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Setting Effective Goals

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Over the years you may well have set goals that simply never seemed to materialize. When that happens it is tempting to give up with goal setting, however, don’t. Goal setting and achieving is not a trial-and-error process, it is a skill that you can acquire. Simply in this article you will see how to set effective goals and put a stop to those “failures”.

Set Goals Based On Your Desires

It is easy for you to have ideas about things you want to do or achieve in life without really considering if it fits in with your true aspirations. One of the most important aspects of goals and life is that you ensure that it is what you want. A goal will not be effective if you do not carry enough of a desire for reaching it.

Find What You Want

The problem that you may well encounter is that you have been so influenced by society or your upbringing and beliefs or your life situation that you don’t seem to be able to truly tap into your deepest desires.

As a result of this, it is easy for your goals to, in fact, be based on what you think others expect of you or guilty feelings on your part or what you think is best for others etc. The sad thing is that often you don’t even realize this. So, how do you ensure that what you are setting our sights on is what you want?

This can be quite daunting at first, so rather look at each area of your life and decide your goals in each of these. Here are some suggestions for life areas:

• Self
• Romantic Relationship
• Family
• Friends
• Work / career
• Home
• Health

(You can always come up with your own set and include specifics such as spiritual, finances, community work etc.)

Don’t Limit Yourself

Firstly you need to discard all of these external restrictions. This means you need to dream and imagine. Toss aside your beliefs around what you can or can’t do, ignore your concerns about how it will affect others, stop worrying about what others would think… answer the questions:

• How would I like this area of my life to be?
• What would I like to see there?
• If it were like that, what would I be doing, what would I look like, who would be there, how would I be feeling?

Look At Your History

If you are really struggling to find those dreams, try the following:

• Recall the times when you have been happiest and make a note of why that was.
• Think back to your childhood: what did you want then, what were your dreams?
• When do you feel most inspired?
• What are you doing when time seems to fly by and you don’t notice it because you are so enthralled with the task at hand?
• Sometimes you look at others and dream of having certain aspects of their lives – what are those things?
• Are there times when you start imagining how you would like things to be but then cut yourself short because you believe it is “not possible” and “only a dream”?

Find as many dreams as you like for each life area. When you have found these answers you are on your way to setting effective goals.

You probably won’t be able achieve everything, so now you need to start looking at what is really most important to you. This is where you want to focus and develop you goals. Never think something is impossible.

You can always work around or through obstacles. You can always adapt. The foundation of setting effective goals is to find the right ones for you. This is where you will find the most fulfillment in your life.

Setting Effective Goals - this article was contributed by Juliet du Preez

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