Goal Setting and Making 2018 Your Best Year Yet!

So how’s the new year going?  Still sticking to those resolutions or have you still to make any?

For many the start of the new year means starting the year off anew with promises of finding a better job, getting fit, losing weight, giving up a bad habit or saving/paying off debts.  Every year I would say to myself the same thing “This year I’ll lose a stone in weight, save money and cut down on alcohol”.  Although I have built up my fitness over the years, my weight is roughly the same and I seem to have accumulated debts rather than save.  As for alcohol I finally managed to reduce my consumption but had to have hypnosis to do it!!

It’s a fact that on average most new year’s resolutions fail after six weeks and we lose motivation and revert back to the same old ways.  Last year I looked back on my life trying to remember how I used to to achieve goals.  I always had a five year plan in the past and achieved most of my aims.  So, I started setting goals again.  I finally achieved things I didn’t think possible and completed a project that I had been chipping away at for a few years!  Now goal setting is part of my life and with it I’m achieving great things.

Goal setting can be a powerful tool for success and create a focus for where you want to be in life.  Setting goals can give more emphasis and focus to achieving specific things.  They don’t have to be materialistic, they could be spiritual or health related. What are your goals for the year ahead, five years from now or even ten? Goal setting is a tool in the toolbox of manifesting your desires.  Successful people set goals, goals give the focus towards the dreams you have.   Setting goals directs the attention and gives you something to work towards.  They give direction, something to strive for and ultimately self-satisfaction when the goal is achieved.  It’s only a dream until you write it down; then it becomes a goal.  So go on – set those goals for 2018!

Here’s some pointers to set you off.

• Goal statement – What is your goal? Identify it. Be specific.
• Why is this goal important to you? – Identify why the goal is important.
• Actions you need to put in place to achieve your goal – List the action steps you need to take. Break the big picture into small steps.  Set a time by which you wish to complete each action.   For example, can they be done immediately?  In a month? In a year?
• Skills and resources needed – What skills do you need to achieve your goal? What resources do you need?
• What obstacles I may face – Identify the obstacles that may hinder progress. A lack of money, resources? Maybe it’s an emotional block such as fear. Identify them.
• How can I overcome these obstacles? – What do you need to overcome those obstacles? Improve your skills?  Generate more clients?
• My reward when I achieve my goal – Set yourself a reward! There is no greater joy than in realising a goal which in turn builds self-confidence. Plan a reward no matter how small.

There are lots of resources that you can access online especially personal goal setting sheets.  One of my favourite resources is Goal Setting 101 by Philip Humbert which helps set goals for four main areas of your life.  I’ve used this resource many times in the past with great effect.  Click on the link and fill in the two boxes.

http://www.philiphumbert.com/GoalSetting.htm

So, write those goals down.  Revisit them regularly.  Make new goals when the old ones have been achieved.  Rethink and revise goals if they don’t seem to be working out.

Setting goals can be a powerful tool to achieving great things in your life so what are you waiting for – do it!