Top 3 Lessons about Goal Setting
What does this carrot remind you of? Does it remind you of a rabbit? 🙂
Or the idiom “Carrot on the stick”?
Some of you might be thinking about your boss trying to use a carrot to make you work harder, but for me,
the carrot is the personal goal I’m pursuing. Not because I’m a vegetarian! 🙂
It’s just like the donkey looking at the carrot, I’m constantly putting my goals in front of me..
My dear friends, it’s the beginning of the year. It’s a perfect time for setting some new goals and pursuing your dreams.
Brian Tracy said, if you don’t want to jump out of bed in the morning, you don’t have enough goals!
Did you push the snooze button this morning? If so, the one thing you can do to get up not just on time
but getting up happily and willingly is to set some solid goals.
I’m a big fan of goal setting. I have my top 10 goals every year. Sometime I succeeded sometimes I … learned.
Today out of my own experience over the years, I want to share the 3 biggest lessons I learned about goal setting.
Goal Setting Lesson 1: Out of sight, out of mind.
Our goals need to be clearly defined and written down on paper and we need to review the goals on a daily basis! I used to write my goals and put them in the drawer.. and never looked at them again. After few months, I even didn’t remember what my goals were, not to mention achieving them. We need to keep our goals in front of us, because out of sight, out of mind..
Just like the donkey needs to see the carrot, you need to see your goals all the time.
There is one little trick I have to remind myself of my goals. It’s to have pictures for each goal.
For example, one of my goals this year is to keep the house tidy. I found some pictures like this.
I put it on the fridge so I can see it. Hopefully my husband can see it as well 🙂
These pictures just really helped remind us to keep things tidy at home.
So remember, always keep your goals in front of you!!
Because looking at the carrot will help you get that carrot!
Goal Setting Lesson 2: Fill in the details.
I know many people set goals like losing weight, reading more, saving more money…but these are not goals, they are just wishes.
We need to fill in some details to each goal. Always ask: “How much? By when? Where and How exactly are you going to do it?”
For example, If you want to lose weight, you need to ask yourself: How much weight do you want to lose?
By which month you want to achieve your ideal weight? When and Where are you going to do the exercise?
Is it running in the park or working out in the gym? Is that every morning 7am or every sat 6pm?
You need to be specific. Remember: Vague goals produce Vague results.
It’s always good to clarify some details for your goals. You can do the calculation and break big tasks down into small steps.
For example, I want to read more books this year. The specific goal is to read 2 books per month.
That’s roughly. 400 pages in 30 days. That’s about 14 pages every day. That sounds achievable, doesn’t it?
All these details will help you set realistic goals and achieve them..help you get that carrot!!
Goal Setting Lesson 3: Stop being perfect.
Over the years, I have to say the very thing that hinders me to achieve my goals is that I always try to be perfect. For example, I always want to do video blogging. But I always think I need to dress up perfectly, with perfect hair, I need a perfect camera, a perfect message in a perfect place at a perfect time! Well, the perfect time never came and I never got to do one single video!
Only until this year, I finally gave my husband the permission to film me 😉
Perfectionism is the biggest enemy of our goals. Trying to be perfect not just slows things down. It often stops us ever get things started.
A Chinese proverb says “Once you start it, it’s half done already!” So stop being perfect on everything..
Learn from the donkey! The donkey never wants to be perfect.
He never wants to have a perfect step forward. He just simply moves forward..
So if you want to get that carrot, Stop being perfect!
What is your goal for this year? What’s your carrot?
Whatever it is, remember to keep it in front of you, fill in some details for your goals and then stop being perfect!!
Happy new year everyone, wish you all get that carrot!
( If you are interested in setting some smart goals, go to my Free Printables page for a goal setting worksheet! It will help you set the smartest goals and truly achieve them. )
Subscribe to my Life Design Vlog
[mc4wp_form id=”584″]
I also hate spam and unhelpful emails.
I promise you won’t get one email without an useful and practical printable tool to help you design your best dream life.