Goal Setting Activities

With so many methods and tools taught on goal setting, from high priced seminars to moderately priced books, it can bewildering sorting out what works.
Personal development has become increasingly popular in today’s busy world for everything from career improvement and weight loss to public speaking. Unfortunately, people are now even more confused on what are the best choices to follow.
Still, there are a number of simple, fundamental steps that can be used to get you started on the right path to reach your own personal development goal.
1) Identify the Cause
A good starting point with personal development is to look at how you got to where you are right now. For example, if your area of personal development relates to weight loss then look at what lifestyle factors contributed to your weight problem to start with. Write down everything you can think of that contributed to the problem and then analyze how you can modify each factor to get the result you desire.
2) Goal Setting
It is essential to have a clear goal in mind to achieve your own particular personal development requirements. Ask yourself exactly what it is that you wish to achieve and the more refined and clear your goal the more chance you will have of successfully attaining it.
3) Make a Plan
Once you have decided on your goal then formulate a plan that details the steps you will take to reach your goal. Use the details you uncovered when identifying the cause of the problem and expand on these to incorporate as much detail as possible on how you can achieve your personal development goal.
4) Focus and Commitment
Once you know your goal and have designed your plan you then need to focus on your goal and commit to the plan you have designed. Set aside a certain amount of time each day to work on your plan and do not allow general daily chores to distract you from what you need to do. Once you have become accustomed to working on your plan each day it will become a habit and therefore easier over time to stick too.
5) Look for Inspiration
It will be of great benefit to look for inspiration from others that have overcome the same personal development challenge as your own. This can be in the form of books, seminars, courses or even a person from your local community that you may be able to contact to get some tips or advice. Personal development is about identifying areas of your life that you wish to change for the better and having an attitude of continual self-improvement.
Following the steps outlined above–no matter which area of your life you intend to improve– you can be assured of achieving your goals.
Once you gain more confidence as you achieve your personal development goals, you will find it quicker and easier each time.

Goal setting is one of the keys to success. It is effective because it deals with how the mind works. The theory behind goal setting is, tricking the mind to believe in future results.Some of the aspects of goal setting is followed:1) When you set a goal, you are telling your mind to do something. You are consciously giving a command to your mind. Your mind will try to figure out anything you tell it to.2) Your mind wants to close open loops. When you tell yourself to do something that you haven’t already achieved. Your mind tries to figure out how to do it.3) If you tell yourself something long enough, your mind believes you’ve already done what it is you set out to do. If you tell yourself you want to be healthy. You will begin to believe you are a healthy person.This will make you believe you are someone or something else. You will believe you are a certain way, and in order to stay congruent to the person you think you are, you will do things that, that person would do.If you believe you are a healthy person, you will not eat fatty foods. Because a healthy person does not eat fatty foods.4) If you ask yourself the same questions, your mind will actively seek the answer. You will have actively your minds Reticular Activation System (RAS). Your Reticular Activation System is the filter in between your conscious mind, and everything around you in your environment.You see that any given second, there are thousands of variables in the environment that you can concentrate on. You can concentrate on how the air smells, how the seat fells. Your ankle pains, your headache. Noises outside, and on and on and on.Without our RAS you will go crazy, because the mind will have information overload. What you do when you set your goals is to activate your RAS. It will look for the things that will help you get your goals.

Copyright (c) 2009 Michael A Jones

Is a goal setting theory that is easy to comprehend and employ and which produces spectacular results just an elusive dream? Thankfully no. Although we may be forgiven for thinking so in view of the wealth of information available on goal setting, some of which makes it appear unnecessarily complicated. Perhaps that explains why many who set goals also fail to get results as they drop by the wayside.

Here are two goal setting theory approaches. You can pick the best out of each or use the approach that suits your personality and style. They can be summarized as follows:

Goal Setting Theory 1: You don’t need to know how you are going to reach your goal, just set the goal and keep it in front of you.

Goal Setting Theory 2: To achieve your goal you need a specific detailed definition of what you want to achieve and a step by step plan on how to get there.

Let’s explore these two aspects of goal setting theory.

Jack Black, a popular motivational speaker in the UK, used a catch phrase “Don’t ask how!”. His view was, by asking “how”, you kill the goal right there. Perhaps the goal seems totally unrealistic given a person’s circumstances in life. If a person born in poverty with no connections in life dreamed of being a famous actor, those around them might naturally ask “How?”.

Yet there are many life stories of individuals born in very difficult circumstances, with it seems, everything set against them in life, who hold on to a dream, and eventually get there! They don’t ask “How?” because, if they did, the desire and the goal would die. They just keep it in the front of their mind day in day out, year in year out, and they get there.

RAS (Reticular Activating System) has a role in this. Here is a definition of RAS: “the network in the reticular formation that serves an alerting or arousal function”. It describes a particular way the brain works. Have you ever had the experience of wanting a particular automobile? You have in mind an exact model, color, specific extras etc. that you would like. You can just see yourself driving it. Then, within a short time, you start seeing this exact vehicle all over the place. Why? Because your brain is filtering information and as you have alerted it to a specific object, you now begin to notice it whereas before it was there but you didn’t pay any attention to it.

This really is the secret behind goal setting theory that says, “Don’t ask how”. By keeping the goal in the front of the mind, reminding oneself of it daily, constantly thinking about it, dreaming about it, you are training your brain to identify opportunities and the means or tools needed to get to that goal. They were there all the time, but the brain now filters information in such a way that they now leap out at you.

Goal setting theory number 2 some would say is much more realistic. You set an attainable goal. You craft a carefully worded ‘mission statement’ of what you want to accomplish. You research, find out the resources you will need. You identify pitfalls and things to avoid. You make a plan. You then take action on the plan. You break the goal setting exercise into bite size pieces. You set time limits on each section, etc. etc.

Perhaps some are put off with this approach. After all, it does sound like hard work. You might well be exhausted before you even start! However, many high performers in business, in sports, and other areas of life, have used this kind of formula and achieved outstanding results.

Aristotle is quoted as saying: “Man is a goal seeking animal. His life only has meaning if he is reaching out and striving for his goals.”

So the choice is up to you. Perhaps you can combine the main concept of approach number 1 and allow your brain to filter the information you need naturally, with a basic framework suggested in approach number 2.

Maybe goal setting theory number one appeals to your temperament while goal setting theory number two doesn’t have any appeal at all. Or it could be the other way round. Whatever your viewpoint, do set goals! There is no doubt they are an essential ingredient in high achievement and satisfaction in life!