Goal setting

How to set a goal to achieve a success

You surely set yourself many goals but their realization wasn’t so easy. Why so many people fail to achieve goals? It’s easy – these goals are set in a wrong way.

The conditions of goals operational correctness

How your goal should be set so that hthe chances for its realisation were as big as possible?

The goal has to be concrete

You have to know exactly what you want.

If you think that you weight too much you may wrongly assume that you want to lose weight. That’s wrong. You should specify exactly how many kilograms you want to get rid of.

If you would like to be a rich person, a goal “I want to be rich” is not a proper one. How much do you want to earn? Determine the exact amount of money (monthly, annually, daily...)

The goal has to be positive

You should set the goal in the categories of pursuing of the benefits. You have to concentrate on the positive effects that will occur when you achieve the goal not on the negative ones which you would like to avoid.

Instead of saying ‘I don’t want to be unemployed’ you should formulate your goal positively: I work in a [...] company as a [...] and I earn [...].

The goal has to be determined in time

Give the exact deadline of your plan realization. Specify it with the accuracy of maximum one year, one month or better one day (you may define the exact time).

The goal has to be well defined by senses

Think how you will recognize that you achieved the goal.

Create the mental picture of your success and make sure it is represented in every system.

What will you see when you attain the goal? What will you hear? Will it be accompanied by feelings, tastes and fragrances?

The goal has to be ecologic

There is no connection with nature preservation. If the goal is ecological it means that it will bring benefits both you and your surroundings and won’t harm anyone.

You have to think over it very well. If you go abroad to work, is it ecological? Won’t you family ties suffer from this? Does a nice cottage in the mountains fulfil these associations? Everything depends on your situation.

Form your goals in the present time

When you set the goals, do specify them with such a words as – I have, I do, I earn, I live as it gives you a greater certainty than telling about them in the future time.

The goal has to take your resources into account

While establishing the goals ask yourself: what kind of resources I have at my disposal to achieve it? Think also what other resources are necessary to attain the goal and what you have to do to get it.

In other words: What do I have? What else do I need? What I have to do in the first place?

The goal has to be noted down

This is surely the most important condition, if you do not fulfil it all your plans will be frustrated. That’s why I will repeat:

The goal has to be noted down

Necessarily write down your goals manually on the sheet of paper with a ball-pen or pen.

To facilitate you the setting of goals and writing them down I prepared a special sheet that you can download (if you know the password of course). First, get acquainted with the following strategy:

Kurt Vonnegut’s strategy

Kurt Vonnegut wrote his books in a characteristic way. First he contrived the ending and then he was moving back to the beginning.

Do the same with your goals. Specify the goal you will reach in the distant future, then gradually draw back (make ten- or five-year intervals) and note down consecutive aims until you get to the present-day.

Do your goals meet all the conditions of operational correctness?

  • The aim is positive
  • It is concrete
  • It has well-defined time frames
  • It is formulated in the present time
  • It is ecological
  • What kind of resources which will help me to achieve the goal do I have? What do I have? What can I do? What do I know?
  • Which resources do I have to get to attain my goal? (to posses, to learn)?
  • What am I doing today to be closer to my aim?

I wish you success in realization of your goals