The Psychology of Setting Goals

By Greg Nathan posted January 11, 2011

Have you found yourself mulling over your goals for the year? It seems to be a natural thing to do at the moment.

Out of the many people who imagine about what they want to achieve, some will be more successful than others. While luck and the support of family and friends do make a difference, how we go about setting our goals is more significant.

5 timely tips to help you achieve success

Here are five tips guaranteed to help you achieve success based on good scientific research.

1.Write your goal in a journal, diary or somewhere you can regularly refer. If you have trouble coming up with the wording try completing this sentence. "When I think about the coming year I'd feel great if ......"

2. Under your goal, write out the specific, practical steps you need to take. Put a time frame next to each step; small steps help to overcome procrastination. A time frame can be when you will finish the step or how often you will keep at it, e.g. "I will spend 10 minutes a day on this step." Some people find it useful to give themselves a reward for achieving each step.

3.Tell some other people about your goal. This will build your commitment to follow through and they might give you some encouragement. And if you are stubborn like me and they tell you it's impossible, this will provide you with an even greater sense of motivation!

4.Regularly think about how things will be better when you achieve each of the steps and the final goal. This will feed your motivation to stick at the steps you have set yourself. By the way, always focus on the positive benefits of success, not on the negative aspects of failure.

5.Finally -- and this may seem like a paradox -- consider any barriers that may get in your way of achieving each step, and how you might deal with them. Do this after thinking about the benefits. This last step will help to keep you optimistic and grounded at the same time. It's a great little technique that helps create success.

And now I will practice what I preach.

Step 1. "When I think about the coming year I'd feel great if I were to publish one of these Tips every 10 days."
Step 2. I will spend at least an hour every Sunday crafting my thoughts.
Step 3. I certainly have this one covered. I've just told you.
Step 4. Benefits. My PA won't be hassling me to write the next tip and I always enjoy the satisfaction of seeing a new piece come to life.
Step 5. The most likely barrier is getting distracted by a movie on television. So I should finish the tip before I start watching television.

Let's hope it works.

Until next time,

Greg Nathan

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