Why Do People Set Goals For Themselves?

Posted by Nick Niesen on October 26th, 2010

All successful people set goals, so goal setting must be a worthwhile activity to do.

One on the main reasons why people set goals is because goals focus the mind and give it something to work towards. Goals are therefore like having a destination in life, and the things you do to achieve those goals are how you get there.

Without goals you will have no destination to go to, and so will be blown around like a leaf in the wind, never really going anywhere.

How To Write Goals?

When you have decided exactly what you want to achieve in certain areas of your life, such as romantic or financial, your next step is to write this in goal format.

Goal format simply means writing goals beginning with ?I have? or ?I am?, so they are written as if you have already accomplished them. This tells the mind exactly what you want to do so it can start working on achieve those goals.

However if you were to write goals beginning with ?I will? or ?I want? then it is unlikely you will achieve those goals, as to the mind these statements will always be in the future and so will never come.

Set A Deadline

Once you have your goals written down, you must then create a deadline for you to do them by. Without a deadline you will not be motivated to achieve them, and so will most likely give up on them after awhile.

Make A Plan

After your goals have been written down you should then create a plan as to how you are going to do them. For example if your goal is to loose a certain amount of weight, then your plan would include activities you must do to loose that weight.

This can include things like exercising 4 days a week and eating healthy foods. But whatever you do, try to make your plan as specific as possible. Although don?t worry about getting it right the first time round. You can always add to it later on.

Overview

Well that?s really all there is to setting goals. It?s nothing complicated, but it does require some initial time to be set aside so you can decide what goals you want to go after, and then how you will achieve them. These are the main principles of goal setting, and if you can follow these simple steps you will be well on your way to achieving them!