Goal Setting

Do you know – I get a certain amount of frustration when I talk to some of my friends and they say I think I’d like to do this – or I’ll get on to doing that.  I close friend of mine is very good at knowing what she wants to achieve – but that is where it ends.  There is no action after that.

Action is one of the most important things.

It is crucial regardless of what you are doing to map out your strategy for the next 12 months and have a general plan for the next 5 years at least.  If you don’t – life will just pass you buy.  It doesn’t matter if your goals are business orientated, philanthropic or personal – or all of the above.  If you do not have goals then you are not aiming to achieve anything and that is exactly what you will get.  It is when you set a goal that it becomes a target and you break it down into little pieces like a jigsaw and put it together piece by piece.  In no time it is well on its way to completion.

Obviously I have set my goals for this year and for several in the future and this year have already mapped out the travel that I will be undertaking.  How awesome – I get to travel and to do the things that I love.  But I got here through clear goals.  Obviously we tweak them a little as we go – but so long as we have the end in mind – that is the important thing.

There are several key points that I keep in mind when I set my goals.  I thought I would share them with you today:

• Even if the way you get to your goal changes over time – all things change – it is so important to keep the end game in mind and not give up on that.
• When you set a goal – know what it is that motivates you.  I know that when I stay at my goal weight for longer than six months I get to buy another pair of my favorite girly shoes.  At $200 a pair they are not cheap – but so well worth the six months of keeping strictly to my healthy exercise and eating plan.
• Set your goals high.  If all you do is say I want to be average – then that is all you will be.  Once you extend yourself once and succeed – the next time you do it you can set the goal higher and achieve more.  I know that I wanted to earn $30 000 a year when I left school.  And yes – some of you might say it is a long time since I left school…. However, each year I would review that goal with inflation in mind and add a little bit more to make it a bit tougher and every year without fail I earn in the six figures.  Not bad for a chicken farmers daughter.
• I always set myself 3 – 5 major goals per year.  I usually have a career goal, a home project goal, an investment goal, a personal development goal and a fluffy goal in any one year.  What is fluffy?  Well – it is one of those things that you think is such a childish thing or to bizarre to worry about.  Some of mine have been – to eat fairy floss at Disney Land, to buy a leather jacket that was made to fit me – not somebody else, to buy an overlocker to make my sewing look neater, to eat Chinese out of a box like you see in the American movies – and simply other frivolous things like that.  Needless to say – they are goals though and who ever said that life wasn’t meant to be fun!

So – that is me for the day.  Stay focused folks and always think ahead to where you are going.

To you in success.

Cheers

Teresa