From the desk of Anthony Buchalka

Thanks for joining me as we look at something that I believe is vital if we are to achieve success in any endevour.

Goal Setting

Goal setting really is a powerful tool. It helps you focus on what you want to accomplish. People who engage in personal goal setting are the ones who will achieve what they set out to do. Setting personal goals is not only important, it can help improve the quality of your life. No matter if you want to set career goals, financial goals, or personal goals, when you set goals you set yourself up for success.

There is a certain method to goal setting. You not only need to declare what you want to do, but you need to make it specific and measurable and give it a timeline. And success is not only about personal goal setting, it is about taking those goals and turning them into action. Forward momentum breeds success. Keep in mind that no matter what you say you want to accomplish, unless you take action it won’t happen. Personal goal setting is a great first step.

Here are some tips that will help you set goals more effectively:

Make it positive. Writing your goals as positive statements will help inspire you to do well. For example, if one of your career goals is to make a certain salary, your positive statement will be, “I make $50,000 a year in the year 2007”. That statement assumes that you already reached the goal, which will help propel you into action. This is important when you set goals. Saying I want to be rich is not specific enough which leads us on to our next tip.

Vague statements don’t work. If your goal is vague, then it will be hard to understand what you need to do to achieve it. For example, if one of your financial goals is to make $100,000 in investments within the next ten years, simply saying, “I want to make a lot of money” isn’t enough. Your goal statement should be, “I will make $100,000 in investments by 2016” is a much better goal statement. The more information you put in the goal statement, the better. This is an essential tool in goal setting because it will help you focus. When you focus, you can achieve great things.

The most important thing . When it comes to goal setting, you can write so many goals the list may be overwhelming. Consider what is most important and focus on those. Personal goal setting is not meant to confuse you. It is supposed to empower you.

As an exercise, write down all the goals you came up with when you had your personal goal setting session. Then, select the top five most important items that you want to take care of. For example, if one of your career goals is to change jobs in ten years, that may have a lower priority than your goal to lose ten pounds. When you set goals, you need to take into account how immediate you want the goal to be accomplished. Use a reputable Goal Achieving Program.

Make them visible. Setting goals, such as financial goals, is not enough. You need to be constantly reminded of what you want to accomplish. Posting them in visible places and reciting them a few times a day as affirmations can go a long way to helping you with your personal goal setting. The more you say them, the more you believe they can be accomplished. When you constantly repeat the goal, the information goes into your subconscious. When the subconscious gets involved, it becomes easier to accomplish what you want to accomplish.

After setting personal goals, write them down on pieces of paper. Put them in your wallet or purse, post them on the bathroom mirror and refrigerator, and recite them in the morning and at night. This can go a long way to helping you accomplish what you want to accomplish, such as your career goals.

Evaluate. Goal setting is an ever changing process. When you set goals such as financial goals, circumstances in life may cause the goals to change. For example, if you decide that you want to make a certain amount of money by a certain amount of time but you can’t find a job, you may need to reevaluate your goal. Perhaps you are in the wrong career, or the economy is sluggish. You may need to rethink your goal. Other circumstances in life can also affect whether or not your personal goal setting will come to fruition.

Instead, remember that if you don’t achieve your goals, that it may be okay. If your goal was to finish school as a chemistry major, but you’ve decided to be an anthropologist instead, that’s okay. This can apply with career goals, financial goals, setting personal goals, and just about every situation.

Remember to be easy on yourself!

You don’t need to complete a goal just because you set it. You may not need that particular goal anymore because you’ve moved on.

As soon as you learn that this is okay, the goal setting process will be much easier for you.

All the best and remember to aim high in your goals. If you aim low then that is most likely what you may get.

All the best.

Anthony Buchalka