Are You Ready To Set Your New Year’s Goals?
How is one supposed to get ready to set their New Year’s goals? Why must one get ready? First of all, we all know from experience that achieving our New Year’s goals and resolutions can be very challenging. Read here to learn more about why New Year’s goals and resolutions are difficult to achieve.
But, before you begin setting your goals and intentions for the New Year, you might really benefit by first taking stock of what you have achieved this year. What accomplishments are you proud of? What needs recognition? Have you acknowledged all the smaller efforts and steps forward that you have taken? If you haven’t taken this step you will benefit from completing a personal improvement review.
Completing a personal improvement review is a rewarding way to gain closure on 2011 and it is an excellent way to help increase your confidence for the New Year. It is also a symbolic way of acknowledging that your accomplishments are important because you are actively investing in yourself and taking the time to grow and develop.
Before you start your New Year’s Resolutions for 2012, be sure to follow my goal setting program which includes seven steps that will drastically increase your chances of not only setting New Year’s goals but also ensuring that you actually follow through with your goals.
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Complete the online goal setting program for 2012!
Step 1: Explore what goals and intentions are the most meaningful to you at this point in time. What you wanted to achieve or create last year might not be as important to you this year. Don’t skip this step of brainstroming your goals.
If you haven’t already started an evolving achievement binder and learned how to manage your evolving acheivements binder you’ll want to read further on this because it’s an excellent way to organize your goals for any time of the year.
Step 2: Once you’ve brainstormed your goals take the necessary time to prioritize which goals are the most important and aligned with your current values.
Step 3: Writing your goals down formally and placing them somewhere you can be reminded of them every is important. This will help to keep you focused.
Step 4: Get clear on the benefits that you will reap as a result of achieving these goals. How will your life be better off as a result of moving closer to this accomplishment?
Step 5: Increase your negative motivation and gain clarity on the negative consequencs that you will experience if you don’t work towards achieving your goals.
Step 6: Identify what your limiting beliefs are so that you change them into more constructive ways of thinking.
Step 7: Gain clarity on what behaviours and habits are holding you back so that you can find alternative behaviours that will help propel you into further action with your goals.
Why New Years Resolutions are Difficult
If you’re an ambitious individual always striving to improve your life, then it’s likely that you’ve set New Year’s resolutions and used this time of the year as a good opportunity to change aspects of your life, or to set new goals.
This is no surprise because the New Year is symbolic of new beginnings as the calendar year changes. However, you have to ask yourself – what is really different other than the year number moving forward by one? Very little is different. So, why is this such a good time to make changes? I would argue that it’s not always the best time, and that there may be more factors against us than there are supporting us.
The Holidays are a Busy and Stressful Time of The Year
First of all, the holidays are a very busy and overwhelming time for everyone. We are shopping, attending social functions and running many errands. We are travelling to visit family and finishing projects at work.
Seldom does the transition to the New Year leave us much time to focus on ourselves and our personal change efforts or goals. In fact, the New Year may leave many people feeling exhausted, especially if one has over-indulged in rich foods!
By the time everyone rolls back to work in the New Year, our corporations and supervisors have a new set of goals that they want everyone to attend to. This can be stressful in and of itself given that our energy levels may not be at their peak.
New Year’s Resolutions Are Often Too Big
With the New Year, most people’s resolutions are usually something ‘big’, daunting or overwhelming in nature. For instance, so many people (usually women) talk about losing 50 pounds, quitting smoking, switching jobs, or going back to school for further training.
These types of large goals can create a lot of pressure on ourselves to achieve and perform in a certain way, and the expectation is that we begin January 1st and that we hope to be successful. These types of goals and changes however are very scary to our brains.
New Year’s Resolutions Scare Our Brain and Create Fear
Sometimes our New Years resolutions activate the fear/threat system in our brains. This is in part referred to as the fight-flight syndrome, where all the blood in our bodies moves away from our cerebral cortex and into our muscles so that we are poised to run away from our predators. What happens is that we end up avoiding taking our goals seriously because they feel too daunting, or they create too much pressure for us.
