Use Goal Setting To Give You That Little something extra To Break Through!

Is there something you want to achieve? Is there something you've decided it's time to take on?

Goal setting may just do the trick...

You can use different kinds of goals to create within yourself... extra motivation, awareness, direction, and concentration... Whatever you're challenging right now, this little step can make a big difference!

Working on a lifelong dream, battling through the difficulty, for however long it takes, and achieving it, can be a major turning point in your life. Setting goals can really help fuel this achievement.

If the quote above resonates with you... If you love self-development, psychology, the art of living well... then you're in the right place!

As well as goal setting, you'll come across content on character strengths, hope, happiness, courage, resilience, flourishing, and many other ways that people function positively. I'm a positive psychologist and am passionate about developing a growing awareness of what is right with people. I'm also a coach... I really can't get enough of the art of creative conversation. I love having conversations that create hope, pride, energy, and lead people fulfilling their dreams.

There's loads of reasons you might want to set a goal: Maybe you're wanting to feel more happiness, express more gratitude, develop a more loving relationship with yourself... Or maybe it's something more practical like eating better, exercising more, improving your work situation, and saving money. Sometimes it might be working through a difficulty, like an illness, lowering your stress, reducing depression or anxiety. Or maybe you want to find love, help your friends, contribute to society... The possibilities are as endless as your potential!

Did anything jump out at you? Or maybe there are many things you'd like to challenge...

Well, you'll find extra energy, strength, and hope with a flexible practise of goal setting, and you'll soon be walking confidently on the steady road to achievement.

Start setting some goals today

There are many ways to go about setting goals. There are different time-frames (short, medium, long), different types of goal (performance, final), and different nature of goals (pushing the self, treasuring the self).

There are also multiples models that help with this... SMART (Specific, measured, attainable, realistic, timed), PURE (positively stated, understood, relevant, ethical) and CLEAR (Challenging, environmentally sound, agreed, recorded). You can probably see some cross-over between the various models, and the number of elements are not exhaustive. I wouldn't hold rigidly to such models but they can be useful as a quick way of checking if you'd like to make any changes to a goal you set.

Becoming a expert goal setter is about learning all the types and adopting a flexible ever-changing approach that considers your own preferences at this time, the unique situation right now, and your desired outcome. Here's a couple of general examples of how you might want to get started right now:

Setting a Goal

One way of starting is to focus on something in the short-medium term. I'm hesitant to put a specific time-frame on this. Typical might be a month or two. However anywhere from a week to a year is reasonable.

If you can't seem to bring yourself to get going... a short term goal like this can help you start to win the battle within and get moving.

One approach would be to set an outcome goal (e.g. 1. To start dating someone you like a lot, 2. to save £x amount, 3. to complete a book), and then a performance goal that aims to propel you to that outcome (1. To ask out a number of people a week, 2. to create a spreadsheet of your spending/earning and fill it out once a week, 3. To write 10 pages a week). You get the idea... One is where you want to go, the other is how you're gonna get there. That said, don't get caught up in perfectionism. Even one goal, regardless of the type and time-frame is better than none.

You can use the worksheet below to set your goal(s). You can also download other worksheets or templates like this one.

Goal Setting Worksheet For One Goal

Download a PDF copy of the worksheet above.

If you are especially busy or unwell you might want to be kind to yourself at this time. When it comes to deciding the "when", you may not want any extra pressure. Feel free to skip the target date entirely. Goals work in many different ways even without target dates.

Maybe a slight shift in focus and awareness is enough at this time. Even just naming a month, or a season might feel like it's enough. You may want to focus on a goal based on self kindness or well-being. One that rather than focusing on what your going to do, focuses directly on you. Taking a break, resting, going in nature, enjoyment, pleasure are goals that enhance production capacity. Then later, you might decide to set a goal that propels you forward in terms of what you produce. Take care of yourself first and foremost. You are valuable, a precious treasure.

There are many ways to set targets. Try and find an approach that sings to you right now. You will learn to set goals with flexibility on this site. No one method is "better" than another. You'll learn how to adjust your goals for different types of tasks, different personalities, and different situations.

Creating a Vision

Another option available to you is thinking in the longer term and creating a vision for your life. I recommend that you make this an ever-changing fluid vision. I also suggest to make it exciting, energy-creating. Now is not the time to be overly realistic. The motivation created by a vision is powerful in many ways. It's perhaps more subtle but if your goals ring true to you this activity will help with a background sense of meaning and purpose, short term prioritising, and acting as a compass. Fill out the worksheet below to give it a try!

Ready to Set Some Goals?

To download the PDF vision creation worksheet above click here.

Don't worry if you can't fill it all out now. You can always add to this in the following weeks, months, and years eventually creating something you are delighted with which captures your vision for the future.

Remember, there are no wrong answers! Don't worry too much about accuracy and realism here. Have fun!

If you start goal setting what's in it for you?

You'll achieve more - When someone wants to achieve something in any field… think of Chistiano Ronaldo, Usain Bolt, Richard Branson... they probably do many things well. One thing they definitely do is set goals.

You'll become more decisive - When you're clear about where you're going it’s easier to decide on the best action to take. Decision making becomes easier.

You'll have more enthusiasm about the future - I know the whole vision thing might seem a bit ridiculous when you first write it down. BUT, although subtle, it does create a sense of possibility and hope.

You'll become less distracted - One cool thing about having some clarity of where you're going (whether it's pie in the sky or not!) is... Less distractions. It becomes easier to say “I appreciate the offer but no thanks”. Of course this could be good and bad. Finding a nice balance that works for you is important.

You'll grow in capability - Doing this whole goal setting thing points to a life of growth (whatever that means to you) and bringing out more of your capabilities. Over time, you'll become more capable by setting goals. You'll grow at a faster rate.

More resources and tools to work through your dreams and goals

You can find resources such as different worksheets and various templates for every kind of goal you're thinking of setting below.

Worksheets

Templates

Apps

Most popular areas you can set wise goals in

Have you got a goal in mind you want to focus on now? Below are some popular areas that you might want to focus on...

Goal setting articles

We've probably heard it 100 times. But sometimes we all need a quick reminder to jog our memory. Why it all works? How it all works? How to make your goal smart etc etc... You will find articles on all this below.