim to eat two pieces of fruit each day
• Drink at least 7 glasses of water each day
• Drink one – two glasses of water before breakfast
• Reduce the amount of takeaway I eat to once a week

Can you see where I am going with this? Once it is broken down into smaller (and manageable) sections, your goal becomes more achievable. Rather than saying that my goal for this year is to attain perfect health and leave it at that, turn it around and say “This year I will achieve perfect health by………”

Whether your goal for the year is to move on after divorce, recover from depression or to finally submit that manuscript, just remember that any goal is attainable if you just keep putting one foot in front of the other.

I wish you much luck with any goals or resolutions that you choose to set in the coming year. 🙂