Goal Setting - and why it's intrinsic to your happiness!
"Setting goals is the first step in turning the invisible into the visible."
Tony Robbins
A goal is an objective to aim for, that when achieved will enhance your life. Without goals, your life can lack purpose, direction, and happiness. Many of us have goals relating to our work, and yet, few of us spend time setting goals for the other important areas of our lives.
This blog explores how the sub conscious mind and affirmations can aid goal achievement, along with 10 key elements for success.
What is a goal?
A goal is a positive commitment which you work towards by taking daily action. Goals help us to achieve:
-what we want to be
- what we want to do
- what we want to have.
Power of the subconscious mind
If we want to achieve our goals, we need to retrain our mind to think in the ‘new way’. The subconscious mind cannot distinguish between truth and fantasy. We can help achieve our goals by feeding our mind with the idea that what we desire already exists. We can do this through positive affirmations.
Affirmations
Affirmations are statements used to reprogramme your subconscious mind. They need to be:
Positive – the mind thinks in pictures and it’s not possible for it to picture negativity i.e., something you are not doing. Use positive statements (about your goal) to make the mind focus on what you do want rather than what you don’t want.
Emotional – by incorporating feeling into your self-talk, you can more quickly reach your subconscious mind. Use words such as passionate, fun, or exciting.
Present Tense – the subconscious mind doesn’t understand or acknowledge the past or future. Make your statement in the present tense: I am … . Use ‘ing’ words such as receiving or acquiring, suggests to the subconscious mind that it is happening at this very moment.
Personal – Make your affirmations impactful by personalising them to your goals. Repeat your affirmations daily (at least 50 times) to help reprogramme your sub conscious.
10 key elements for goal achievement
1. Identifying your goals
Write down everything you want to be, do or have. Take 10 minutes to do this and then revisit the list over the next 24 hours to add anything else. When you are happy with your list, prioritise your goals and allocate a time frame to them. Chunk them down into time frames starting from today.
Short term (1-3 months)
Medium term (3 months to 1 year)
Long term (1 – 3 years)
2. Passion
Be passionate about your goals. Use your senses to bring them alive! State your goals in the present tense and in the positive. Do not use ‘I will’ as this suggests a date in the future.
3. Keep a Goal journal
List your goals, together with the reasons why they are important to you. Use one page per goal and date and record your progress.
4. Review
Review your goals and progress regularly. Read them each morning and evening to remind your subconscious of what you are aiming for.
5. Visualisations
As your mind thinks in pictures, visualisations will help to achieve your goals. Create a vision for your goal that is colourful and detailed. Imagine sounds, feelings and smells that link to the success of your goal. Visualise this daily.
6. Mind map
Create a story board of items that connect you to your goal(s). e.g., pictures, photographs, etc. Keep the story board in full view to remind yourself of your goals and to help feed your subconscious mind.
7. Network
Enlist the support of like-minded people who can help you achieve your goals. Share with them your plans so that they can support your progress and celebrate your successes with you.
8. Learning
Do you need to learn new skills to achieve your goals? Are there books, a workshop, or group that would help you to achieve the ‘new you’?
9. Fake it, ‘till you make it!
Truly believing that you are already achieving your goals will bring them even closer to fruition. Be mindful that your thoughts, words, and deeds are consistently positive and are in alignment with your goals.
10. Celebrate!
Take time to reward yourself as you achieve your goals! Acknowledging your work and progress reinforces the belief that you are the creator of your happiness and will move you closer to your next dream goal.
Summary
You can achieve all you could possibly want to be, do, or have. By setting goals you are giving yourself every opportunity to forge a pathway towards fulfilling your happiness. Undoubtedly goals will change along the way, but in the pursuit of them, you will know you are living your best life.
If you would like to find out more about how life coaching can help you to attain your goals and personal happiness, or if you have any questions, you can email me ali@aliarmishaw.co.uk or book a free taster session via the website.
