A Quick Guide To Effective Goal Setting

Do you know what you want out of life? Chances are that you've a good idea what you don't want ' because, as far as I can see, most people are running away from their perceived problems ' ill health, stress, worry, financial problems, low self confidence ' rather than running towards some big and exciting goal. Lots has been written or said about goal setting ' Google 'Goal Setting' and you'll find a proliferation of websites that tell you how to do it. But all of this is useless until you know for sure, for yourself, what it is that you actually want. Because, if you're not sure what you want, how are you going to find it? Until you've settled on a goal, your mind can't focus on bringing about the outcome.

Do you know your goals? I bet you that you've a good idea what you'd like to change in your life but that's not the same thing as having big and exciting goals. We all know that things that we want to get rid of in our lives - health worries, financial worries, all the worries that you can think of! We want to get rid of stress and all its associated physical and psychological problems. Maybe we want to get over some personal problem that we think we have - like shyness, lack of self confidence or low self esteem. In other words, we're all experts at knowing all the problems that we want to be rid of. The key question is, have we a clear idea in our heads of what we actually do want? And, even when we think that we do know what we want, how often does it change? Because, it seems to me, that most people are as changeable as the wind - one day it's a new car, next day it's a new job, the following day it's a different car because the neighbours have just got one, the day after that, it might be a holiday or a holiday home. The point is, even if you're into setting your mind to different goals, it's damn difficult to hit a moving target.

So, here are a couple of suggested questions that might fix your mind on the kind of life and lifestyle that you really want. First of all, consider this. If you were told today that you're dying and that you've only got twelve weeks left, what would you do for that remaining time? Don't get me wrong - you're not to answer that question by saying that you'll sink into a deep depression for the next twelve weeks! What I am suggesting is that a question such as this can focus the mind. And, of course, you must realize that you only have a finite amount of time available to you anyway - maybe you should be thinking this way all of the time.

You then need to ask yourself who is most important to you in life - and what are your priorities? Do you devote your time and attention to these priorites or those people as things stand - and how might your life be different if you spent more time focused on these things and people than the way in which you waste your time and energy at present? How important are you to you? How much time and energy do you devote to yourself? This is not a question of selfishness - it's a question of getting your priorities right because, until you're at peace with yourself, you'll be at war with everything else in the world, often including the people who are most important to you.

How would you describe your ideal life? What would it have in it - not what would it not have in it! If you could pick a moment when all is right with the world and your place in it, what would that feel like? Where would you be, who would you be with. You see, in order to captivate your attention and, as a result, focus your mind, you need to paint a picture for your mind. Your mind experiences and views the world through the only interface you have with external reality - your five senses. So, in setting your goals, there's no point in saying things like 'I want to have this' or 'I'd like to have that' - you have to describe your objective to your subconscious mind in language that it understands - the language of the five senses.

So, having answered the above questions, what would your ideal moment look like, feel like, sound like, smell like and taste like? Forget about how you might have arrived at this point. Pay no attention to the apparent fact that your life may be very far removed from that ideal picture at this point in time. Don't bother worrying about how you might get there, don't think about when it might happen - what you need to do is be sure and certain how it feels to have arrived. Your subconscious mind dictates your reactions, your behaviour and, therefore, your life based on psychological 'snapshots'. You need to captivate your subconscious mind with a new and exciting snapshot. This can only be done in a sensory way and is best embedded in the subconscious by writing down all those feelings, sights, sounds, tastes and smells, as if you're already there.

There's an old saying that nothing concentrates the mind like hanging! You need your mind to be concentrated and focused - because if you don't achieve this first vital objective, all your other objectives will be unachievable. And be careful what you wish for...


Copyright (c) 2011 Willie Horton