How to Set Goals - 12 Guidelines to Setting Effective Goals!

Learning how to set goals effectively is the name of the game when you want to plan out your life using goals. By utilizing the 12 solid guidelines to use every time you set a goal, you will solidify each of your goals giving each of them meaning, muscle, and motivation.

Research proves that when you write down your goals, you are more likely to achieve it. You should never try to memorize all of your goals. Writing them down is like drafting up a contract with yourself that not only holds you accountable every time you look at it, but it also creates a stronger bond inside between your conscious and subconscious minds. This bond with your subconscious is where additional goals comes from as you are already heading down your path following the goals you already have in place.

Setting goals throughout your life in chronological order is a sure way to reach your destination as smoothly and quickly as possible. There will always be obstacles you may not have planned on from the beginning, but the thing to remember is to add a solution into your plan when those obstacles arise.

1. Give Your Goals a Purpose! Your goals must have a definite purpose, otherwise there won't be very good direction when executing your goals. What is the purpose for the goal?

This is the starting point of each goal you add to your goal list. Having a strong reason keeps you on track when the going gets tough and as long as you see the reasoning in the goal, it will keep you on track toward your life purpose.

2. Be Definite With Every Goal! Details within your goal are key. Being definite means to be as specific and detailed as possible whenever you write a goal. Whenever you write a goal, you must add in as much details as needed so a stranger could look at the goal and accomplish it.

3. Establish a Plan of Action for Every Goal! Within every goal is your detailed "how to" instructions. This can be called your vehicle. This will include tools, equipment, knowledge, skills, resources, and guidance on how to set goals and achieve them.

4. Establish a Deadline! Time is of the essence in anything you strive to accomplish. It is important that you set a deadline for your goal that is reasonably achievable. It should be neither too easy to achieve nor too difficult to achieve. Finding that balance point is key when determining how to set goals for your needs.

5. Reward Your On-Time Accomplishment! Every goal must have some kind of reward for its accomplishment. Depending on the size of the goal, you need an appropriate reward. For smaller goals, smaller rewards. Larger goals require larger rewards.

6. Hold Yourself Accountable! If you don't stay on track with your goal, you will not accomplish it on time. If this happens, you will not be rewarded for it. Sometimes not receiving your reward is enough, but if that isn't enough to motivate you to complete your goal on time, you should impose a punishment for not achieving your goals on time.

7. Use Your Power Words! Power words are those positive, uplifting, inspirational, and amplifying. Using positive based words always leads toward positive outcomes. Do not use negative words in your goals as these have a reverse affect on your goal.

8. Write all of Your Goals Down! No exception is given here when learning how to set goals. It is very important to write every goal down.

9. Never Be Idle! It's good to take a break every now and then, but make that break be a reward. And never take more than one day off in a row. You should always be working toward one of your goals.

10. Don't Work on Too Many Goals at Once!Don't try to take on too many goals at once as this will just confuse you and set you behind in accomplishing your goals. Only actively pursue up to three action goals in a given day. Work on one until it is complete, then move on to the next one. Don't multitask unless you can do it effectively.

11. Know and Plan for Your Failure Points! Each goal has a possibility of failure somewhere throughout the process. Something can cause your deadline to shift or one of your processes may not work correctly delaying its accomplishment. While planning your goals, you should add in mitigating factors (things that overcome or help you avoid the failure point) so you can plan for the failures that will happen.

12. Read, Review, and Update Your Goals Often! The final guideline in how to set goals is to stay interactive with your goals. Every evening before you go to bed, read through your goals and add the ones you want to do to your daily To Do List for tomorrow. Review all of your goals weekly and make any appropriate changes to keep them up to date and accurate. If you can think of new goals, add them into your list.

That was the 12 Guidelines on how to set goals that you should always use when establishing new goals. If you need goal setting help or more description on how to set goals, please contact me right away and I will help you as best I can.