Practical Goal Setting Tips - Are You Making Any of These Mistakes?
Not Writing. Goals that are not written tend to get forgotten. In the normal day to day activities our goals get lost. Because we don't have them written down we don't see them enough to impress them upon our thoughts. Out of sight out of mind.
Solution: Write your goals down. Something miraculous happens when you do. Writing your goals down makes the whole goal setting process more legitimate. It gives you a set of objectives that you can review on a regular basis. When you can actually see your goals written out you are better able to keep your attention centered on them.
Misplaced Focus. When you focus on the problems more than you focus on your objectives you are doomed to eventually fail. Failure springs from confusion and doubt. You set yourself up to receive both of these when you allow the thoughts of problems and obstacles to fill your mind. You will seem to continue getting bombarded with problems and the more attention you give them the more they will grow in importance to you. Eventually your goal ceases to matter. It loses it's prominence in your life because of your preoccupation with worrying about your problems.
Solution: Center your attention on hitting your goals. Make your achieving your goals more important than continually fretting over situations that you cannot control. If some tasks requires your attention, handle it and quickly pick up where you left off with your goal. Never let fear and doubt control you. Always work through your fear. As you do it will lose it's influence on you. Focus instead on what you want. Keep your attention on what you want to happen and off of what you don't want to happen.
Impersonal. A goal that someone gives you is not the same as having your own goal. Going after a goal simply because someone else is going after that goal doesn't offer you the same fulfillment that striving to hit your own does. If your goal is not your own goal you will have a hard time accomplishing it. And even if you do accomplish it you will not be satisfied. Pursuing a goal that is not your own will cause you to waste large amounts of time and effort.
Solution: Set your own goals. And set them for your own reasons. You can model your aspirations after someone else, but only do so if you sincerely want what they have. A challenging goal will require that you expend a great deal of energy. It is wise to decide in advance that you are aimed at an objective that is worth the effort that you are about to put forth.