Small Steps Can Be Implemented At Any Time Of The Year!
What’s the solution then? Start breaking these New Year’s resolutions into smaller goals and concrete steps that you can begin taking today instead of waiting for the arbitrary New Year. Small steps are something that you can work into your schedule at any time and they are much less intimidating.
Statistically, New Years Resolutions Have Been Shown to Not Be Very Successful
After all, if your goal is so important, then whey would you wait until the New Year to begin it? Another interesting point is that studies indicate that if a person is trying to change a habit, they will set a New Year’s resolution 10 times before they actually succeed! What does this mean? Start your change efforts today, because you are likely going to need some practice at making this change.
With small changes and new habits that we carry out daily, we train and shape the neural pathways in our brains to grow with our new habits and changes that our goals require. Neural pathways begin to support our new behaviours and attitudes and we are more likely to succeed in the long run
Bring in The New Year with New Appreciation for What You Have Accomplished
You might find it helpful to conduct a personal improvement review on yourself, something that you might want to do every quarter of the year, or as often as you desire. In addition, be sure to start and evolving achievements binder where you can capture all the goals that you think about as the New Year approaches. An evolving achievements binder is easy to manage, and it’s an inspiring way to keep yourself on track as the New Year progresses.
Start Setting Your Goals Now for 2012!
If you haven’t tried my goal setting and motivation program yet, be sure to book mark this page and come back to get started
Start Your New Year’s Resolutions for 2012 Today!
Are you getting ready to set your New Years resolutions for 2012? Why wait to begin working towards your goal in the New Year? I think people postpone out of fear that they will fail if they begin now, whereas if they begin in the New Year they believe that they are more likely to succeed.
The reality though, is that achieving a tough goal and making the necessary changes is something that is likely to require repeated efforts over time, especially if your goal involves breaking a habit. In 2002 the American Psychologist published an article titled, If At First You Don’t Succeed: False Hopes of Self-Change. In this article they state that when people are trying to quit a bad habit, they actually end up setting the same New Year’s resolution on average, ten times before they actually give up their bad habit! Click here to learn how to change your habits now!
Do you wonder why quitting a bad habit might require so many attempts? Part of the answer is that people fail to plan ahead, and to think about what will be needed to make the necessary changes needed to achieve their goals. For instance, if you are going to stop smoking, how will you do it? What resources or supports do you have in place? If you are going to start exercising, what plans do you have in place to make sure that you will be exercising when 2012 rolls around? Do you have a gym membership, a pair of comfortable running shoes and actual workout gear that you feel comfortable wearing?
A learning lesson is that, if you don’t prepare yourself before launching your goals and the necessary changes behind them, you are likely to fail, or to only succeed for a short period of time. This is why people continuously set the same New Year’s goal over and over again. The other piece that is required for success is actually learning by doing or taking action, and adjusting our efforts as is required.
Each time you try to quit a bad habit, you learn something about yourself. For instance, you learn about what worked or didn’t work. For this reason, you’re better off starting to pay attention to your new year’s resolutions now, so that you can get some practice in before the new year of 2012 rolls around. Hopefully with enough practice you’ll be well on your way to achieve your new year’s resolutions for 2012.
If you’re unsure about what New Year’s resolutions to set, then you can begin by trying my online goal setting and motivation program now.
Types of Negative Motivation Women Use
There are many different types of negative motivation. Negative motivation defined means, motivating one’s self by using the power of negative thinking. It involves focusing on something from a pessimistic viewpoint, with the intention of motivating a person to move away from their current situation or state. It is a powerful type of motivation when used in moderation.
When negative motivation is the only source of motivation that a woman draws on to get herself into action, then she can damage her self-esteem, confidence and pride.
