The Golden Rules To Goal Setting

There’s a saying that goes: ‘Life is what happens while you’re busy making other plans’, and it’s certainly true that you can wake up one day, perhaps after another party filled weekend, and suddenly start wondering where exactly your life is heading. Perhaps you’ve never really thought about where you want to be in ten years time – in fact, perhaps you’ve never really thought about where you want to be in a week! But beginning to live a more purposeful life, one in which you can gain a real sense of achievement and feel good, means that you need to get comfortable with setting goals for yourself and working towards them. Goals give us a focus and a direction in life, and keep us on track when making the wrong decision is tempting. We can’t simply sit back, think about what we want and expect it to magically appear. Personal goal setting is a process which can drive you forward and transform your life – if it’s done right.

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Find Your Motivation

One of the biggest and most commonly encountered obstacles to achieving what you want in life is a lack of motivation. And you’ll never be motivated if your goals aren’t based around things you’re passionate about. Make sure that you create your goals in a way that sets yourself up for success. For example, if your overall aim is to get fit, don’t commit to daily 5k runs if you hate it – you’ll never stick to it. Find a sport that you love and join a team instead – that way you’re far more likely to stick to it and achieve your original aim of getting fit. Life is about finding your passion – whether that is scouting footballstadiumsinfo.co.uk so you can tick of a visit to every Premier League football club ground or backpacking around Costa Rica. Making things happen requires you to be committed, and if you can’t do this then you’re likely to quickly get demotivated and give up.

Make Your Goals Smart

If you’ve come across smart goal setting before, it’s likely to have just been in the context of work – but there’s no reason that this approach can’t be applied to other areas of your life as well. It requires that goals are: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Time Bound. This prevents you from setting targets which are too generic and that don’t give you a road map to success. It also helps you in measuring your achievements – persistence is much easier when you can see how far you’ve already come.

Make The Commitment 

Support yourself by making your goals committed and accountable. Start by writing your goals down – making them immediately more tangible. You can even follow through with some images if that helps you. It can be extremely useful to use visualisation techniques as well – top athletes and businessmen often have success with this method. You can also choose to share your ambitions with someone who will be supportive, but more importantly, keep you accountable.