Personal Development Goals
Make Goals and Exceed Them
Setting personal development goals is usually a much easier task than meeting those goals. Part of the reason for this is that most people do not have a true goal in mind, but rather a fuzzy picture of their goal. Another mistake people tend to make when setting personal goals is that they set too many and space them out too far in the future.
So the first thing you need to do when setting personal goals is to clearly define what your goal is. Want to lose weight? That's great, but exactly how much weight do you want to lose? Knowing exactly how many pounds you want to lose goes a long way in helping you do just that because you can find a diet and exercise plan that will most effectively help you lose that amount of weight.
Having a clear goal in mind also helps you plan how best to accomplish your personal goal. For example, say you have decided that ideally you'd like to lose 15 pounds. Now you know the number of pounds you're aiming at losing and you can set up a realistic time frame for that to be possible.
Don't make the mistake that many people do of telling themselves they'll lose that weight in a week, a month or a year. Those goals are both too short and too long. Break the goal of losing 15 pounds down into more manageable chunks that can be done in a week and you'll be much more likely to get the results you want.
And don't forget to reward yourself when you meet your goals. No, you don't have to spend a great deal of money or eat a huge meal that wipes out your calorie allowance for a week. Just take a nice walk or a glass of your favorite drink and celebrate sticking with your plan and meeting your small goals. Doing this ensures you'll meet your large personal development goal, no matter what that goal may be.
Setting and reaching your goals
Every one of us can benefit from setting goals in our life, however great or small those goals might be. You might have the goal of achieving a partnership within the firm you are working for or your goal might be that you are going to make an effort to be more confident and assertive in your day-to-day life, however big or small all goals are as equally as important. For those of us who are low in self-confidence or have low self-esteem, setting personal development goals is an indispensable tool to gaining self-confidence and taking back charge of your life. Whatever your reason is for setting personal development goals there are a few points you should always consider before rushing headfirst and setting out goals which are bound to trip you up at the first hurdle.
Challenging but within reason
There is no point in setting an unrealistic goal that would
be impossible to reach within a specified amount of time, while the personal
development goal needs to be challenging it also needs to be attainable.
The whole point to setting goals, however big or small is to bring about
a feeling of accomplishment and self-worth, if your personal development
goal is not within reach realistically then you have very little chance
of attaining it and this will have the opposite effect of what goals
are set for.
Set specific goals
Be more specific when setting out your personal development
goals, break your goals down into smaller more easily obtainable goals
at first. For example if your goals are to lose weight then instead of
simply saying that you want to lose weight specify an amount of weight
that you can realistically expect to lose in the specified amount of
time.
Always give yourself a deadline
Set yourself a deadline in which to achieve your goal, if you
have not got a specific date for reaching your goal then you will probably
be forever putting your goal off and ultimately never achieve it. By
setting a realistic time limit in which to achieve your goal then you
will stand more chance of succeeding and the rewards to your self-esteem
will be enormous.
Keep a written account
By keeping a written account of your personal development goals,
you will be able to see clearly what you achieved in the past and what
your expectations are for the future. Keep a detailed journal and divide
goals into categories such as those goals that you wish to reach in the
short term and also those which will be obtainable over the long term.
Set only personal development goals that are believable
Only set goals which you yourself think are believable, there
is no point just setting goals for the sake of them if you do not honestly
believe that you can reach them. Think long and hard about any goals
you make before setting them for yourself, ask yourself questions such
as, "is this something that is within my capacity to reach?," "how
much time would this realistically take?" and "can I do this
or am I asking too much?" You have to honestly believe that the
personal development goals which you have set for yourself are attainable
within the specified amount of time you have given yourself otherwise
you will lack the motivation necessary to accomplish them.