Goal Setting And Starting The Year With Intention
At the start of the year we can often feel pressured to be setting goals, new year resolutions and having a plan for our business. Goal setting is great for motivating you, giving you a sense of direction and clarity but it can be an overwhelming process.
Goal Setting And Starting The Year With Intention
Starting the year with intention and bringing our emotions into our goal setting is a much better way of ensuring that you meet your goals in a year and that you feel connected and centred to them. Goals are needed in life because if you don’t know where you want to go, you’ll never get there.
WHERE ARE YOU AT NOW?
Firstly think about the area you want to develop in your business. Get a clear image in your mind about what is going on in that area for you at the moment. I like to think of how satisfied do I feel out of ten? With zero being not at all, and ten being the epitome and where you want to be. Spend a few moments thinking about the current position, write your satisfaction level out of ten on a piece of paper or in your journal and write down any thoughts or feelings that come to mind when you reflect on it.
WHAT DOES 10/10 FEEL LIKE?
Now imagine that you have set your goal, drawn up a plan to achieve it and worked through any blocks or limiting beliefs. You might have to step out of your comfort zone and make some tough decisions but you have reached 10 out 10. List out your piece of paper or in your journal what hitting 10 out of 10 FEELS like. Who are you with when you reach this goal, what are people saying to you or about you, how do you feel? Most importantly how does reaching 10/10 in your goal make you feel?
HOW TO SET A GOAL WITH IMPACT
With this target energy in mind, create an outstanding outcome that will inspire you and motivate you to keep going.
Think about what you want to achieve in your business this year. It needs to be challenging yet achievable, you don’t want to make it too easy, it does need to stretch you. It also needs to be measurable so that you know when you have reached the point - what will it be like for you to reach this goal.
Now we all know about SMART goals (specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and timed) but move aside SMART, it’s time to set goals with intention and with IMPACT. In order to set your goals you need to set a strong intention around your chosen areas and your goal must be more than just a task to be completed. You need to be fully attached to the outcome, to own it, in order to achieve success at any great depth.
“What lies before us and what lies behind us are small matters compared to what lies within us. And when we bring what is within out into the world, miracles happen.”
Henry David Thoreau
By spending time thinking about reaching your goal, what this feels like, what this allows you to do, it allows you to imagine already having fulfilled your goals and the difference it makes to your business.
This inspiring and visionary start to the goal setting process motivates you to think big when it comes to your goals and to believe in yourself.
The more emotionally attached you become, the more change you have of achieving success. This is where you need to set a goal with IMPACT;
• Inspirational - being emotionally attached to reaching the outcome. Being inspired to reach that goal, and experience there benefits of change and what this could mean for you and your business - keeping hold of the bigger picture during tough days
• Measurable - we need to have a clear measure set in the outcome - establishing an end point. As by keeping the end in sight the goal feels more emotionally attached to the outcome and by measuring you can see how far you need to go to ensure completion
• Positive - this is SO important! Creating a positive outcome is so much more motivating than having a negative goal such as “giving something up” or “stopping x,y,z”. The positive approach to the goal allows you to approach new and possibly challenging habits and behaviours with the right attitude and excitement - being strongly connected to the overall vision
• Achievable - the goal must be achievable at a push. Allow space for the power of intention and the law of attraction to intervene - by setting an achievable but challenging goal - it will inspire you to take action
• Challenging - you should feel excited about the level of challenge in hitting your goal and maybe even a little scared. Most people can tell you where they feel this - whether in the pit of their stomach or a tingle in their fingers - there is an excitement and an energy to a challenge and you can nail this!
• Timed - set a clear ‘finish by’ date to strengthen your focus and keep motivation levels up. If an outcome is too far away then you have no sense of urgency - you need to prioritise this task over other
“Focus on what you want to achieve, and not on what you want to avoid.” Zamora
JOURNAL TO KEEP MOTIVATED
We tend to be highly motivated when pursuing new goals. Over time, however, our motivation weakens. To create lasting change in your life, it is important to stay motivated and to pursue your goals and vision in the long term.
Motivation is influenced by the amount energy you have and the successes you have experienced. You can gain energy through moments of happiness, for example. Happy moments are not necessarily associated with major events. You experience them during everyday occurrences, yet often they go unnoticed.
This is where journalling comes in. Numerous studies show that taking the time every day to journal positive events, thoughts, and emotions boosts your mood and leads to results in tests. Just four minutes a day can really make a difference to keeping you motivated, providing energy that strengthens you and frees your mind to pursue your goals and work toward the vision of the life you want.
So go on, invest in a lovely new piece of stationery today. Take time to journal every day around your goal and progress but also about what you are happy and grateful for each day. Raise your energy levels and you will reach your goals by the time the year is out. Good luck!
Originally featured in Beauty PR Club:
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