Time for Goal setting

How many of us know that if we had the opportunity to relive the life we are living now we would do more than what we have been able to do and accomplish more than what we have been able to accomplish? Well, that is a sign that all we have accomplished so far is just a tip of what we are capable of. As we are about to get to the last month of the year, elegant living thought we spend some time teaching on goal setting. Good goal setting helps in aligning your focus and sustaining your momentum. People with goals succeed because they have a clear picture of where they are going.

Normally when we set goals we just put up a goal but in most of our trainings I always advise that it’s important to have goals for all the seven areas of our lives. Set your spiritual goals, financial goals, social goals, vocational goals, physical goals, mental goals and relational goals. Make sure you have something in all the seven phases of your life. I often say the best time to set your year goals is towards the end of November simply because often times December gets to fly so fast for most people because of travels, tours, the holidays and celebrations; we are all caught up in the moment around that time while on the other hand, January is a big No to set yearly goals. The year starts on the first of January so any goal you make on either your financial life or physical commences on the first of January. Around this time that is when we should be making an assessment of our year and putting up a way forward plan. Make sure that the goals are SMART meaning Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant and Timebased.

Here are some tips of things to consider when setting goals: Write your goals down

Writing down your goals is very powerful. The only thing more powerful than having a goal is having it written down. Everything you write down, you in a way commit yourself to doing. A written goal forces you to see and evaluate every now and then. It also helps you to recall and motivates. We need to have our goals written as a way to remind ourselves of the goal on regular basis.

List at least 5 things you need to support your goal

As you have written your goal down the next step is to put up at least 5 things that you need to support your goal and help it come to pass. Let’s say maybe one of your goals is to be out of debt by 2021 June. The question will be what do you need to support that goal? You start to list things you need. EG, I need to stop lending money, I need to see a financial coach, I need to maybe start a side hustle that will bring extra cash to my salary. Be sure to come up with all those things that will support the goal. List the down too.

What skills do you have on the basis of each goal?

Find out on the skill you have that will guarantee the success of your goal. An example on this one may be, if you intend to be a pastor by 2021 December, it’s a spiritual goal. Then you list up the skills you have, might say I am a good public speaker, advanced in theology, very engaging and experienced in ministry. Every goal needs its own pillars and those are made by your skills.

Who are the people that can help you attain that goal?

This is where some of us come in, the mentors, the coaches, the trainers and so on. Do not forget to include family and friends. You need people that will hold you accountable to every goal you make, people that will remind you that you have a goal to attain and people that will be there to shed the light, the accountability partners.

Have a time frame for every goal

This helps you to measure your progress and instils motivation. Without time frame it is easy to procrastinate.

Have an everyday to do list Earlier on I mentioned that the year starts on the first of January so if you want to see the fulfilment of each one of your goals be sure to hit the ground running. Start with the year and make sure every day you are doing something that is bringing you closer and closer to the fulfilment of your goals.

Monitor your progress and celebrate your little successes.

Motivation doesn’t last and certain goals take a lot longer to attain and that can end up forcing you to lose your zeal for it, but when you monitor your progress and are so ready to celebrate your every milestone then every celebration will call out for more and more; then you won’t lose the motivation in the process. We all have had days when we were all pumped up and energetic in sporadic periods only to sink back into a rabbit hole of self- doubt and hesitation a few days later. We don’t need that hence why it’s important to celebrate those micro wins and progress.

Fix your focus on the goal.

All your focus should be on attaining the goal.

It is important to seat down and draft your goals now so that by the time the year begins we all hit the ground running. Gone are the days when we will just sit and do nothing then blame the year at the end that it wasn’t a perfect year. We are in one of the very challenging years right now but still in this year of COVID- 19 some people succeeded because with the right set of goals in front of you when things go wrong you shift your strategies to make the goal possible. Every goal needs good strategies and the next article will be on setting strategies. BE UNSTOPPABLE