Tips For Goal Setting

Tips For Goal Setting

If you closely observe the lives of the most successful people they will have some common thread running in all their lives; all of them would have distinguished between their dreams and goals. The difference between the two is that a dream is often vague and all the finer details are not defined whereas that is not the case with goals, they are very definitive it also accompanies definitive approaches to achieve them and will have a time limit.

To be a successful person, it is just not enough to be a visionary with a dream but you should also have concrete goals to realize that dream. As a first step in goal setting you must get in touch with your inner self to identify your inner longings and what you want to achieve out of your life. Often we misconstrue what we think to be nice as what we want. These two things need not be the same all the time, because what we think is nice can vary from time to time but what we want out of life is a constant. Once you identify what you want, what your goal is put it in writing to clarify further to yourself what you want.

The goals you set for yourself should not contradict with each other. All the goals should be coherent and they will have to be integrated. Incoherent goals may hamper the achievement of the other goals. It is like wanting to have the cake and also to eat it. You can either have the cake or eat it; either one or the other is possible. So you must remove all incoherent and contradicting goals from your list of goals.

Set a positive tone to your own goals; instead of “I will not be…” use “I will be…” kind of language when you describe your own goals. This certainly gives a positive momentum to your efforts.

As noted already a dream is vague where as a goal is definitive. So when setting your goals, be as descriptive as possible, describe your goal to the last detail possible. If you want to be a musician describe it to the last detail including what type of music you are going to specialize, what instrument will be your base instrument etc.

Be practical with your goals; you need to aim for the sky only then you can reach the stars is true, but at the same time you cannot expect to grow wings to reach the sky. This would not be an irrational approach. When your goals are not aided by reason they are just fantasies.

Give a boundary to every goal by setting a deadline. Goals without any timeline are no goals at all; you must set a deadline by which you will attain your goals. Differentiate between long term goals and short term goals. Your short term goals should be in the interest of achieving your long term goal. If your long term goal is to become a famous musician then your short term goal should be taking music lessons and reaching proficiency in music and your short term goal cannot be taking painting lessons.