Goal Setting Techniques For Stress Reduction
For many people, the key to learning how to reduce stress is learning how to manage your time. Goal setting is the first step of that process.
The importance of setting goals is one of the success skills known to top-caliber athletes, successful businessmen and businesswomen and all types of achievers in many different fields.
Goal Setting Process
How to stick to your goals?
I set goals for myself and as time goes by i give up on it. Whether it be because it's a slow process or I get frustrated what ever the case may be I never stick to one thing to see the outcome. How can I fix this problem?
i set goals all the time for myself but i find that writing them down is alot better then having them in your head because when you have them in your head your more likely to make excuses for not finishing them later. So next time you make a goal write it down somewhere or put it in a frame and put it some where that you will see it everyday and be reminded of it. Works for me!
SLCTP Advocacy 2 - Empowering Students - Goal Setting Process
Family Goal Setting
The literature, which supports the effectiveness of proper goal setting, is overwhelming. I must emphasize however the words 'proper goal setting.' The small percentage of people who do set goals, do so incorrectly which is why over half of people who make New Year's Resolutions abandoned them after three months. One of the biggest problems for people in the goal setting process is that they fail to set measurable goals. Take for example the following list of some of the most popular goals set by people.
• Spend more time with family.
• Get in shape
• Have more fun
Proper Goal Setting requires your goals to be measurable.
These are all great ideas but they are not goals. Remember when you went to the family reunion and someone had set up the volleyball net. Slowly more and more people made their way over to the court while you rallied and played around. After a period of time, rallying gets boring an inevitably someone says, "let's play for real." Suddenly the game changes. Now you have people getting in their ready stance, positioning becomes important, people start diving for balls and arguing whose ball that was that just landed in between them. What changed to make people behave differently? The ball is the same, the court is the same, even the people are the same. What changed was the fact that now you are measuring. Now as you count points, effort matters. At the end of the game there will be a winner and a loser.
The principle is true for all areas of life. If you really want to change something then you must measure it. Another way to look at this is whatever you measure, you focus on, and what you focus on you change. When you engage in goal setting, you have to set goals that can be measured.
Lets take a look again at the goal 'Spend more time with family.' How are we going to measure this? How will we know when we have reached the desired amount of time to deem 'successful'? We need to break this down and ask ourselves, what does this goal look like? I once had a goal setting session where I set a goal resembling 'Spend more time with family.' My family helped me out by defining it for me. This is what they said:
• Stay off the computer between 5:00pm and 8:00pm
• Take my wife on a date every other week.
• Once a week have a one-on-one with one of the kids.
Now I had something I could measure. At the end of a few months I could even give you a percentage of how I had done. My family was not looking for perfection here but improvement. If I could show my family that 80% of the time I had done what they had asked, they would certainly determine that to be successful. My family really helped me out that day in my goal setting process.
What about the goal 'Get in shape' what does that look like? Last I checked 'round' was a shape but I don't think that's the shape you are talking about. If this is one of your goals you have to break this down into something you can measure. Is it a certain weight you want to reach, inches you want to lose, a cholesterol number you want to get to, a blood pressure reading you want to lower? After you have defined what 'Shape' is then you have to set some measurable goals that are going to get you there. They might be things like exercise for 45 minutes three times a week, or stick to my meal plan everyday, or cut out all junk food. Make sure you goal setting is as practical as possible.
Now let's take a look at the last goal to 'Have more fun.' Again, how will you know when you have reached this? Last time I checked there was no such thing as a Fun-Meter, which you could hook yourself up to and get a reading. First of all what activities are fun for you? Once you determine that then do some goal setting to motivate you to do those activities more often. Lets say hanging out with friends is what really gets you jazzed, then set some goals for times with friends every month. You might want to set aside two Saturdays each month for entertaining guests and designate one weeknight as movie night where you go and check out the latest movies. Goal setting in the areas of things like time with friends may seem a bit weird, but if it helps you build some new habits, it is worth it.
The secret is to make your goals measurable otherwise they are not really goals at all but rather good intentions. But if you take the time to find a way to measure your goals and create the supporting steps to help get you there, in no time at all you will experience incredible success in your life. Remember that your goal setting must be measurable.
About the Author:
And if you want an exciting and fun way to set measurable goals take the Summit Challenge; the online goal setting game guaranteed to help you reach your peak potential. In addition to creating the Summit Challenge James Robbins also delivers keynotes on personal excellence and leadership issues such as employee retention and creating engaging workplaces. To find out more about the Summit Challenge, go to www.ontothesummit.com
Article Source: ArticlesBase.com - Goal Setting Secrets - Measure it
Danny Malamis - Family Goal Setting
Objective Goal Setting
It is often easy to forget exactly how important goal setting is to self improvement. We can have lofty ambitions for changing or improving who we are, but if we don't begin the journey with one step as Confucius once said and then break it down into smaller plans, the journey might begin to seem impossible.
The reason goal setting works as a means of self improvement is two-fold: the first part is obvious it allows us to break a really complex task down into small components that are easier to follow, more detailed, and less overwhelming. The second reason why goal setting is an effective means of self improvement is that it provides us with constant motivation. Whenever we accomplish that goal or objective on the way to the greater goal, we feel as if we have made progress, and it emboldens us to work towards the next goal in line.
Before anyone can begin goal setting for self improvement, he must determine what it is about himself that he would like to change and for what reason. For some people, the ultimate act of self improvement would involve quitting smoking cigarettes. For others, weight is a self improvement issue for which they are most concerned. For others, it might be something different, like being more assertive, more financially secure, or more charitable.
Of course, no one knows our faults better than we do. If we're overweight, we usually know just horrible it makes us feel, even if no one around us even really notices it. If we drink beyond what could be considered careful moderation, we know how it makes us feel and what it has done to our relationships.
Now, once you have identified what it is that you would like to improve about yourself, you can begin the goal setting process. Start with the ultimate goal (i.e., to lose 30 pounds). Next, depending on how large your ultimate goal is and how long it will reasonably take you to accomplish begin goal setting for objectives with timelines. For these smaller objectives, it is a good idea to tie them to actions, rather than results. If, for instance, your goal is to go to the gym three times each week and decrease your fat and carbohydrate intake, you might accomplish all of those goals, but it doesn't mean you will accomplish your short-term intended result, which was to lose ten pounds in 30 days.
If you only lose 10 pounds when your goal was 30 pounds, don't feel like you haven't succeeded. Instead, see if you followed the goals you set out to accomplish for the time period: did you go to the gym three times each week? Did you decrease your fat and carbohydrate intake? If you answered yes to all of these questions and you DID lose at least some weight, then you know your goal setting activities are on the right track, but you just need to intensify the components or increasing the overall timeline.
So, to reiterate, successful goal setting for self improvement consists of three things: creating long term goals, short term objectives, and re-evaluating the plan to make sure it is more realistic.
About the Author:
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Goal Setting
Article Source: ArticlesBase.com - Goal Setting As A Means Of Self Improvement
Personal Development - Personal Growth: Goal and Objective Setting
