7 Reasons Goal Setting Is Important

1. Having goals give direction to your life
2. To make sure you are the one choosing the direction of our life — not others, not fate, not the media, not the well meaning family member.
3. To motivate you
4. To make sure you get what you want from life
5. To save time
6. To reduce stress
7. To give a sense of accomplishment

While it can be fun to live without direction in the short-term, in the long-term human beings are wired to need a purpose and direction. Goals give a sense of direction and purpose to life.

It is often easy to let others set our direction for us.

We take on a health goal because family or friends point us in that direction and then we follow the ideals of that ‘should do’ goal, only to feel miserable as fuck because we don’t really want to either achieve that goal or do it that way.

We move in other directions because popular culture or the media tells us to do so.

The simple truth is that if we do not set our own goals then we will find it too easy to follow a path set by others.

This can lead to stress and unhappiness.

We have a greater chance of happiness and fulfilment following our own path and pursuing our own goals.

While goals certainly give our lives direction, they also provide the motivation to get us through difficult times and choices.

Perhaps changing our evening routine to make time for the gym is difficult in the short-term, but in the long run, being able to reach the health goal you desire will make it worthwhile.

Goals also serve as the destination for what we really want out of life.

For some people, goals are measured in money or material goods, while for others goals are measured in time or freedom.

If we do not have goals that speak to our soul or what we really value in life, it is easy to become side tracked by life, other people and we find all the excuses.

Goals can also help save time by reducing the amount of time you waste thinking about what you should or shouldn’t be doing and start / stopping on your goal because you have not direction.

When your goal “To Do” list becomes too long and your calendar too full, then simply look at your goal action steps and ask.

What steps can I do today that will help me achieve my goal? Not the big ‘should do’ ones, but the ones you can complete this week and not feel deflated or overwhelmed.

What ones are necessary for your goal? if weight loss is the goal, then how you eat needs to be a priority. If becoming fitter is your goal, then exercise is a priority.

Work from the first steps you can do and delete the rest as unimportant…

The rest of the ‘to do’ list will come with time.

But start with one thing, get good at it and then move on to the next challenge.

Just as goals save time, they also reduce stress because using your goals to focus your life and choices makes it easier to make those choices.

Should I do my workout today?

Should I eat this today?

Shall I go for a walk at lunch?

These choices become easier when you have a goal you really want to achieve.

Very little time is spent stressing about what you should and shouldn’t be doing.

Finally, goals give you a measurable sense of accomplishment. Every goal you achieve, in fact every step you make toward that goal, can give you a boost of energy and momentum to keep going. Each success powers you toward the next level of success.

Want to discover more Join the Free Facebook Community for Workshops and More

7 Steps To Achievable Goals

How many times have you heard that being successful is all down to setting goals?

It may come as no surprise to you to learn there is a lot more to success than just setting your goals.

I share with you why many people fail to achieve their goals and how to be successful with whatever it is that you want to achieve in your life.

1.  What is a goal?

A goal is a target which is achieved in measurable achievable steps. It is more than just a wish.

A wish is less tangible and often just fleeting. Who doesn’t wish to win the lottery?

A goal is a desire or need, achieved by taking massive action to reach it. It is more than a mere wish.

2. How to set a goal?

Setting a goal is a process which starts with an achievable need or desire.

First you must decide on the following:

What do you want?

Where do you want to be?

Your health status?

A goal can relate to any desire or need you have for your life, that can be put in to achievable actionable steps..

You then break down the goal into small individual steps or actions.

Achievable goals are goals where you can influence the outcome and measure your progress towards them.

Having a goal to marry Thor (not Chris Hemsworth….Thor) is quite frankly and disappointedly out of my control.. I can’t influence this outcome, no matter how hard I wish for it.

I can want to grow my back and arse muscles; this is completely within my control.

Achieving long term life changing goals is a process of achieving, step by step, short and medium term goals or actions.

Feeling Lost with goal setting – Check out how we can support you

3.  What actions are required?

Goals require action on your part. You first need to decide what action is required to achieve said goal.

Your first action is always to always write your goals down.

Putting pen to paper, yes, real pen and paper.., gives your goals an existence of their own.

Writing a plan is an essential step in achieving your goals – without it you will, over time, amend the long term goal to fit your reality. You will eventually reduce the goal to a wish, and wishes only come true by chance.

4.  Make a rough plan

You then need to use your conscious or your thinking brain to work out in detail how you are going to accomplish each individual goal. This means writing a detailed plan of what realistic actions are required to achieve each individual goal.

My advice is to focus on 1 goal at a time, have too many and it will feel more like an uninspiring TO DO list.

These actions then become smaller shorter term goals leading to major longer term goals.

5.  What steps do I need to take today?

Every day ask yourself “What steps do I need to take today?”. This will be done as part of your daily planning.

If you have a workout schedule or weekly meal plan, check your plan and make sure you take each step every day.

6.  Review your achievements every week and month

Every week review your progress for the week. Check what you’ve done and what you may have missed. Adjust your plan for the next week or month.

Your plan should always take into account what you will do today, tomorrow, this week, next week before the end of the month, in the next 3 months, 6 months…? Always write down your results.

My clients get a 30 day planner, with a 90 day goal setting worksheet. We use this to decide what we want in the next 90 days and the plan month / week/ daily to help us stay on track.

7.  What if things go wrong?

Goals are difficult because they move you outside your comfort zone to do things differently.

We call this the behaviour loop, it’s what causes self sabotage and it want makes change hard.

To be successful you have to face your own fear of failure and take risks. There will be setbacks, expect them, they are part of the process. See Failure is feedback Podcast