Types of Negative Motivation:
1. Look at your current situation, lifestyle or problem, and ask yourself why you’re trying to move away from it. Whatever your goal is, ask yourself what’s wrong and bad if you don’t achieve this goal. This has also been termed as the “pain” exercise that Anthony Robbins popularized in the 90’s. Some women finally get motivated to achieve their goals, when they are fed up with something in their lives.
Along this notion, you might ask yourself some of the following negative motivation questions from my goal setting and motivation program.
Asking yourself these types of negative questions can be useful at the outset of embarking upon a new goal or project. It is a quick way to get motivated in the short term, but it is not the type of motivation that keeps women going in the long run.
2. Another type of negative motivation is extrinsic motivation, which can be defined as a type of motivation that is found external to one’s self. For example, some students are motivated to obtain good marks based on impressing a teacher or a parent. This type of motivation is short lived and doesn’t add much value to a person over the long run, but it is an excellent form of motivation in the beginning.
Think of shows such as The Biggest Loser or other contests that happen within your community. It’ a great way to get moving on something in the beginning. However, as time passes, people will need more compelling and meaningful sources of motivation.
Another example of extrinsic motivation for a woman would be choosing to have a family simply because society teaches women and men that that is what is expected of them. Other examples of extrinsic motivation could be doing something for the money. Taking a job in an environment that you don’t like, but doing it simply because the pay is excellent is another example of extrinsic motivation.
Extrinsic motivation comes in many forms:
- “Shoulds”
- Other peoples’ expectations
- Doing something for the money
- Trying to impress someone else
- Any other reward offered by someone else
- Comparing yourself to someone else and their achievements
- Doing something out of embarrassment, shame or fear
When have you used negative motivation to get you into action with something? For how long did it work? Did you eventually need to find more meaningful sources of motivation? Be aware of the fine line between negative motivation that helps, and negative motivation that has gone sour and is bringing you down. You may also be interested in reading my article on the Dangers of Goal Setting for Women
Workout Journal
Don’t be afraid to weigh yourself even if you know you’ve gained or lost too much weight. People who have lost weight, and kept it off admit to weighing in either daily, several times per week, or on a weekly basis, and recording this information in their workout journal.
What you write down becomes more real, and increases your awareness of your current state or conditioning. The act of writing information down forces you to pay attention to those details. Keeping an exercise notebook demands that you become accountable, and act on the information you record.
Use your notebook to track any of your fitness and dieting goals! It’s a great place to brainstorm any of your ideas. Whether you need motivation for working out every day! or even if you are in need of early morning exercise motivation, your workout journal can help you!
The Workout Journal Demands Your Accountability!
Writing things down in your notebook prevents you from becoming ignorant. Ignorance is of no use. Imagine if you did this with your bank accounts? Ok, ok, – we’ve all done this with our bank accounts too. But what happens if you avoid checking your bank account balance for too long? You lose control of how you are spending your money, and before you know it, it’s gone!
When you live in ignorance, you lack control of that which you are ignorant of!
The same thing applies to knowing our weight, or tracking our progress with our workout routines.
If you are not tracking, you are probably slacking!
Use your notebook to pay attention to those variables (e.g., weight, body fat, muscle, food eaten, amount of water drank, etc) that are important to you. People who achieve their muscle gain or fat loss goals, track the frequency of their workouts, weight lifting repetitions, sets and weight lifted. Remember, those goals which you focus on, and track your progress with, will manifest themselves much easier.
Use A Fitness Template to Keep Track of Your Exercises
Your workout journal can take many different forms. You might create a 3 ring binder, and create your own sheets, or download a fitness tracking template, – many of which can easily be found by doing a search on Google.
You could also use a pocket-size notebook that you can easily bring with you to the gym when you go to workout. Or, you might even want to record information on a large calendar. Whatever works for you. The key is to find some system that you can put in place and rely on.
