Goal setting articles

Goal Setting and Time Management

The Importance of Goal Setting
Setting goals creates focus and single-mindedness to a specific purpose. But the most important reason is probably that which is least understood or known.

Time Management by Zig Ziglar
Goal setting and productivity tips from the world's best himself.

Planning by Zig Ziglar
Planning and goal setting for a balanced life will enable you to deal with the physical, the mental, and the spiritual aspects of your life. It will also enable you to develop more friendships, and stronger, better, more lasting relationships.

Next Hill to Climb by Zig Ziglar
Reality is when you have a specific purpose in your life you are far more likely to maintain momentum than otherwise.

Smart Goals
Tips to goal settting and achieving your New Year Resolutions.

Is Fear Holding you Back?
What separates the goal achievers from the goal non-achievers? This article focuses on eliminating fear.

The Importance of Goal Setting

Why is goal setting so important?

“Scientists surveyed the Yale class of 1953, and found that 3 percent had written down financial goals for their futures at their college graduation. When the group reconvened in 1973, this 3 percent of the class that had started their careers with some kind of plan controlled more combined net worth than the other 97 percent combined.” - Ririan Project : The 7 Habits of Highly Successful Moneymakers

This same study is quoted by Tony Robbins, Zig Ziglar, and more than likely many other personal development experts. What is it that makes this simple task so life changing and fundamental to your success? There are many answers. Some are easily understood, some not.

Perhaps setting goals creates a foundation, a plan of sorts, with which to guide your life. Setting goals creates focus and single-mindedness to a specific purpose. But the most important reason is probably that which is least understood or known.

Simply put - The Law of Attraction. That which we focus on and think about we attract. Napoleon Hill prophetically stated in his famous book, Think and Grow Rich, published over 70 years ago -

" . . all thoughts which have been emotionalized (given feeling) and mixed with faith, begin immediately to translate themselves into their physical equivalent or counterpart.. . Thoughts which are mixed with any of the feelings of emotions consitute a magnetic force which attracts other similar or related thoughts....this formula is a law of nature which no man has yet to been able to explain. The name by which one calls this law is of little importance. The important fact about it is - it WORKS!"

Set goals! Memorize them!!! Review them daily!! Feel them!! Too hard? With today's technological advances, it's easier than you think. Click the link below to see how your goals can feel.

SET YOUR GOALS LIKE THIS!!

How to Achieve New Year Resolutions through Goal Setting

By: Charles Inniss

Many people make New Year Resolutions to lose weight and get in shape. Unfortunately, by the end of January most people have given up on their resolutions.

I think one of the biggest problems with resolutions is that they tend to be all or none. It’s hard to change a behavior or habit all at once. Some people do achieve their resolutions by going cold turkey on a negative behavior, but for most of us quitting something cold turkey just doesn’t work. Instead of making resolutions to completely change a behavior all at once, try setting smarter short term and long term goals.

Now, there is definitely a method of goal setting that is more effective than just wishing for success, and that method uses the acronym S.M.A.R.T. SMART goals stand for Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Time-Bound. Below is an example of how to use this method to achieve your health goals during the New Year or during any other time of the year for that matter. Instead of making resolutions, set SMART goals.

Specific: Your goals must be specific. If you can clearly define what you want in specific terms it is much easier to achieve it.

You could have a goal to lose weight, but this is not specific enough. Technically, when you go to the bathroom or sweat you lose weight, but that's not what most people are thinking when they say they want to lose weight. So be as specific as possible when setting goals, put a number with your goals if that makes them more specific.

Measurable: You must be able to measure a goal to make it affective as a motivator towards progress. Setting a goal to feel better or get in better shape is not measurable, so there is no way to know when you've achieved the goal.

Instead of setting a goal simply to get in better shape, set a measurable goal such as, "I run 1 mile without stopping in less than 10 minutes by December 2009" or "I perform 20 push ups in a row by March 20009". These are measurable goals for getting in better shape, and being able to measure progress is a great motivator.

Attainable: This is a tricky element in goal setting. If you are setting out to do something you have never achieved before, then it is hard to truly know if it's attainable.

If a goal is outrageous, it loses its motivational power. A general thought is that short-term goals should be 10-25% of the long term goal. Do your best to set a goal that you believe you can achieve, and then challenge yourself a little by adding 5-10% to that goal.

Relevant: This is also a tricky element of goal setting. By relevant, your goals must be relevant to your overall family, work, and personal situation. Your goals must also be relevant to your values and beliefs.

