Tips for Effective Goal Setting

Goal setting is defined by the act of choosing an objective or target you wish to achieve, but why is it so important for accomplishing your goals? One exercise given to college students by a professor of the Department of Management, College of Business at California State University, Chico.

Basically, he uses paperclips to demonstrate the reason by asking a group of studies to list as many ways as they can to think of for using a paperclip. They typically list 10 to 15 uses. The other group, asked to list 25 different ways to use it, with the knowledge that need to meet a specific goal, usually lists at least 25 uses, showing that specific goals, lead to more effective goal setting, and the accomplishment of those goals.

Goal setting can be used for just about anything, whether it’s a personal goal like losing weight or buying your dream home among the houses for sale in CT, or, a professional goal such as achieving a promotion at work.

Be as Specific as Possible

As the paperclip exercise shows, goals should be as specific as possible. For example, instead of “I want to lose weight,” or “I need to lose 10 pounds,” your goal may be, “I’m going to workout five days a week and lose 10 pounds within six weeks.”

Or, if it’s a financial goal, write down exactly how you plan to save, perhaps placing 5 percent of your net pay each payday in the bank. This will help you measure your progress and allow you to understand exactly how you can reach your goal.

Make Sure It’s Realistic

An unrealistic goal is likely to mean giving up soon after you start out to accomplish it and may even discourage you from taking that first step. If your plan is to run a marathon and you’ve never run more than a few miles in your entire life, you’re not going to be prepared in just a few weeks. Set goals that are attainable and make you feel motivated and excited to take action right now to get there.

Visualize Yourself Achieving Your Goal

Visualization has been proven time and again to be one of the most effective ways to achieve a big goal, improve performance and change behaviors. By imagining the goal as already being achieved, you’re telling your unconscious mind what you want. It will make you feel good and more inspired to get started and help you stay on track too.

Before you even accomplish that goal, experience the feeling of success that will come with it, focus on that as often as you can, every single day.

Celebrate Achievements

Along the way to achieving your big goal, don’t forget to celebrate the small ones too. Perhaps you aim to save $20,000 for a down payment, when you reach that first $5,000, celebrate – and, do it again at $10,000 and so on. It will help you stay motivated and feeling positive that you’re really going to accomplish what you set out to do.