We gave you some ideas on New Years Resolutions for 2015, but how do you go about keeping them? To get your year started off right, today’s Mental Edge Monday is all about the process of goal setting. 

 

What Is A Goal Anyway?

GOAL (n): the object of a person's ambition or effort; an aim or desired result. 

A goal is a thought with the commitment to make it real. A compelling goal is something that has a deeper meaning to you. It is the idea of achieving this goal that excites you and gives you a rewarding sense of fulfilment. A goals’ main purpose is to enhance your life in some way, so the most important thing you need to know about goals is that you ought to have some. 

 

The Importance Of Goal Setting

We’ve all heard about the importance of setting goals, but does anyone actually know why? There was an interesting study done in 1979 on the Harvard MBA program where graduate students were asked “have you set clear, written goals for your future and made plans to accomplish them?” As it turned out, only 3% had written goals and plans, 13% had goals but they weren’t in writing and 84% had no goals at all. When they followed up with the same individuals ten years later, the results were absolutely mind-blowing.

 

The 13% of the class who had goals, but did not write them down was earning twice the amount of the 84% who had no goals. And even more astonishingly, the 3% who had written goals were earning, on average, ten times as much as the other 97% of the class combined!

 

Yes, the study measures success as by how much the individuals ended up earning in their careers, but the main point we can take away from that example is that the act of simply writing down our goals has a major impact on whether we accomplish them.

 

 

The Goal Setting Process

Now that you know what a goal is and exactly how important they are, all you need to know is the proper way to go about setting them. Setting goals is more than just writing down your every hope, wish and dream. We’ve done the research for you, and have narrowed the work down to five (5) easy steps for successful goal setting. Here they are:

1. Brainstorm

2. Prioritize

3. S.M.A.R.T. Goals

4. Benchmark

5. Review and Reward

1. Brainstorm

The first step of goal setting is figuring out exactly what you want. If you don’t know what you want, how will you ever know what you need to achieve to get there. Go out and buy yourself a journal. As we’ve already learned, the act of writing down your goals is crucial to your success, but having a journal in which you can document everything from your entire journey from inception to completion, is also invaluable. What is it that will make your heart swell with pride? What will create that sense of fulfilment that puts the biggest smile on your face that noone and nothing can wipe off? 
 

Time yourself. For fifteen minutes, fill as many lines and pages with everything your heart and mind envision. Allow yourself to dream big. 
 

2. Prioritize

Now that you have this brainstorm, there are a few more steps before we can call anything you’ve written down so far an actual “goal.” The next step in the goal setting process is to prioritize your brainstorm.
 

For each item you have written down, you need to place it into one of four categories. These categories are: immediate goals (1-30 days), short-term goals (less than one year), mid-term goals (1-2 years) and long-term (3 years to lifetime). Once each item has the appropriate time frame, assign a number 1-10 where 10 is the “Most Motivating”, meaning that if you accomplish that item it signifies exactly what you want out of life.
 

3. Set S.M.A.R.T. Goals

This is where your prioritized brainstorm becomes a written list of full-fledged and concrete goals. S.M.A.R.T. is an an acronym for specific, measurable, attainable, results-oriented and timely. Turning your vision list into a list of S.M.A.R.T. goals will help you set your goals intentionally and effectively.
 

Specific: Goals should be written simplistically and clearly define exactly what you are striving for. The specific component explains the What, Why and How of your goals.
 

Example: By April 1,2015, I will have upgraded the difficulty in my beam routine to a 6.0 by getting a new dismount and acro series so that I can be a better all-arounder. 
 

Measureable: Your goals need to be measureable so that you can answer specifically whether or not you have accomplished the goal. But, for each goal, there may be several short-term or smaller measurements for you to tackle before accomplishing the overall goal.
 

Example: Is your beam routine difficulty a 6.0 as of April 1, 2015? Did you upgrade your series and did you get that new dismount?
 

Attainable: Challenging yourself is an important part of goal setting. You should aim high but you also need to be realistic. Your goals should also be defined well enough so that you can achieve them. You can meet any goal you set your mind to as long as you plan wisely and establish a lifestyle that allows you to do so. An achievable goal will actually motivate you to work harder to accomplish it.
 

Example: In order for you to reach this goal, you must have a specific skill set. In this case, if you’re only a level 4 this year, it will be impossible for you to achieve this goal. That doesn’t mean you should give up, though! Place this goal in the “long-term” category and work your way up to it.
 

Results-oriented: Goals need to measure the outcomes, not the activities. In other words, your goals should focus on the results you want to achieve, not the activities you will undertake to get there. 
 

Example: “Better presentation during my floor routine” is a result; whereas “practicing show me routines once a week” is an activity. It is entirely possible to complete the activities without achieving the desired result. 
 

Timely: This one is pretty important.  You need to set deadlines for achieving your goals. Well-developed goals come with time limits that create a practical sense of urgency between your current reality and the envisioned outcome of the goal.  That sense of urgency will help motivate you to accomplish your goal.



 

Benchmarking

Benchmarking takes the “timeliness” of your goal-setting just a step further. As we mentioned before, most of our goals are built up of smaller achievements. Breaking each goal into smaller steps will make them seem less daunting and increase the likelihood of success. Benchmarking is a great way to keep you on track!

 

Review and Reward

Finally, your goals need to be reviewed and rewarded. Share your goals with people who care about your success. Ask them to help hold you accountable for doing what it takes to achieve your goals. However, it is vital that you constantly remind yourself of the goals you have set for yourself. Not only do you need read and update your journal regularly, but you should also place your goals in a place where you will see them often. Write it on your calendar, on stickies around your mirror or even put them in your locker. Make sure you check your progress regularly! Nothing feels better than crossing something off that list of things you want to accomplish.
 

It’s also important to celebrate your successes along the way. Some goals take months, even years to accomplish so to keep you motivated, you should reward yourself along the way. Providing yourself with material incentives will only further spark that fire within you to reach that goal.


 

Setting goals is means of identifying and planning how you are going to achieve your greatest ambitions in life. When you write these goals down, you are committing yourself to accomplishing them.  We hope that we have inspired you to set your intentions not only for the season, but for life in general, and we wish you the best of luck on your journey to the realization of your dreams!

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