05 Jan 2017 Are You Excited By Your Goals?

January, and the start of a New Year, is often the time we choose to set goals.  It’s an opportunity to reflect on where we have been and where we want to go.

I love goal setting – I believe it is something we could all be doing. But remember, goals don’t have to wait until the New Year. If you have a burning desire or ambition, then the time to start is NOW.  Any time of the year, any day.  So long as we take action, so that those goals become a reality.

My 3 top tips on how we could make our goal setting more effective – and less likely to be something we look at again in December with a feeling of remorse!

1. Write it down – when you write it down it becomes real. Rather than keep in your head, write it down in a journal or notebook. Get it out of your head and down on paper.
2. Be specific about the goal. We can all say I want to lose weight or get fit.  Have you thought about how you are going to do it?  This can take time, but it is good practice doing it. So your goal starts to look like “I want to lose weight and I’m going to do this by walking to work, riding my bike, climbing the stairs rather than the lift.” Little things that are measurable are ideal. Then, set a timeframe – when do you want to lose the weight by?  Set a date – for example, by July I want to lose x number of pounds.  Make it specific.
3. Then the big one – why are you doing it?  What is your motivation?  You can write it down, but why do you want to do this?  How is it going to make you feel if you lose the weight?  Is it because you are going on holiday and want to feel confident on the beach?  Are you going to a wedding and want to look awesome? What’s your motivation – how will it ultimately make you feel?

The feelings make it real and compelling.  Intellectually we can set a goal and read it but emotion will drive us to achieve it.  If we can put emotion into a goal, we are going to smash those goals.   Emotion drives everything.

PS – If you haven’t written a goal, why not try and attach some emotion to it and see if it makes a difference this year?

Happy New Year and Happy Goal Achieving!