A few days ago I had an hour and a half long Skype call with a friend of mine in Indonesia. For four years we have been connected now, and during that time the “mentor” relationship has grown. Nice to see it has turned out positive over time, something I found as an endorsement for me on one of my Instagram photos, lol.
But we talked about one important subject during our call. Kind of an unfinished task for her. No clear goals or outcome has been defined. So where does the road lead then? A reminder for me to get a blog post out about how to set goals, and also getting there!
Without any destination, any road will do
I will make this short and sweet, without writing up a long treatment about goal setting and the importance of this. But probably I can’t repeat this often enough, because I see so many people with really blurry goals, or actually no goals or life destination at all.
This can go along with some of my previous notions I have mentioned here and there before. Humans have a way of just accepting things “the way they are”. Creatures of habit is what they become, a sedated state of mind where they are disclaiming responsibility, complaining out loud, believing that there is nothing they can do.
Omg, theres nothing wrong with that. But stop whining…
Read through the following tips, a 3-step process that could give you an empowered state with more progress towards your dreams.
1. Limit the amount of goals
A lot of people are really blooming in their head with wishes, ideas and dreams. Well, this is awesome, and a good feeling. But here is one really important note: Decide on not more than 3 goals!
Some would say not more than 2, some will advise on 3 goals. I would suggest 2 goals related to your business or work, and 1 personal goal within a set time-frame.
This will be one of the most important decisions you will make. Because the mother of all fuck-ups and a sure plan to plane-crash any goal setting is to fantasize about reaching ALL of your wonderful dreams and goals at one time, just because everything seems so cool and exciting. But, this is both a very bad plan and really unprofessional. If you like to read scientific info and details about stuff, I will mention one important study done in the USA: Multitasking and having focus on several tasks at one time is really not working, and will weaken your brain’s ability to focus well.
(Read here on what’s happening when you try this)
So if you think that you can spread your precious mental energy on 5-10 different goals, forget about it. If you’ve got one pitcher of brain-juice enough for 3 glasses, but you still insist on filling up 10 glasses…. lol
It is pretty self-explanatory that you will have very little energy in each glass, half full and really not complete. A consequential feeling will arise from not making it, failing and you will start to repeat this and get bad energy-flow in your work.
Ok, moving on…
2. Choose really important and meaningful goals, for You
This is just as important as step 1. This is because you will probably end up loosing energy and failing if you just pick out less important goals, something that does not really resonate with your true inner self and who you really are.
And so the Clever Human being says: “Yes but, who really knows who they really are anyway?” Especially young people. I don’t know what I want.
Well spoken smarty…
But what’s most important is really, the here and now. I bet you have heard about “living in the moment”. You know, there is actually something to that. The Now, this very moment as actually ALL you got. So what we do is using our always-active inner guiding system, our intuitive feelings and emotions to “feel” our way into the right direction. This way we will find what is the most important to us in our life, and what feels great and awesome for us. This also goes for our dreams in life.
You can find out more about your inner self, your values and dreams by noticing your emotions and patterns. Your repetitive thought patterns, ideas and visualizations. If you have something that you always get drawn to, and gives you that good feeling in your stomach each time you start talking to other people about it, this would be an indication that this is something you are passionate about.
3. Create a list of doable action steps
To get things done and complete tasks is always a good feeling. So lets get more of that feeling, but build the list up in the right way. Work backwards!
Most people are used to adding up long lists of to-do’s from start to finish, or just at random. Using fancy iPhone or other apps, is cool. And it gives a good feeling when they get checked off.
When it comes to goal setting, which is about reaching specific dreams or other meaningful and important steps in life, try adding up the steps to get there in a different way.
The importance of goal setting, and actually getting there is to focus on the end goal first!
So, we want to work backwards. Right, a planning in the opposite direction than usual, not starting with task number one. This is where the importance of visualizing your goals comes into play.
