Effective Goal setting: are you doing it right?

How do I set a new goal?

Of course you’ve heard that it is necessary to have goals. Goal is a buzzword, practically what drives us to go further. It can be small and immediate or grandiose and long term. It can be magical and fulfill your deepest dreams, it can also be something simpler and possible. In any case, it is useful and if we set it correctly, it drives us, creates a way forward and fuels our dreams. A goal is a vision for the future that we desire. 

Of course, you will have set goals in the past, but there is a high chance that you did not achieve them. What do we do wrong and most importantly, how can we correct it?

Here are some ways to get it right, using all the functions of the brain, conscious and unconscious, to achieve what you want from now on.

For maximum achievability, your goal must be:

• Well-formed. Proper goal setting achieves the upgrade of our quality of life to multiple levels. A not-so-successful goal slows us down, reduces our self-confidence, disorients us, and at worst fills us with doubts and procrastination
• Inspirational and alluring, motivational to you. How do you imagine your life in a month, a semester, a year from now. If you had all the tools and power, what would you want to achieve? 
• Challenging, stretching us a little. Our brain wants the challenge, we need to get out of our comfort zone, to dare new things and to see what we can achieve. If the goal is very easy, the subconscious mind achieves it immediately and then does not deal with it anymore. If a goal is not realistic, there is no hope, but if it’s not challenging, there is no motivation
• Towards a positive direction. If you are thinking: “I want to leave this job”, then all your attention is where you want to leave from. But if your goal is stated positively: “I have a job I’m in flow, I feel passionate about, a job that motivates me”, your brain looks at your goal
• SMART – including various “technical characteristics to succeed”. Get all the info HERE
• Starting from and ending with you. If you are responsible for the success of the goal and only you (e.g. to run in the next marathon), then you have a much better chance of achieving it. If your goal depends on others (e.g. World Peace), then you are more likely to not be able to control the outcome. This does not mean that you will not do your best to achieve all the goals, just don’t be disappointed if you do not achieve what you want immediately. 
• Ecological. To help / promote our “ecology”: our family, our work, our environment and society in general. A goal that works in line with the needs and wants of others is much more readily achievable.
• Certifiable. How will you know that you succeeded? What will you see, feel, hear, say to yourself when you achieve it? What is your own evidence procedure? The subconscious brain moves on until it receives this confirmation, and when it receives it, it moves on to the next goal you set for it

For example, if your goal is a trip that you really want, you write it as follows: “It is August 5th. I am on a beach in South Crete, I feel calm, relaxed and happy. I hear the wave and feel the heat on my face. I put on my swimsuit and read my favorite book. Life is beautiful!”

Last but not least, your goal that is specific, that is well-formed, that meets all the specifications, should be installed in your subconscious brain. There are two brains, the conscious brain that works intelligently, logically, linearly and gives us commands. We use this brain in deciding what goal to set (goal-setter). There is also the unconscious or subconscious brain, which has stored all the knowledge, all the tools, all our psyche and is constantly on the work. So, we install the goal in the subconscious mind to collect the data that are suitable for this purpose, that help us to go in the correct direction. The subconscious brain is the one that manages to achieve the goal (goal-getter). There are various ways and techniques to install the target in the subconscious brain and activate it to achieve our goal much more easily and directly. 

Finally, on the way to achieving the goal, we need to calmly and realistically change course if necessary. We take in all the information, asses it, and if necessary, we adjust accordingly. 

The help of an expert can help in this process at all stages, from concretization, to targeting, to overcoming obstacles and limiting beliefs/behaviors and of course implementation.

Do not forget, we are talking about your life. Insert passion, imagination and kick-start your dreams!