Four Simple Steps to Making Goals Work

Four Simple Steps to Making Goals WorkNow, ask yourself these essential questions: How
You have heard it before. Goals are secrets ofwill it feel for you to own a big powerful luxurious
the Champions. You have probably listed yourbrand new BMW? What will your emotional state
goals as instructed from a book, an audio coursebeing be like? Describe the feeling. Feel the
or personal development trainer, but alas! Thefeelings of achieving your goals. What is it that
anticipated results weren't yielded. Why.you are really after? Is it self-esteem,
Elite athletes and successful entrepreneursself-confidence or are you looking for approval
dedicate their achievement to setting goals.from society pressures?
Successful sports persons/team managersTake enough time to relate your goals with your
coaches have integrated goals in their coachingdeep seated emotions so as to find congruence
strategies. They tell us goal setting is a must; itbetween your goals and your values as an
works, full stop. So where do we go wrong?individual, as this is the cornerstone of achieving
Let's explore this together in four simple butyour goals.
crucial steps. We are not going to go through theYour goals MUST match your individual values and
goal setting techniques per se, we are just goingthey must start a ripple of desire to actualise
to identify and fill in those missing links.them. If this won't happen then you will end up
Step one: Identify the Goal/s'sabotaging' them.
Ask yourself; what do you want? We, as humanSo, next time you want to keep those eyes on
beings are naturally goal seeking. We movethe prize, don't just see yourself (visualise) 'with
towards what preoccupies our minds, what weyour BMW' getting excited, go deeper and feel
think of. As the famous aphorism goes; Energythe underlying emotions, the deep-seated reason,
follows thought.the sense of accomplishing a goal, the heightened
If you don't establish a conscious direction youself-esteem/self-confidence/self-efficacy; the
desire to move to, you may be moving in areinforcement of your core individual values.
direction you don't want. This might appear to beStep three: Enhance the passion
easy, but the fact is, very few people are clearYour goals must ignite the passion within you, the
about exactly what it is they want to achieve,desire to reach them, and most importantly this
and hence have got no conscious direction. Theypassion, the yearning, must be constant. There
bump from wall to wall.are two basic ways to keep the hunger to reach
Set yourself apart from the majority of aimlesslyyour goals alive.
drifting masses by knowing exactly what youThe first one is daily creative visualisations; the
want to achieve.second is writing your goals and read them at
Step two: Find the relationship between your goalsleast twice a day. Once after you wake up and
and your valuesagain before you go to bed. When you read or
Now, for the most powerful question, askvisualise your goals, incorporate the emotions that
yourself why you want to achieve thosego with achieving your goals. Use anchoring to
particular goals.augment the effects.
Do you want a BMW? Why? You are saying it isStep four: Experience your goals as being a reality
because you have always loved big powerfulEvery time you read or visualise your goals live
luxurious car? No, that is not the answer you arethe experience of your goals as if you have
looking for. Is it status you are looking for, orachieved them. This helps the mind to accept that
make yourself attractive? No. all these arewhat you tell it is true, and it will go to work to
by-products of an underlying reason, I call themhelp you achieve your goals by programming the
'conscious justifications'.goals into your subconscious mind.