Setting Personal Goals

Why go about setting personal goals?

What is all the fuss about setting personal goals? The majority of people have dreams in life. They dream to be to be successful, to be rich, to be happy, to live a healthy life, to be famous, to be a company CEO, to be a great statesman, to be a great sportsman/woman, to be a writer, etc. How many people actually get to live out their dreams?

Many people change their dreams to something that can be achieved easier. They create their dreams more in line with their talents and strengths. Some of them do reach their dreams, but many still do not.

Some people come to terms with the fact that their dreams are too implausible and therefore their dreams stay just that -- dreams. However, they seem to be happy with the fact that their dreams can take them out of the land of reality every now and then.

How can you be successful in reaching your dreams? You need to have personal goals in life to which you can strive and which will make it easier to seize the day, take action and achieve your dreams.

How do you go about setting personal goals?

Man is a goal seeking animal. His life only has meaning if he is reaching out and striving for his goals -- Aristotle

Before you start, you need to have a personal vision statement. Your personal vision statement will continuously jog your memory about where you desire to be at a particular time in the future. Thereafter you can start to set personal goals. Personal goals are specific, attainable objectives that you have to to attain at specific times in order to realize your dreams, i.e. your personal vision statement.

The best way to set your personal goals is to craft SMART goals:

S = Specific

A specific goal has a much better likelihood of being achieved than a broad goal. You have to answer the six W questions in order o set a specific goal:

Who: Who is involved?

What: What do I want to achieve?

Where: Identify a location.

When: Set up a time frame.

Which: Identify requirements and limitations.

Why: Offer specific reasons, purposes or advantages of achieving the goal.

M = Measurable

Produce tangible standards for gauging your advancement toward the achievement of each of your personal goals. If you can't measure it, you can't manage it. As you measure your progress, you will stay on track, reach your target dates, and experience the exhilaration of achievement that encourages you to keep up the continued effort required to achieve your goal.

A = Attainable

If you set goals that are too far out of your reach, you would most probably not commit to doing in the end. However, a goal needs to stretch you slightly so you feel you can do it and it will need a real commitment from you.

R = Realistic

A realistic goal must correspond to an objective toward which you are both prepared and able to work.

T = Timely

You have to set a time frame for the goal. Putting an end indicator on your goal gives you a clear target to work towards. If you don't set a time frame, your commitment is going to be too fuzzy. Without a time limit, there's no pressure to start taking action immediately.

A goal properly set is halfway reached -- Abraham Lincoln

Do you feel that you do not have control over your life; that you will never be able to achieve your dreams? Click here for more resources to assist you to lift out of the despondency.

Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off your goal -- Henry Ford

Also click here and find out how you can turn your life around by designing your own destiny.