Happy New Year.

Welcome to my first newsletter for 2008, and I hope the year has got off to a great start for you.

If you set some resolutions at New Year and are doing well, or if they are already challenging you a bit, then this newsletter should help. Maybe you didn’t set any this year as you never seem to get past the first week, or it’s just that you don’t want to set yourself up for failure. Setting resolutions - or goals - should be a positive opportunity to make some improvements in your life, and not a reason to beat yourself up if they don’t quite go to plan. Making any change can take time and we often don’t get it right first off, so just learn from the situation, review, re-plan and move on. Life is all about making mistakes which are just learning opportunities for us to improve ourselves, and if we didn’t do anything just in case we made a mistake, or didn’t quite meet the goal - then we wouldn’t get very far in life would we?

And goals needn’t be reserved for New Year, although it is a great time to review what you want from life, and what you want to achieve in the short term. Goals can be set all year round, and setting goals is a life skill we all need, whether for long-term life goals or for goals to achieve today. Goals keep us focussed on the road we are travelling in our life, and keep us from the distractions into other things that take our time but serve no purpose for us.

The analogy of travelling to a destination somewhere in the world is a good one to use to think about goals and their use in our lives. When we set out to go somewhere we have a route map or a plan to get there and various check points along the way to know we are heading in the right direction. If we get a bit lost, then re-focussing on the map or plan will help us get back on track. Our main life goal is the place we are heading, and we set mini goals along the way to get us closer to where and who we want to be.

If you know where you are going in life, that’s fantastic, you can set goals that you know will help get you there. If you are not so sure as to your purpose, or where you are headed then goals can serve to help you find your direction.

Goals can also be just about getting things done. You know what you need to do, but can’t find the motivation or energy to get you started. New Year is a great time as it gives you some inspiration to break the inertia and get going. How long they last, however, will be down to how well you have identified your goal and what you perceive you will get from achieving it, weighed up against the cost / pain of doing it. This comes down to the skill of setting and writing out goals that work.

The skill of setting goals is one that can easily be learnt, and as with other life skills, once you’ve got it, it can serve you well for the rest of your life.

So, how do we set goals?

Well you may have come across the acronym ‘SMART’ (stands for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, Timed) which is great for setting goals in business. However, in setting goals in life I believe the ‘achievable’ and ‘realistic’ tend to limit your imagination and your self-doubt steps in to limit what you believe you could realistically achieve. This then stops you going for something you really want that would inspire you to keep going, so the motivation to continue with the good work of sticking to it is soon lost.

So why set a goal for something you don’t believe is achievable or realistic? Well it is just your limiting beliefs that make you think it’s not achievable, when in reality it is. So I say shoot for the moon, and even if you miss, you’ll end up amongst the stars! - One of my favourite quotes.

A similar, but much better acronym for setting goals in life is ‘SMERTIE’ which stands for Specific, Measurable, Evidential, Responsible, Timed, Inspirational and Emotional. Your goals should have all these ingredients for them to be great goals which not only inspire you to get started, but keep you focussed and motivated to continue when the going gets a bit tough, and make you determined to see it through.

As a quick summary, goals should be:
Specific – clearly define what you want and don’t be vague with your goal – want to be rich? how rich? put a figure on it.
Measurable - a clear understandable outlined plan of what needs to be done to also give confidence you are on track.
Evidential – identify what practical evidence will show the progress and the achievement of the goal.
Responsible – the goal has to be totally down to you and its achievement, or not, has to be your responsibility.
Timed – put a date on when you are going to get it, not just a month or year.
Inspirational – it has to truly inspire you to really go for it, otherwise you could easily pass it over or put it away.
Emotional – everything we do is driven by our emotions, so goals must include specific emotional gain to drive you into action.

So these are the essential ingredients for a great goal - but what about the recipe to put them together and get something that works for you? That’s where coaching comes in, working with you to identify and come up with all sorts of goals to take you forward in life – to wherever you want to go - and then helping you get there.

OK, so it’s not that simple to set a great goal as it requires a lot of thought and work. And this may seem a bit over the top for short term goals, but when the skill is learnt it just becomes second nature to identify and set good goals for life, or just for today. Then when the goal is set, it’s just a matter of taking action!

If you would like to learn more about setting goals, and to have some great goals set with you, then please contact me for a free, no obligation, life coaching session where we can look at what you would like to achieve, create some goals to get you there and work out a plan to ensure you succeed.

Start living a life you love.

back to newsletters, hints and tips