Have you ever set a goal for yourself, but never followed through? Do you want to accomplish things in your life, but never manage to get focused enough on the change that you have in mind? Or maybe, you just wonder “what’s the point?” when it comes to setting goals.
You definitely have to be in the right mindset to make a change in your life, as change doesn’t just happen on its own. Whether change involves a focus on personal growth, making a career switch, doing more exercise, or working on improving nutrition, any type of change involves a conscious thought process that compares your current state to what you identify as your ‘ideal’ situation. For change to occur, you must want that change to happen and see the ultimate prize as more satisfying than your current pursuits.
Research shows that goal setting can be an integral path towards achieving success in life. It’s known that goal setting can offer direction (by helping you organize your thoughts), build confidence (as you gradually work towards your stated goal), help you to modify your behaviour/develop new habits over time, and push you to achieve greater objectives (there’s no better feeling than accomplishing a goal that you set, and then identifying a new goal to work towards).
The best way to start when setting a new goal is to be SMART about it--Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Timely. SMART goals are a great framework to work with when identifying a goal that you want to work towards because they offer focus and structure, which will then help you improve your chances of ultimately meeting your goal. On the other hand, when goals are left too vague, you run the risk of never meeting them because there’s no framework to support success.
If you would like to learn more about making your own SMART goals, check out our blog post next time entitled “Setting SMART Goals--A How To Guide”.