A Workout Journal as Your Fitness Coach / Mentor
When you ‘fall off the boat’, your notebook is something that you can go back to, to remind yourself of what worked in the past. Having said this, use your notebook as a place to jot down what you prefer, what is working versus not working, and so on.
The more you capture about your evolving fitness journey, the more you can learn from your workout experiences. Use your notebook to work through your fitness goals, which will help you with all the barriers you encounter as you achieveg and maintain your fitness and dieting goals.
Recording your progress and experiences in your notebook is very motivating, as you can return to it, over and over again, and rely on your own personal, insights that have worked for you.
By having a workout journal, you will have a concrete record with detailed documents of your workout history. When you return to this workout journal, it can be quite comforting having a tangible piece of your previous experiences with you.
This is especially reassuring when you have dropped the ball on your workouts, or if it’s been a long time since you worked out. Having a notebook to remind yourself of what worked, is motivation, BIG TIME!
It’s a great place to keep track of powerful perspectives on fitness motivation, and a great place to create your own perspectives that develop over time.
Think of your workout journal as a personal map. It is a map that you can return to, time after time again, that will show you the way toward your fitness goals.
You’ve ‘been there’ in the past perhaps, or close, and you darn well better keep a record of how you got there, in the event that you need to get there again, or should you want to improve your methods or routines.
Your workout journal is similar to a repeatable system of instructions for how to achieve your fitness goals. It is a journal that offers hope, workout inspiration, and comfort. Our workout journal instills in us the confidence and courage to continue on with our goals.
Keeping a notebook with our ideas is like having a mentor or coach who knows us well, and can provide us with a nudge as we need it. I used my journal to create several different motivational perspectives that have enhanced my weekend workout inspiration! And now, I can return to this part of my journal over and over again to stay motivated with my weekend workouts!
A Workout Journal Captures Your Ideas
Your workout journal is a great place to capture your ideas for how you want to improve your workouts or exercise routines. By writing down your ideas, you are telling your subconscious mind that those ideas are important, and you are more likely to act on those ideas / plans.
Capturing your ideas will only give you even more workout inspiration, as you begin to solidify a program or routines that work for you.
Weekend Workout Inspiration
Are you tempted to end your work week along with your workouts when the weekend comes? Don’t confuse the week-end with the end of your workout efforts! You can raise your standards, and create new choices today, to keep your weekend workout motivation in full gear!
My Personal Weekend Workout Inspiration
I work full-time like most people. I regularly work out during the week, but there are often times when my weekend arrives, and I find myself feeling resentful to that part of me that is berating myself to get to the gym. Given that I only have two day weekend like most people, the spontaneous side of me wants to just do as it pleases, in a spontaneous manner.
A workout can be seen as an interruption, an annoyance, a chore, a dull routine, or even worse – a punishment for not looking the way one wants to look. A weekend workout can feel as though it stalls your day from getting started. It can even feel as though it steals the better part of your day, especially if you have slept in.
I would often mentally plan the evening before to workout first thing in the morning, but when that morning came, the part of me that was being called on to ‘step up to the plate’, felt uninterested in the workout. Have you ever experienced this cognitive dissonance before? “Argh”, is how it feels!
You feel torn between two values – the desire to be free – to roam about your day as you spontaneously feel, and the desire to stay disciplined, and engaged in a routine that you know will give you a great return on the investment of your time! In fact, this latter point is key to your workout inspiration whether it be for the weekend or week!
The Return on Your Weekend Investment will Increase your Workout Inspiration
Just think of how much vitality and goodness your weekend workout gives you. Don’t think of it as a hassle that eats up the prescious time of your weekend. Once you get in the routine of working out on the weekends, this will act as positive reinforcement and increase your workout inspiration, simply because you will love how great you continue to feel on the weekends.
Just after your workout on the weekend, take note of how great you feel. Ask yourself if you wish you’d rather not have worked out. I guarantee that you will never regret the choice that you worked out on your weekend.