Let's say that you have a friend that has achieved a certain goal, it may be hard for you to achieve the same goal if it's not as relevant to your personal situation. Your goals must be intensely personal and relevant to your life.

Time Bound: Having a deadline is an important part of motivation. We all know the feeling of urgency when we have a major project to complete and little time to do it. Without a deadline, there is no sense of urgency, and urgency propels us to achieve higher degrees of success.

Having a time frame for the completion of goal is often a neglected part of New Year Resolutions, and I think you should give yourself 12 months to achieve many goals or new behaviors.

So, think about the above criteria when you're making New Year Resolutions (or setting goals at any other time for that matter). Instead of trying to change a negative behavior all at once, set short-term and long-term SMART goals.

By: Charles Inniss

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Charles A. Inniss, Jr. has a Doctorate Degree in Physical Therapy and is a Certified Personal Trainer. He is dedicated to helping people to live healthier happier lives. Visit his website for Free Pictures of 100 Ab Exercises and Free Weight Loss Tips

Is This What is Holding You Back??

By: Goal Seeker

I want us to look at something that holds so many people back from achieving their life goals - FEAR!

If you believe psychologists, they will tell you that you are born with only two fears - the fear of falling and the fear of loud noises. If this is so all of the other fears and phobias must be learned as we go through life. Fears such as the fear of failure, the fear of rejection do not just apply to sales people. In every walk of life you can allow these fears to dominate and hold you back from achievement.

Some people even have a fear of success. Success takes you out of your comfort zone and I have seen so many people aspire to reach a goal only to slip back into their old ways because they find themselves out of their comfort zone and have not been shown how to move on from there.

I believe our greatest enemy in life is fear, because fear keeps us from doing many of those things we would like to do that would make our life more complete and more enjoyable.

Doubt is the first cousin of fear and precedes it. We weren't born with doubt. Our habit of doubt has grown throughout our life. If we dwell on a doubt and give in to it, it then grows into fear.

I think it is fair to say that we all have doubts. You know that little voice in the back of your head that tells you that you cannot do a thing and nags away until you are convinced you cannot do it...

To illustrate unfounded fear I used to lay a plank on the floor of my training room and dare my participants to walk down the plank without falling off, no one refused the challenge. I then suggested that we go onto the roof, place the plank between two buildings over a busy road and carry out the same challenge. No one took the challenge - why not? It was the same plank the same width, but we had introduced a ‘What If' situation. What if the wind blew - what if the plank shook in other words what if I fell off!

So what made us think this way?

Mark Twain said, "True courage is not the absence of fear, it's the mastery of fear." World-Class Goal Achievers have just as many fears as those who live miserable, unfulfilled lives because of fear - they have just learned to master their fears instead of allowing their fears to master them. In fact, because they play on a much larger stage, they have to confront the fear of things much larger than the masses will ever confront.

Norman Vincent Peale, writing in 'You Can If You Think You Can', provides us with a prescription for mastering fear and doubt. "You can cancel out fear with faith. For there is no force in this world more powerful than faith. The most amazing things can happen as a result of it...There are two massive thought forces competing for control of the mind: fear and faith, and faith is stronger, much stronger. Hold that thought of faith's greater power until you believe it, for it can be the difference between success and failure."

Fear is nothing more than your perception of a future event. In 99 times out of 100 it will not be based upon truth. An acronym of the word FEAR is ‘False Evidence Appearing Real'.

For instance, if you've been thinking about starting your own business but have been put off by fear, it's probably because of some perception that the business might fail and then what would you do? That thought leads to even bleaker thoughts that you might lose your home or your car. There's really no evidence that any of those events will occur. It is all in your perception. Is it any wonder then that you can never take the necessary steps to do what you've always wanted to do?

What separates the goal achievers from the goal non-achievers then, if they all face the same fears?

Simply this as Susan Jeffers covers in her book Feel the Fear and Do It Anyway.

That is exactly what separates the achievers from the non-achievers. The achievers feel exactly the same fears as the rest of us, but they go ahead in the faith that they will achieve their goal - do the thing you fear and the fear will disappear.

In the final analysis, fear is present in everyone's life. It only creates a problem when it causes inaction and paralysis. Conquer fear and you truly have gained one of the real "keys to the kingdom."

Let me try to help you.

Write down the greatest fear you have, the one which you believe is holding you back, list the reasons for your fear in as great a detail as possible.

Send it to me at questionsatdaviddutch.com

I will send you a suggestion as to how you can defeat that fear and move on to greater things, no charges or obligations are attached this is my gift to you today given freely without expectation of a return.