Setting Goals

Setting goals is important because it provides direction, motivation, and a sense of purpose for your actions. When you set clear and achievable goals, you have a roadmap that helps you prioritize your time and resources to achieve the outcomes you desire, Life coaching can help you set goals and work on them. Here are some of the key benefits of setting goals:

1. Clarity and Focus: Goals help you to clarify what you want to achieve and focus your efforts on what really matters.
2. Motivation: When you have a clear goal, you are more motivated to take action and work towards it.
3. Measure Progress: Goals provide a clear benchmark to measure your progress, which helps you stay on track and make adjustments as necessary.
4. Boost Confidence: Achieving goals can boost your confidence and provide a sense of accomplishment.
5. Accountability: Setting goals can help you to be accountable for your actions and outcomes.
6. Prioritization: Goals help you to prioritize your time and resources on what really matters, making you more efficient and effective in achieving your desired outcomes.

In summary, setting goals is important because it helps you to focus, stay motivated, measure progress, boost confidence, be accountable, and prioritize your actions towards achieving your desired outcomes.

Setting goals is an important process for achieving success in any area of life. Here are some steps you can follow to set effective goals:

1. Identify your objective: What do you want to achieve? Be specific and write it down.
2. Break it down: Divide your objective into smaller, more manageable goals. This makes the task less overwhelming and more achievable.
3. Make it measurable: Set specific, measurable targets for each goal. This allows you to track progress and make adjustments if necessary.
4. Set a timeline: Determine when you want to achieve each goal. This creates a sense of urgency and helps you stay on track.
5. Create an action plan: Determine what steps you need to take to achieve each goal. Write down specific action steps that you can take to move towards your objective.
6. Stay motivated: Keep yourself motivated by celebrating small successes along the way. This will help you stay committed to achieving your larger goal.
7. Review and revise: Regularly review your progress and adjust your goals and action plan as necessary. This will help you stay focused and make necessary changes to achieve success.

GREAT Goals are:

1. Outcome focused: Once you understand your WHY (and it’s an enthusiastic WHY) you’re 90% there!
2. In line with your values: The more a goal aligns with your inner or core values – the EASIER it will be to NOTE: We can achieve goals that don’t align with our values but it’s harder to do and less satisfying.
3. Stated in the positive: “I want healthy fingernails” rather than “I want to stop biting my nails”

and SMART:

Specific  (so you know exactly what you’re trying to achieve)

Measurable  (so you know when you’ve achieved it!)

Action-oriented  (so you can DO something about it!)

Realistic  (so it IS achievable) and

Time-Bound  (has a deadline)

 

Focusing on the Outcome:

1. What is it that you really, REALLY want? Dig deep…
2. What is the SPECIFIC outcome you’re looking for?
3. What is the PAIN for you of NOT achieving your goal?

 

Aligning with your Values:

4. Is this goal in line with your life vision/overall life-plan? (Don’t know – what does your gut tell you?)
5. Is this goal in line with your values? (Unsure? Ask yourself what’s REALLY important to you in life – will this goal help you achieve more of that?)
6. Are the goals something YOU truly want, or are they something you think you SHOULD have or SHOULD be doing? (Tip: If it is a SHOULD, it may be someone else’s dream…)
7. When you think about your goal does it give you a sense of deep contentment or ‘rightness’, happiness and/or excitement? (If so, these are good signs that it’s a healthy goal.)
8. If you could have the goal RIGHT NOW – would you take it? (If not, why not? What issues are there?)
9. How does this goal fit into your life/lifestyle? (Time/effort/commitments/who else might be impacted?)

 

Identifying Obstacles:

• Can YOU start & maintain this goal/outcome? (ie. Do you have complete control over achieving it?)

11. How will making this change affect other aspects of your life? (ie. What else might you need to deal with?)

• What’s good about your CURRENT SITUATION? (ie. What’s the benefit of staying right where you are?) Then ask, how can I keep those good aspects while STILL making this change?

13. WHAT might you have to give up/stop doing to achieve this goal? (Essentially, what’s the price of making this change – and are you willing to pay it?)

• If there was something important around achieving this goal (to help you succeed, or that could get in the way) that you haven’t mentioned yet, what would it be?

15. WHO will you have to BE to achieve this goal?
16. Is your goal the right size to be working on?
    Too big? Break down into smaller goals. Too small? Fit into a larger goal.
17. What would be the MINIMUM/Super-Easy level of goal to achieve?
18. What would be your TARGET level of goal to achieve?
19. What would be your EXTRAORDINARY level of goal to achieve?

Resources – get moving:

5. What RESOURCES do you already have to help you achieve your goal? Make a list! (eg. things, support from people, contacts, personal qualities, knowledge, skills, money, time etc).
6. What RESOURCES do you NEED to help you achieve your goal? Make a list!

 

IMPORTANT: REMEMBER – GOALS are there to INSPIRE YOU not to beat yourself up with!

Setting goals

https://www.betterup.com/blog/how-to-set-goals-and-achieve-them