As The Traditional Advice Goes…
To increase your workout inspiration write a list of all the unique benefits you’ll enjoy as a result of continuing your workouts on the weekend. Remember that everyone wants to move toward pleasure, and move away from pain! So, the second list you can write is a list of all the discomfort you will experience if you don’t exercise on the weekends.
Let Gluttony Drive your Weekend Exercise Motivation Inspiration
Most people end up living a little on the gluttonous side when the weekend comes. If you are going to be indulging in fancy dinners, and sipping a little extra wine or booze, then use this as workout inspiration, to keep you in action with your workouts! You can’t afford to not keep your metabolism in high gear, so you’d better make sure you continue to burn those calories!
Weekend Workouts Make You Eat Healthier!
If you do workout regularly on the weekend, you are more likely to make healthier eating choices on the weekend. When you feel confident, fit, healthy, strong, and when overall you feel good about your body, you are more conscious about what you eat. Nobody wants to dump garbage in their body around the time that they’ve finished a workout!
So, let this knowledge be your weekend workout inspiration! Working out on the weekend will most likely reduce the amount of unhealthy foods you eat. You’ll come out on top by having worked out, and eaten healthy.
Don’t Let the Weekend Steal Your Workout Inspiration and Momentum!
If you don’t workout on the weekends, and if you do indulge in unhealthy foods on the weekends, then overtime, you will slowly but surely begin to counter all your workout efforts from the entire week!
If you don’t consistently bring your workout routine into your weekends, then when Monday comes, psychologically, you might be at greater risk for not heading back to the gym, or back to your regular routine. Here’s how this goes based on my personal observations…
If you haven’t worked out on the weekend, and if you overeat, then you’re probably not going to feel as good about yourself. As a result, as you forecast your week ahead, your dismal attitude may cause your workout inspiration to ween.
I know for myself, if I let too many weekends go without exercising, I begin to feel sluggish, and this sluggish feeling begins to affect my self-discipline when Monday morning arrives. I have often thought, “Oh, I haven’t worked out all weekend, – what’s one more day?”
Or, if I haven’t exercised on the weekend, and if I haven’t eaten healthy, (and therefore I’m operating out of a “unhealthy mode”) then I am also less likely to plan on getting things ready for my early morning workout. This usually presents itself in the form of not getting to bed early, and therefore not making it to my early morning workout.
Weekend Workout Structure Increases Productivity
Having some sort of structure in your weekend, i.e., working out, will actually make you a lot more productive. The items on your ‘to-do list’ that once seemed like hassles, will now be a lot easier and more enjoyable to tackle. You’ve begun your day or weekend with a great investment in YOU, and now you are ready to give energy to the world, to your relationships and any necessary tasks that present themselves.
Good Technology Will Increase Your Weekend Workout Inspiration
Invest in a good iPod or MP3 player, and be sure to have some great, upbeat music handy. Just knowing that I have good music to look forward to listening to, really increases my workout inspiration. If you need to spend 200 dollars to buy this equipment, then so be it. Can you really put a price on your fitness and health?
Learn from Role Models to Increase Your Weekend Workout Inspiration!
Think of the thin, fit, and healthy people that you know of. What mindsets do they hold to increase their weekend workout inspiration? Would they allow their workout inspiration to ween on the weekends? We both know the answer is no!
Fit people workout weekends or week-middle. Rain or sunshine. Hot or cold. Feeling lethargic or not – they are willing to do whatever it takes, and you need to be the same!
So, will you still confuse the week-end with the end of your workout efforts! No! Keep it going! You can do it!
Goal Setting Examples
Goal Setting Examples – What 95% of People Don’t Do!
I am going to show you a few goal setting examples and then I will highlight one of the most important elements of goal setting that so many people neglect!
Do you know where 95% of most people trip when setting their goals? What do most unsuccessful people forget to do when they set their goals? They forget to write down their goals!
