Towards flawless goal setting strides

By Bayo Ogunmupe There are numerous advantages of goal setting. On the whole, goal setting allows you to turn your future plans into reality. The following are the various advantages you can enjoy with the help of goal setting. Setting long term goals will drive you to work harder in meeting your career or your personal objectives. At the same time, setting short term goals can be a great motivator, especially in helping you to monitor your progress as you celebrate your successes in each small accomplishment that you have. Goal setting will allow you to identify distractions that you may deal with in the process of meeting your long term goals. Once the distractions are identified, you are able to exert extra efforts such that you will not be lured away from your goals. Goal setting is the key to effective time management. It will boost your self esteem since it improves the quality of your life by letting you know exactly where you are and where you are heading to in the future. Now that you know the importance of goal setting, how can you begin setting such goals for yourself? Here are some useful goal setting tips to follow: Start by creating a list of short term goals while still keeping your lifetime goals in view. As you slowly progress and your short term goals are being met, you can move on to a broader picture by setting forth your long term goals. Your long term goal should encompass your personal, professional, financial, physical, educational and even your public service endeavours. Such a goal should enable you conveniently answer the question, How would you like to see yourself ten years from now? What difference would you like to make in the lives of others a decade hence? What long term financial goals such as financial freedom would you like to meet? Remember, whichever goals you are setting, they should be realistic. Knowing what you want from life is the key to setting realistic goals for yourself. To sum up; goal setting decides for you the important thing to achieve in your lifetime. It removes distractions, motivates you, boosts your confidence while highlighting the steps that you need to take in order to meet the goals that you've set for yourself. Committing yourself to achieving your goals makes your journey in life more fun, enriching and making it more meaningful. However, setting a goal isn't enough. You need a written down plan whose worksheets will help you organise your goal and walk you through the steps necessary for success. Thus, committing your goals to paper creates a blueprint or roadmap that is very specific, providing you with a clear direction so you know exactly which steps you need to take to reach where you want to go. People fail because they set no goals; while those who follow through with their plans usually achieve success. Goal setting worksheets are effective tools that will walk you through every aspect of your goal setting process. Those worksheets help you prepare a plan that will increase your likelihood of making your dreams become reality. They help you see the big picture. They're great tools for visualising the future, seeing how great you become a few years down the road. For a goal to motivate you, it must be meaningful. Through your goal setting worksheets, you will break your goals into small steps that are more attainable. Seeing the big picture is important because you must know your final destination before you begin your journey. However, getting from where you are to where you want to be can sometimes be very overwhelming. You can only accomplish your dreams one step at a time. Which is why you should break long term goals into yearly, monthly, weekly and even daily goals. After all, we can achieve anything if we approach it one day at a time. Of course, while writing the worksheets, you will ask yourself to list the steps necessary to achieve your plan and to prioritise your actions for success. Achieving any goal, particularly a larger or longer term one, takes detailed planning.