Based on one of your true end goals, like one dream. What would the last step be that you would have to do to get it? Think about this last task before you have actually completed your list and you reach your goal. So, let’s say on a list of 10 to-do’s to complete your defined goal, you work backwards on this.
So what would now task number 9 be, the one needed to complete and go for the last one. Number 10. You follow? What needs to be done to start on task 8? And what needs to be completed to start on task 7?
With this method, you always have control of what needs to be done before you can start the next task.
Breaking down your main goals is important
Please don’t underestimate this. Your 3 main goals will probably need some planning and completed tasks in a specific order to get to them, and have them manifested in your life. If they don’t, maybe your dreams and goals are not big enough?
The reason for having your main goals set up over a list of tasks to get there, is to make it more manageable and give you overview. A visual overview, which will give you a mental overview. So don’t be a smart-ass and just drop out on this. A lot of your driving force towards your wanted goals are the feeling of completion in the steps needed to reach them. Giving you the feeling of control and progression in something you yourself have been planning.
Look at this example as for planning your own goals
I have met so many people who break out of their habitual lifestyles and finally blooming with new ideas and dreams. They search for freedom and the ability to decide on their own work hours and every day life. I know many wanting to start their own blog. And in the following example, I’m giving you a real life work list where we created a complete plan for a new blog during a few coaching and training session with a girl wanting a new site.
Before we dive into this example. I wanna mention my premium WordPress blog course:
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So, first of all, what is her one dream and goal?
Well, we know this now. She has been talking about this for a long time to her friends. She’s been fantasizing about how she would sit by herself on a coffee shop or on the beach and write on her own blog. And having people signing up for her newsletters.
Goal: “Writing for my new WordPress blog with newsletter subscription”
Notice how we formulated her goal. That she IS writing for her own new blog. Not that she was going to, or wishing for, or imagined. We are saying, its done!. Your wish has been granted.
Then, we worked through how she would reach this goal. What was the last part she would have to complete to have the site ready and she could open it to the public? The following is the rough sketch we created as a work list for having the site ready to launch.
- WordPress site ready for launch (Great happiness!)
- Open the site to public
- Add a minimum of 5 new blog posts
- Write 5 blog posts in different categories
- Designer and coder finishing the site
- Sketch the design. Advice on referenced sites (what she likes)
- Decide on the content, categories and technical stuff
- Define the target audience for her blog, her niche
- Write and describe the idea, purpose and driving force for having the blog
When the list is ready, we will then start at the bottom. One of the most important tasks on this list are the two first in the bottom of the list.
Number 1, WHY. Why does she want her own website and blog. This is important, because starting a project like this without having the true passion for it, is both costly and time consuming. If this step is blurry, probably her passion and afterwards her blog will die out and disappear. So again, really be sure to connect to your inner passion, your values, your message to the world. Save your energy to something that really matters to you.
Number 2, her target audience and niche. This is also very important, because if you don’t know who you are writing for, both your audience, your readers and you will be confused. Who and what do you write and post content for? Be VERY specific on this.
I’m not spending more time on these details here, that would be another big blog post. Or, an upcoming course 🙂
Clear goals push thoughts, intentions and action in motion
My dear reader. This is where the magic starts to happen! If you never spend time on setting some clear goals before, this is where you can get some momentum going. Because you have written down specific tasks and goals, you will establish a mental visual in your head. This creates a point of focus for intention, and starts the law of attraction in your life.
It will also be important that your goals and dreams are written down on paper. You know, the old style with a wooden stick. Or, sure… like I do it, a Mac a day…
But keep it visible! You should be able to pull out this list of intentions and goals everyday and look at it. You want to establish this mental image in your head.
At least print it out and put it on your fridge. I’m sure you hang around there often, eating fresh, clean, nurturing and uplifting food several times a day, yes?
Namaste.
P.S: Remember to check out, and please share the premium WordPress blog course mentioned in the girls example in this post.