Effective Goal Setting, Using the SMART Method, Part One of Three
Make a list of your dreams, goals, and desires.
What do you really want to be, do, and have.
Do you want to be a great public speaker, climb a mountain, learn to fly an airplane, own a new luxury car?What gets you excited?What gets your "juices flowing"?What are some of the things, that if you dug way back in your memory banks you could remember you truly wanted when you were a child and uninfluenced by other people or limiting beliefs.
Make a list of some of those things that you remember, the ones that still get you really excited just to think about.
Now that you have a list, go through the list and pick several that you believe you can accomplish in the next one year, three years and the next five years and place the numbers 1, 3, and 5, next to those items.
Go back through all of your 1's and choose several that you really want to go for in the next year, goals that may seem a little over the top right now, goals that you will know that you've really done everything right in order to accomplish them.
Do the same with your 3(year)'sand 5(year)'s.
Next you'll write out a set of goals.
3"X5" index cards make great goal cards, they are large enough to write plenty of goals on each one and they are small enough to carry with you anywhere.
One method of goal writing which is very successful is the "SMART" method.
This is the acronym for Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, and Time connected.
Some other important aspects of goals is that they be powerful, exciting, and fun.
Powerful in that they draw you toward them, exciting in that they challenge you, and fun so that you always want to be going after them.
You want to have goals that are specific, measurable, and time connected, you also want to have goals that you will have to stretch for to attain.
An example might be if you regularly earn $60,000 to $65,000 per year.
To have a goal of earning $65,000 to $67,000 is easily attainable, not much fun, as you are not stretching to get there, and you would probably reach that level without any effort as far as changing your mental habits or setting goals.
In this example a goal of $80,000 this year would be a stretch, a lot of fun when it is attained, and would take mental changes, changes in your actions, and work with goal exercises in order to attain.
You will want to write your goals in the present tense, as if today were your goal date, one year from now.
Its September 30, 20__, and I now have $ _________, in the bank, I drive ___________, orI now live in a beautiful __ bedroom __ bathroom home in ______(suburb), _________, (city), _________ (state).
DO NOT write your goals as follows: By September 30, 20__, I will have $ _______ in the bank, and I will be driving _____, and I will live in a beautiful __bedroom __ bathroom home in ________(suburb), ______(city), ________ (state).
The reason for this method of writing your goals will be more apparent in later articles in this series.
Be sure to read Part Two, Bringing Emotion to Your Goals.
Charging your goals with emotion is fun, and willassist you in reaching them.
What do you really want to be, do, and have.
Do you want to be a great public speaker, climb a mountain, learn to fly an airplane, own a new luxury car?What gets you excited?What gets your "juices flowing"?What are some of the things, that if you dug way back in your memory banks you could remember you truly wanted when you were a child and uninfluenced by other people or limiting beliefs.
Make a list of some of those things that you remember, the ones that still get you really excited just to think about.
Now that you have a list, go through the list and pick several that you believe you can accomplish in the next one year, three years and the next five years and place the numbers 1, 3, and 5, next to those items.
Go back through all of your 1's and choose several that you really want to go for in the next year, goals that may seem a little over the top right now, goals that you will know that you've really done everything right in order to accomplish them.
Do the same with your 3(year)'sand 5(year)'s.
Next you'll write out a set of goals.
3"X5" index cards make great goal cards, they are large enough to write plenty of goals on each one and they are small enough to carry with you anywhere.
One method of goal writing which is very successful is the "SMART" method.
This is the acronym for Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, and Time connected.
Some other important aspects of goals is that they be powerful, exciting, and fun.
Powerful in that they draw you toward them, exciting in that they challenge you, and fun so that you always want to be going after them.
You want to have goals that are specific, measurable, and time connected, you also want to have goals that you will have to stretch for to attain.
An example might be if you regularly earn $60,000 to $65,000 per year.
To have a goal of earning $65,000 to $67,000 is easily attainable, not much fun, as you are not stretching to get there, and you would probably reach that level without any effort as far as changing your mental habits or setting goals.
In this example a goal of $80,000 this year would be a stretch, a lot of fun when it is attained, and would take mental changes, changes in your actions, and work with goal exercises in order to attain.
You will want to write your goals in the present tense, as if today were your goal date, one year from now.
Its September 30, 20__, and I now have $ _________, in the bank, I drive ___________, orI now live in a beautiful __ bedroom __ bathroom home in ______(suburb), _________, (city), _________ (state).
DO NOT write your goals as follows: By September 30, 20__, I will have $ _______ in the bank, and I will be driving _____, and I will live in a beautiful __bedroom __ bathroom home in ________(suburb), ______(city), ________ (state).
The reason for this method of writing your goals will be more apparent in later articles in this series.
Be sure to read Part Two, Bringing Emotion to Your Goals.
Charging your goals with emotion is fun, and willassist you in reaching them.
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