What is your goal setting style? Do you write down just what you want, or do you clearly define your goals, so they become an empowering road map to achieving your optimal lifestyle? All success philosophers and personal coaches talk about the power of goal setting. No matter whose books you read or study, they all agree on this simple point: you must decide what exactly it is you want if you are going to get it! If this is so obvious, then why do so few people set goals?
Perhaps the whole prospect seems intimidating to some, maybe they are afraid they will aim too high, or perhaps they are afraid they will aim too low. Don’t worry! No one reaches every single goal they write down, but everyone can reach some of them. Relax, setting goals is not difficult and you can always change your goals as things in your life change, or write entirely new ones. There is a simple format that will help you set goals that work for you, it’s called the Six P’s.
1. PUPOSE: The first step in goal writing is to simply answer two questions. Who or what do you want to be? And what do you want to do? Now take your answers and form them into a specific statement such as: I want to inspire others. My mission is to inspire people in my family, work place, community… etc.
2. PERSONAL: Your personal goals are goals about you and anything you want to achieve to improve yourself personally. This can be anything from losing weight to reading a certain amount each week.
Keep in mind that you want to be able to know when you have reached a goal. If your goal is to lose 10 pounds you can step on the scale and you know. If your goal is to have more peace of mind, you need to come up with some way of measuring that so that you know when you have achieved your goal
3. PROFESSIONAL: Professional goals are about anything you do to improve yourself professionally. Write out things you want at work, in your career, or even if it is a new career you’d like to move towards. This can be anything from learning a new software program, getting promoted to a certain position, or attending certain training seminars.
4. PEOPLE: Who would you like to meet? Who would you like to help? Who would you like to work with? Who would you like to spend more time with? Who would you like to become closer to? Think of which people belong on this list and what you want to do with these people, how they inspire you or make you feel.
5. PROSPERTITY: How much money do you want to make? How much do you want to save? How much do you want to reduce your debt? Do you want a new home? Clarify your financial desires. Work out what your basic living expenses are. Whatever is left over is yours to allocate as you please. Decide how much you want it to be, and what you would have to do to get it there. Create a plan based on saving an amount per week that gets you to a yearly savings goal you like. Anything about your financial plans is considered a prosperity goal.
6. PLAY: You have to include fun stuff in your goals to continue to grow as a person. It’s okay to want to have a fun life! Everyone needs time to re-energize and distress. A goal of a yearly vacation or buying a sports car is not wrong if it makes you happy.
Once you have goals to focus on, you are going to find that the stronger your purpose will be, the more you will develop personally, the more you will accomplish professionally, the more probability there will be that you will attract the right people, the more prosperous you will become and the more fun you have at play. This frees your mind to consider and refine your purpose and that begins the cycle of self development all over again.
Once you have come up with some clearly defined goals for yourself, set a time frame. Write out the action steps you are planning to take to achieve your goals in the time you’ve set. Once you have reached a goal you’ve set for yourself, don’t just acknowledge the accomplishment; celebrate it!