CONSCIOUS GOAL SETTING
The use of the word ‘goal’ can be daunting to many – what to speak of extending it further to conscious goals setting. By this I mean setting goals that are well thought out and you are able to measure it regularly. When we speak of this term, it generally evokes a feeling of challenge, trepidation and sometimes even fear.
Recently, I have set a few goals for myself. I can say that having these goals run parallel can be draining, hence I consciously decided to prune the goals and priorities (we will discuss more about this below). It really helped me understand my focus, what I want to achieve – and when and how will I achieve it. I then realised that it does not mean that I had failed at a particular goal, but rather my focus is offered to priorities – whether it is health, child-care, spirituality – give a particular goal a focus, concentrating one at a time.
If we look at a ‘plan’ to plan those goals – we will become less stressed and more at ease in taking the steps to proper goal setting, goal management, goal measurement and goal accomplishment.
This blog will reveal those steps in an easy way.
S - SPECIFIC
M - MEASURABLE
A - ACHIEVABLE
R - REALISTIC
T - TIMELY
Each one of the above has a specific reach to our goal. These are questions that we have to ask ourself in order for use to understand our goal better. Be SPECIFIC about what you want to achieve. Can you MEASURE it? Is it ACHIEVEABLE and REALISITC? Is the TIME correct?
2. Once we have analysed our SMART formula based on our specific goal in mind – then we can move on to understanding that any specific goal is attached to a SACRIFICE that we will make to achieve that goal. A simple example will be a goal to loose weight over a period of time; and the SACRIFICE that will be coupled with this goal is following a nutritional eating plan, exercising regularly, increasing our water intake and so on. Are we ready to ‘put in’ our energy to achieve our outcome – are we ready to make SACRIFICES to reach our goals? Nothing comes easily, without effort, hard-work and sacrifice. Of course, what you put in will be what you get out!
3. We then look at building a SYSTEM in order to achieve the goal we have in mind. This system is our bridge or building blocks to achieve the goal. What are the habits that we need to establish. We have already established ‘WHY’ we want to achieve the goal from our SMART analysis – then we have to move on to looking at ‘HOW’ will we achieve it. This will be based on the SYSTEMS we build.
EXAMPLES OF SYSTEMS :
These are systems that you have put in place to achieve the ultimate goal.
4. RUTHLESSLY ELIMINATE YOUR GOALS – by this we mean to pick a goal and stick to it. I am guilty of trying to achieve several goals at the same time and can vouch that this does not work well. Something (one of your goals will suffer), and the true potential in maximising your efforts in a fantastic outcome will be diminished as the energy is spent working on several goals at the same time. Yes, one can argue that multi-tasking is indeed possible. However, the quality of the outcome of those goals that run parallel will be compromised. Therefore choose one goal and give it your 100% attention.
5. This brings us to the FOUR BURNERS THEORY – wherein life can be divided into four major quadrants : FAMILY, SOCIAL, WORK, HEALTH. Should we place all our emphasise on work for instance – other quadrants will be neglected. Hence, we need to look at each aspect of our lives equally to nourish the soul and create peace within ourselves whilst pursuing our particular goal we have in mind.
Image sourced : https://michaelkummer.com/finance/how-to-balance-life-career-and-side-hustle/
6. Press the PAUSE button. This is so true especially for women as we try to juggle so many roles within our lives. We wish to nourish our family, focus on career, fit in gym and exercise time, self-care and so much more within the day. For a change – hit the PAUSE button and take time to reflect and take stock of the PRIORITIES in our life. Eradicate what is unnecessary, the baggage that we carry and focus on one specific goal. This will help eradicate focus on unnecessary issues.
7. PRUNING OUR GOALS – I love the analogy presented by James Clear (https://jamesclear.com/goals-systems) which describes that even the most beautiful rose bushes need to be pruned in order for the rose bush to thrive. Similarly, our goals should be trimmed in order for the important ones to shine. For anything in life – we need to take away elements in order to shine with other aspects that are most important to us.
8. CREATE THE RIGHT ENVIRONMENT – Surround yourself with people and tools that will make your goals achievable. Example: if you sleep with your mobile phone next to your bed, the natural tendency is to check your text messages, email and social media as soon as you wake up. So make achieving your goal attainable by creating the right environment for yourself.
9. MEASURE YOUR GOALS – Measuring does not mean whether you have succeeded or failed but to see if you are following through. Whether you are actually ‘showing up’ to fulfil your goals or sherking, making excuses, or continuously putting them off. Measuring your goals will be checking if you are actually devoting time to things that really matter in your life.
10. DO NOT GIVE UP – continue building systems, prioritising and pruning…. never give up!