Not only do they forget to write down their goals, but they forget to chunk or break down their goals into a ‘doable’ action plan. Here is an example to get you started!
A Goal Setting Example
I am in the process of waking up with unstoppable energy every morning at 6am, and moving my body with passion for 1 hour a day, 5 days per week! (Deadline: May 1st)
Now it’s your turn to write down your goal! Choose the goal that you’ll focus on for the rest of our goal setting steps together!
Write Down Your Top Goal Now
If some of the points in my example don’t make complete sense to you, or you don’t agree with them, that is fine!
Here’s my motto – if it turns you on, keep it – if it turns you off –chuck it!
Here’s an important note to make however. Do you know why so many people never achieve their goals? What is it that 95% of people are forgetting to do?
Most people never achieve their deadline, because they fail to schedule a time line of the necessary action steps needed! Follow these goal setting examples closely.
You see, goal setting is so much more than just writing down a goal. People forget this. They write down goals thinking that they will magically start attracting success into their lives.
Wishful thinking won’t get you far. What makes a person’s wishes and dreams a reality, is being able to take action! Having said that, here are the steps to creating a time line:
1. Write a list of all the tasks or mini-steps that need to be taken to achieve your goal. What you are doing is breaking your goal down into manageable chunks.
2. Review each of these steps and decide upon the most effective order in which to complete these steps.
3. Write a deadline or date beside each step and commit yourself to completing that action by that date.
Important Tip!
Do you know what the whole point of doing this exercise is for? Do you really get it?
The point or purpose of scheduling, time lines, and deadlines is for 1 reason only – and that is to get you to take consistent action!
So, having said that, if there are some parts or steps you don’t like, leave them out – just make sure your strategy is getting you into action!
Timeline for Goal Setting Example
Step 1. Brainstorm and break the goal down into mini tasks.
Using my goal setting example above, make a list of every single task you will need to complete in order to achieve your goal. Don’t worry about the order of it just yet! Write down any necessary steps that comes to your mind!
Step 2. Now, go back to your list, and rank or organize your tasks in the order of how you would like to complete the tasks. Simply put your numbers along the left hand side of the margin.
Ok, did you complete step 2 above? If you didn’t, then why are you reading this? Go back and do it now!
Step 3. Re-write your list in sequential order based on how you ranked your steps. Next, write down a deadline beside each step, for when you would like to complete the action by. Go for it!
And there you have your execution plan!
Now, here’s the funny thing about these sorts of timelines, deadlines and action plans…
You will almost never follow your scheduled timeline or action plan the way you originally envisioned it to be.
Why is this you ask? Well, each time you take an action, you learn new things, and receive feedback on the course of your path. You gain new insights along the way to achieving your goals, and therefore you discover new action plans!
So, you will always be adjusting your timelines and action plans. They are never meant to be set in stone, but rather to act as guidelines that keep you clear on where you are heading next.
After having read through my goal setting examples, are you going to choose to be like the masses, – the 95% of people who will never reach their goals, or, are you going to choose something different for yourself, such as success?
Hmmm…it’s a touch decision. Very few people can be different than the rest. Will you?
Also, very few people ever take their goal setting steps further than where we have just left off. That is a very bad mistake! All of the goal steps we have covered so far, are the easiest parts of the whole process (except the action plan of course!).
Aside from this action plan, all of my goal setting examples and principles I’ve shown you so far, are what most people do without a problem. Are you ready to discover the next steps that will literally transform your level of motivation?
How Do We Change our Limiting Beliefs?
How do we change our limiting beliefs?
1. Examine the state of your life right now. Where do you feel blocked with respect to your goals? What is stagnant? What isn’t working for you? Which results and goals are you having the most difficulty achieving? Here is one example, “My goal is to go on a warm tropical vacation, but I can’t seem to allow myself to do it.
