Goal Setting

I don't know about you but I've never been great at setting goals.  Well, I guess I'm good at setting the goals, just not good at sticking with them.  I start strong and have a great focus but unfortunately let things derail me from my focus on the goal.  This last year was different though, I set a goal to get in the best shape of my life and did it.  This achievement has inspired me to set a range of personal goals for 2013; here's how I plan to stay on track.

Keep the goals in front of me.  I've written by fitness goals on the bathroom mirror, they're in front of me when I wake up and before I go to bed, it's regular reminder of what I set out to achieve.  Beyond my fitness goals, I've made a graphic of all my goals for 2013 and set it as the wallpaper on my iPhone. Every time I look at my phone I get a gentle reminder to stay on track.  How ever you decide to keep your goals in front of you, be creative and put them in a place where you always look.


Make the choice.  Setting goals is a personal choice; a very personal choice.  Only you can decide to set goals, what goals to set and if you're going to stick with them.  Whatever choice you make, be happy with it.  Keep them personal too; there's a chance that when someone else see's or hears your goal they offer up some form of judgement or criticism.  So, after you make the choice to set and stick with your personal goals, keep them to yourself.

Discipline.  It takes an incredible amount of discipline to stick with something for a year, something that you may not want to be doing in the first place but you know the ends is worth it.  It takes 30 days to build a habit and in those first 30 days you will be tested may times to abandon your goals.  Be strong, push forward, grow and succeed.

Know the Why?  I listened to a great presentation by Simon Sinek where he talked about understanding the Why, How and What we do what we do.  Most people start with What, then How and rarely get to why.  Simon says, if you're going to be great, start with Why?  Since listening to this talk, the idea of truly knowing WHY I do anything has become integral to moving closer to, and achieving, success.

Staying on track with my goals is not going to be easy, there are many things that can distract me from achieving my goals.  Here's a few things that have derailed me in the past.

Time.  There's not a lot of "me" time in the day when you take out work, sleep, driving, eating, etc...  So in those precious few hours left over in the day there are many things that can take away from actions that will keep your goals on track.  You've got to really look at all the things you do in your "me" time and only focus on doing the things that will move you towards achieving your goals.  For example, if you want to be in better shape, how much of your "me" time is spent watching TV?

Comfort Zone.  It's easy to do the things you WANT to do.  It's hard to do the things (especially in your "you" time) that you perceive as hard, like working out.  You have to challenge your comfort zone and do the hard work.  If you stick with it, eventually the hard work gets easier.

Excuses.  We ALL make excuses.  We just need to stop coming up with excuses.

Choices. Everything is a choice, just like setting goals.  If we don't set goals then there's no map for where we're going and you're not going to know when you get there; wherever "there" is for you.  It's easy to make the choice to do something that's fun, social or plain easier to do; all of which may not be what your goal needs you to be doing.

I'll leave you with this...  When I set out to stay focused on goals I do so with the end in mind.  The reason I set goals in the first place is to achieve a target, every one of which could never be achieved in a day.  By always keeping an eye on the big picture (why I set the goal in the first place) I am able to stay focused each day.  Remember, if you don't know where you're going, how will you know when you get there?