Just as there is no right way to live, there is no right way to determine your goals. Your life and your goals are up to you. How you define and write your goals has significant impact on your life. A written, measurable goal with a deadline will help train your subconscious to live into the possibility of your goal becoming a reality.
Goal setting is accessible and available to everyone. Don't let the “don't knows” or the “can'ts” rule your life. Take 10 minutes and answer the following questions:
- In 30 seconds or less, write out your 3 most important goals in your life right now
- What would you do if you won $100 million in the lottery tomorrow?
- In looking back over all the things you have done in your life, what type of activities, what sort of circumstances give you your greatest feeling of importance, of mental well being, of self-esteem? What makes you feel the best?
- What great thing would you dare to dream if you knew you could not fail?
Use your answers as a guiding light to creating your goals. And make them SMART: Specific, measurable, articulate, realistic and timely.
In other words:
1) Write your goals in the affirmative: “I am a non-smoker” instead of “I don't smoke".
2) Write your goals in the first person & present tense: “I have traveled outside the US” instead of “i hope to be able to travel outside the US".
3) Be specific: “I have run the NYC Marathon” instead of “I have run a marathon”.
4) Make your goals measurable: “I run 5 days a week” instead of “I train for a marathon”.
5) Give a by-when: “I run the NYC marathon by November 2012”.
Now go forth and write your goals. Include all aspects of your life: personal, health, career, family. Write your goals and post them where you can see them everyday. Accept changes, create BHAGs (Big, Hairy, Audacious Goals) and live into the possibility of creating the life you want.