2. In order to change our limiting beliefs, we must define our problem and what the block is in one or two sentences. Be as specific as possible. For example, “I can’t go on a tropical vacation every year because I simply don’t feel that I have the money in my budget!”
3. Write down how this limiting belief or problematic way of thinking is helping you in your life. How does it support and protect you? To continue the above example, “This belief protects me from spending money foolishly, and it prevents me from going broke” Examine this statement further though. Is going on one vacation really foolish spending? Is it really going to make you broke? Your goal is to question your limiting belief, its validity, and how supportive it really is.
4. Next, how is this limiting belief preventing you from achieving your goal? How is this limiting belief actually holding you back? In order to change our limiting beliefs, we must notice that while our form of thinking is an attempt to protect ourselves, it is also a form of thinking that is blocking us from achieving our goals. Here’s an example: “By holding onto the belief that spending money on a vacation is foolish, I’m excusing myself from being able to have what I want. Despite the reality that it might break my budget a bit, thinking this way blocks me from taking any action or examining any potential solutions that could help me achieve my goal.”
5. To change our limiting beliefs we must brainstorm solutions to overcoming our limiting ways of thinking. Learn to ask yourself more empowering questions. “How can I find a way to go on my vacation without breaking my budget?” Then, create a list of ways that you might do this. For example:
- Stop buying daily coffees and cut back on groceries by $20 every week for 6 months, to save enough money for my vacation. Put the remaining bill on my line of credit, and create a budget to pay it back with.
- Shop around for deals for vacations. Maybe they don’t cost as much as I thought they would.
- Can I go for a 4 day vacation instead of a full week? What difference will this make?
- Can I borrow money from a relative?
- Can I pick up a few extra shifts at work to make up for the difference of what money I need?
- What other creative ways could I temporarily earn more money to cover the cost of this trip?
When you learn to ask yourself good questions about how you can actually reach your goal, you’ll start to see the possibilities for how you can break out of your limiting belief. By simply repeating your limiting belief through self-talk, it doesn’t help you get past your reality that you are on a tight budget.
Just because something is your reality, it doesn’t mean that you don’t have a limiting belief. Limiting beliefs are what create the realities that we are trying to escape from. Thus, we must monitor our beliefs closely in those areas of our lives in which we are experiencing results that are less than satisfactory.
Also, ask yourself why you want your goal? For example, “Why do I want this vacation so badly?” When you can create a strong enough “why” behind your goal, you will be more motivated to identify and change your limiting belief systems.
What are some of your habits that need to be changed in order to support this new way of thinking? Be sure to focus on changing habits to support your goal as well.
Finally, if you’re unsure of whether or not your belief is limiting you, ask yourself how well your belief supports your life vision?
These are just a few ideas of how we can recognize and change our limiting beliefs. I would suggest going back to the basics if you haven’t already, and completing the goal setting and motivation program which helps you align what you want with the right beliefs and behaviours.
Good luck!
Definition Goal Setting
Definition Goal Setting: The Power of Language
What is Goal Setting?
The word “goal” is only one piece of language that describes goal oriented behaviour. The definition goal setting, is not clear cut in my books.
That is, there are many different ways to think about what goals are.
I’m afraid though, that for a lot of people, the term has negative connotations. People think of deadlines, time committments, and last but not least – the idea that failure is possible.
So, to help move away from this typical way of thinking about goals, I want to provide several pieces of language, or other ways of thinking about goal setting. There is obviously more than one definition. Goals can also be thought of as:
- Intentions
- Aims
- Desired Changes
- Dreams
- Hopes for the future
- Wishes
- Manifesting what we want
- Focus
Do any of these words or ways of thinking speak to you? If so, then I want you to think about one of these particular words as your definition.
Goal setting is most effective when you have a way of understanding what works for you!
Or, you might want to begin with a more holistic goal-setting program where you can begin the brainstorming process of what you want out of life. Try it now!
