Goal Setting Techniques

 Most people go panic once they realized the day ended with them doing nothing productive. Time seems to fly so quickly for some of us.

All our effort, time and energy are constantly challenged in this busy world. The reality is that there is simply not enough time to do everything that we want to do. 

With goal setting techniques, we can maximize the use of our time. The goal setting techniques outlined below are so can guide you through the basics. 

1. Evaluate

What do I really want? Where do I want to go? What do I want to do now?

This is a goal setting technique that demands a lot of reflection from your part. 

Go forward and visualize your dreams then slowly trace it backwards to the present and evaluate on what you need to do to achieve that dream.

Review the past to see if there are hidden motives that you have yet to consider. Sometimes the past has its ways of getting in the way to your goals.

2. Get Real

We have dreams to reach, yes. But we can't have everything we dreamed of in a snap of a finger.

Know when a dream is attainable; learn to accept and let go of it when you realized it is not. 

Know your strengths and weaknesses. Identify what are the things that does not support your long-term goals; this is a way of filtering out what are distractions and what is necessary.

3. Plan

Identify your Key Action Steps. Ask yourself, how will I go about this? What schedule or strategy should I focus on?

Planning is an important goal setting technique. An effective plan is somthing that can successfully identify the interconnections between the short-term and the long-term goals.

Planning forms ideas in our heads and is a powerful goal setting technique. Remember that "If you fail to plan, you plan to fail."

4. Focus

Sometimes, we get overwhelmed with planning and as a consequence, lose our focus. One goal setting technique to avoid losing focus is to aim for one goal at a time. If you dream to be a successful novelist, painter or a photographer, can you aim for it all at the same time?

The answer is yes, you can.

You won't lose focus if you know which of your goals deserve your utmost attention and extra time. If being a novelist topped the list, you can still do painting and photography at the side, more like a hobby. Just remember, don't let these hobby eat out your time for novel writing. 

5. Monitor and Re-evaluate

In evaluating goal setting techniques, ask yourself the following: Am I doing just fine? Am I on the right track? Am I on time? On cue? What strategies are working? What are not? Can I streamline my processes?

We have outlined some action steps during our planning. But we rarely take the time to think thoroughly what actions are actually needed. By re-evaluating, we are actually identifying those actions that are not needed. 

A Goal, a Dream

By observing the goal setting techniques cited above, our dreams is just a step away from us. But oftentimes the goals we set for ourselves remain an unattainable dream. We became a victim of our own actions: procrastinating in the middle of the journey, or losing interest altogether although the finish line is just a few meters ahead. The motivation to do another step must come from us, from within. We must not expect our loved ones or friends to push our backs just to make that big step.