One of the main things I do every day at work is help people set goals. Since the new year just started and many of us have set new goals I thought I would share some tips.
1. Having long term goals is great! But many times we can get discouraged because of the time it takes to acheive these goals. So the first trick of the trade is to break down that long term goal into short term goals. This will help to keep motivation up and also allow you to evaluate your progress along the way.
2. Be REALISTIC. Try to keep your short term goals simple. Think of something that you are confident you can acheive in a weeks time. I can't tell you how many times I've met with people who try to make drastic changes, going from doing nothing to doing everything, and with the exception on 1 or 2 people this never works.
3. Be as specific as possible. A lot of times we don't meet our goals because we don't have a specific plan of action. For example:
Ineffective- I will lose weight by cutting back on the amount of fat I eat.
Effective- Long Term Goal: I will lose 10 pounds in 4 months.
Short Term Goal: I will lose .5 pounds per week by(this is the specific part): Exercising 40 minutes 4-5 days/week (you can even go farther, in fact I recommend it, and say in the mornings on monday, wednesday, friday, saturday). You can use this format if you would like:
This week I will:
What:______________________ (This is the action you are going to take ie: exercise or you can be even more specific and say what kind of exercise you are going to perform, ie: run)
How much:__________________ (How long are you going to do this activity for, ie: 40 minutes, or if for example you were working on a paper you could either say for 1 hour or until I complete x number of pages.)
When:______________________ (When are you going to do this ie: morning, or you could specify a time like 7 am, or you could set specific days)
How many: __________________ (How many days are you going to do this activity, ie: 4-5 days/week)
Confidence Level (0-10): _______(If it is less than 7 then you need to reevaluate your goal and see if there are any changes that you could make to increase your confidence level)
4. Write your goals down! Doing this has been proven to increase your success by 70%.
4. Make sure you set up times to evaluate your progress, so after 1-2 weeks or a month. This part is another key to success. During this time reflect on your successes as well as any barriers that you have incurred. If these barriers stopped you from acheiving your goal, then think about ways that you can solve this problem, this might mean that you have to makes changes to your goal. If you can't think of a solution try asking a friend or family member for any ideas that they may have.
5. Realize that set backs are part of life. Things usually don't go perfectly and that's ok! It just gives us an opportunity to use our brains to problem solve so we don't get alzheimers. Don't get discouraged! Use your set back as a learning opportunity, since you problem solved you will be able to tell that problem to hit the road should it come up in the future.
6. And lastly, celebrate your victories! Give yourself a reward, small or big, it doesn't matter you deserve it!
Setting these small goals will help to do a couple of things. They help you to stay on track. They don't overwhelm you. They help you to frequently evaluate your progress, and they help you to build confidence in your ability to acheive your goals! These little goals although small on their own, over time build on one another and before you know it you've acheived something great!
If you ever want someone to talk to about your goals, have any questions, or need help, I would love to talk to you, so plleeeeasssee let me know!
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