[tags] definition goal setting, what is goal setting, goals, personal development, motivation [/tags]
Goal Setting Activities
My goal setting activities will help you program your subconscious mind to make your newly chosen affirmations and beliefs, a reality! Some of these exercises will also help you gain clarity on which goals you should focus on.
I love these exercises because they are so easy, and they help to really increase confidence at the same time.
1. Try journalling. Journalling is one of the best goal setting activities I’ve experienced in terms of gaining clarity on my goals. Go out and buy a nice hard cover journal with lines. Get a spiral bound cover since it is easy to fold and adjustable to different sitting positions that you may prefer. Here’s a great experiment.
Give yourself up to an hour each day, and simply write whatever comes to mind. Don’t judge the process. You can write about random thoughts, concerns, inspirations, etc.
Just get into the habit of expressing yourself on paper, and soon, you’ll begin to clarify which goals you’d like to focus on now, or prepare yourself for focusing on in the future.
I will never forget the time I tried this doing this in my own life. I was in my early twenties, and had just finished reading the book The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron. She talks a lot about the morning pages, and the benefits of doing this type of free-form journalling.
To make a long story short, within several weeks I realized that I had a major desire to design and deliver motivational speeches to the community. I immediately developed these workshops and then cold called elementary schools and social organizations. I also later spoke at a financial corporation. Out of all the different goal setting activities, this one has done so much for me in my life.
If I hadn’t journalled to discover and then express this desire through my writing, it never would have become a reality for me. So, go buy a nice journal, and then find a time when you do this regularly. Give it some time.
Just begin writing about whatever is important to you. See what happens!
2. Another one of many goal setting activities that will help you, is my free, online goal setting program which helps you prioritize your goals.
3. Post all of your goals on a bulletin board above your desk so that you can see them all the time. As you read your goals each day, you will get a real sense of which goals are truly in line with who you are right now. And when you read those important goals, you’ll be motivated to continue taking action steps to achieve those goals.
4. Put your goals on wallet-sized ‘business’ cards.. Carry these cards in your wallet wherever you go. Then when you have a few moments, you can pull out the card and read it. You might even want to keep that card in the window of your wallet where people typically keep their driver’s license. You also easily make your own wallet-card templates as well! Whatever will help you remember what your goals are, will help you take action toward your goals! Remembering and reminding is often half the battle!
5. Many goal setting activities are carried out online now. Try using some online goal setting software such as these programs here. These are very functional, easy to use programs that give you an interface for setting and monitoring the progress of your goals, as well as others! Why not join with a friend and keep each other accountable!
6. Be sure to use the power of other self-help resources that will help inspire you into action, and over road blocks. Cinematherapy involves watching movies for some therapeutic use.Review the categories of movies here, and see which topics might be relevant to the achievement of any of your goals.
Also, bibliotherapy is another great way to keep yourself motivated with your goals. By reading books on other real people or characters, you will relate and learn from other people’s experiences.
7. Some people will even record their own goals on a digital recorder and then play them back to themselves each day. Use an mp3 player, iPod, or your own computer program.
8. Try spending a few hours in a local coffee shop or bookstore that has comfy chairs available. Bring your journal, and re-write your goals down. By doing this, you are experiencing the importance of your life goals. Also, you are giving yourself total concentration by being outside of your home and your regular distractions. It can be a very uplifting experience.
I’ve had a few friends who even spent a full day and night in a hotel to focus solely on setting and revising their life goals. Again, by doing this, it demonstrated their committment to their goals. Also, being in such a novel, or even an extravagant environment (depending on where you go or what type of room you get) can be uplifting, and infuse you with hope for the future.
9. Try joining a mastermind group, or creating your own mastermind group. Get together with like-minded people who want to discuss their life goals, and their goal progress.
Try the website MeetUp.com if you don’t of anybody. Sometimes being surrounded with like-minded people can make a world of difference in achieving your goals. Like attracts like! Why not find people engaged in the same goal setting activities that you are?