My first ever blog!
And so the adventure begins, here it is, my first ever blog!
I thought it was quite appropriate to talk about goals, seeing as having a blog is something that I have been thinking about for a while now. We live our lives worrying about what everybody else will think of us and forget to simply think about ourselves. What are your goals? What do you want people to say about you? Do you want to be known as the person who conformed to the norm or who stepped out and made their own path in life? I want to be known for stepping out, doing something different and creating exactly the life that I want to lead. No barriers, no constraints and no fears!
Goal setting may be a new concept to you and therefore something that you find strange, especially if you’re not used to doing it. But trust me when I say that goal setting will take you far. If you don’t know where you want to be, then how do you plan on getting there? You wouldn’t get into your car to travel from your house to another city without a satnav, just hoping that you might get to your desired destination. So why would you go through your life like that? Not knowing where you’re trying to go. If you don’t have a goal then you’re most likely not getting any closer to your desired destination, and if you’re not getting any closer then you’re getting further away!
Goal setting can be done in a variety of different ways from measurable statements daily, weekly or monthly, to you having a specific set of questions to ask yourself. The important thing is that you do not let your goals scare you so much that you are paralysed and do not take action. If you set yourself a goal that is comfortable then you will never get to where you want to be. Anything worth having is worth working for, so setting yourself ‘easy’ goals is not the answer. Your goals need to make other people laugh. Your goals need to be the reason that you get out of bed in the morning. Yes, you will have to push yourself out of your comfort zone. No, it will not always be easy. No, you might not always want to do it. But will it be worth it in the end? Absolutely!
You must be specific with your goals and they must be easy to measure. A lot of people set goals regarding weight loss so that is an example that I will use. A bad example of a goal is: ‘I will lose weight.’ A good example of a goal is ‘I will lose 1 stone by the 31st of this month.’
Your goals need to be smart:
-Specific
-Measurable
-Achievable
-Realistic
-Time-bound
If your goal isn’t SMART then you are unlikely to achieve it. You cannot achieve a goal that isn’t specific because you don’t know what you’re striving for. If your goal isn’t time-bound then you may not be disciplined enough to follow through; Setting a date makes you accountable and gives you something to aim for. And, of course your goal has to be measurable to allow you to track your progress and make sure that you’re on track. If you’re a new starter with goal setting, write Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Time-bound down the side of your page and complete each part. Then you should be able to put all of that together into one or two sentences detailing what you’re going to do.
Now comes the hard part, going out and doing it!
First of all congratulate yourself for having set your goals! Only a tiny percentage of the population set goals, but they are most definitely the more successful percentage of the world.
A Harvard study was conducted with Harvard graduates in 1979 regarding goal setting. They were asked ‘Have you set clear goals for the future and made plans to accomplish them?’ The study showed that:
84% had no specific goals at all
13% had goals but they were not committed to paper
3% had clear, written goals and plans to accomplish them
Ten years later in 1989 the graduates were contacted again. The results were very clear:
The 13% who had goals in their head were earning twice as much as the 84% who didn’t set any goals at all.
Even more impressive, the 3% who had set clear, written goals were earning on average ten times that of the other 97% added together.
If that doesn’t show you the importance of goal setting then I don’t know what will. It might help you to have your goals written somewhere where you can see them every day, for example on your bedside cupboard or your mirror. This keeps you focused on the goal ahead and prevents you from getting side-tracked by other things.
Here is one of my favourite quotes to help you on your journey:
So what are you waiting for? Set your goals and then smash right through them. I believe in you, you just have to believe in yourself.
Love always,
Zoe xx