goal setting - The Artistic Divas World

Breaking Bad Habits: Planning for Setbacks

Being ready for setbacks is necessary and in today’s post we are talking about what to do when you have a goal. And as you work toward it, something can happen and you slide backwards. This will happen, no matter what the goal. Reaching your goals is a process, not a done deal. You need to plan for and expect that setbacks will occur. Breaking bad habits can be a challenging and often frustrating process. It can be easy to fall off the wagon and revert to old habits. But it’s vital to remember that setbacks are a normal part of the process and can actually be an opportunity for growth and improvement.

Here are several steps you can take to plan for setbacks and get back on track:

Forgive Yourself

It’s important to be kind to yourself when you experience a setback. Don’t beat yourself up or dwell on the mistake. Instead, recognize that it’s a normal part of the process and move on.

Take a Break

Sometimes a setback happens just because you’re overworking yourself. Often you can put things right by going for a walk, or working on something else and coming back to the issue with a clear mind. Planning for frequent breaks will help you minimize the number of setbacks you experience.

Evaluate What Happened

Take some time to reflect on what led to the setback. For example, did you have a particularly stressful day that made it harder to stick to your habits? Did you get caught up in a social situation that made it difficult to resist temptation? Understanding the root cause and triggers surrounding the setback will help you develop strategies to prevent it from happening again.

Set Specific and Achievable Goals

Clear goals keep you focused and motivated as you overcome setbacks. Be sure to set goals that are specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART). You can learn about this at almost any university website, like this one in Minnesota.

Be Flexible and Adaptable

Setbacks are a normal part of life. It’s vitally important to be flexible and adaptable in the face of them. If something isn’t working, be willing to adjust your plan and try something new.

Find Healthy Coping Mechanisms

Stress majorly contributes to setbacks, so it’s imperative to find healthy ways to manage it. Choose healthy options that are proven to work, like exercise, meditation, or talking to a therapist.

Restart

Don’t let a setback discourage or derail your progress entirely. Instead, use it as an opportunity to start fresh. Set a new goal and make a plan to achieve it. Don’t worry about how long it will take – just focus on taking small steps in the right direction.

Seek Support

It is helpful to have someone to talk to when trying to break a bad habit. A friend or family member who is supportive and understanding can encourage and help you stay motivated. You can also consider joining a support group or working with a coach or therapist to help you overcome your challenges.

Stay Positive

Getting discouraged during a setback is common, but staying positive and focusing on your progress is important. Remember that change takes time, and it’s okay to have setbacks along the way.

Planning for setbacks is an important part of breaking bad habits. You can overcome setbacks and progress towards your goals by forgiving yourself, evaluating what happened, restarting, and seeking support. So don’t get discouraged – keep moving forward, and you’ll live a better life through positive habits sooner than you think.

We have talked about goal setting previously and you can find that here. You can also get a goal planner here.

Breaking Bad Habits: Planning for Setbacks Read More »

Successful Goal Setting and Achievement

Leave a Comment / goal setting / admin

Goal setting helps us determine our priorities, get organized, make big decisions, and realize our dreams. The act of merely setting a goal brings about positive change for many people. When you set a goal you are creating an exciting challenge for yourself. Almost all motivational experts incorporate goal setting as an important part of their programs. The effectiveness of goal setting can be seen in the incredible accomplishments of people such as: Henry Ford who wanted to make cars affordable for everyone, Bill Gates whose goal was to have a computer in every household, and John F. Kennedy who set out to put a man on the moon within a decade.

There is a famous story about Jim Carrey who, while struggling as an actor in 1987, drove his car up on Mulholland Drive in the Hollywood hills to think about the future. While sitting there overlooking the city of Los Angeles he wrote a check made out to himself for “acting services rendered” in the amount of $10 million. He dated the check for Thanksgiving of 1995. Jim’s Goal turned out to be conservative because by the time 1995 rolled around he was making $20 million a movie.

The goal setting process entails the following requirements:

Well formed Goal Statements
Breaking goals down into manageable Steps
Motivation and Commitment
Reminders and Keeping on track
Frequent Review and Re-assessment

1. Well formed Goal Statements

A goal statement forms the basis for the entire process so careful attention should be placed on formulating a clear and accurate goal statement. A good way to remember how a goal statement should be defined is the S.M.A.R.T. acronym used by many experts in goal setting. SMART stands for:

Specific
Measurable
Action-Oriented
Realistic
Tangible

The goal should be specific enough so that we know exactly what we are striving for, measurable so we know exactly what is to be accomplished and when it has been reached, action-oriented with positive activity that will produce results, realistic in that it is practical and can be achieved given the limited availability of resources, and tangible meaning concrete and not vague. The goal statement Increase sales 25% by the end of the fiscal year without increasing advertising spending is an example that follows these rules.

2. Breaking down Goals into manageable Steps

Once we have a well-formed statement we need some direction to follow to achieve this goal. The creation of steps gives us an “Action Plan” that when completed will lead toachievement. Steps also allow for tracking of progress towards the goal. steps should be positive and not used to list obstacles that must be overcome which focuses on the negative. Negativity can kill motivation but there is power in positive thinking.

3. Motivation and Commitment

Motivation and commitment are what make us strive to achievement. They give us the push, desire, and resolve to complete all of the other steps in the goal process. This motivation can be obtained by developing a personal statement that creates a high level of emotion and energy that guarantees achievement. One self help expert said that as a child he was kicked out of his local country club pool because he was not a member, in response he later made a goal that he would one day have a pool that is one foot bigger than that country club’s pool. The motivation of being asked to leave the pool provided the necessary fuel for him to achieve this goal.

Commitment creates more accountability and is what sets us on direct course to reach our goals. It may create costly negative consequences upon failure to attain a goal. Making a commitment might be something like having invested your savings in your new business which you will lose if it fails. Motivation and commitment are specific to your situation and life and only you can form statements that will ensure you reach your goal the quickest. The more personal you make your motivation and commitment statements for each goal, the more motivated you will be to accomplish your goal.

4. Reminders and Keeping on Track

Reaching our goals requires persistence and regular attention. We need some sort of system to keep us reminded and accountable. You need to use a combination of things like reminder emails, calendars, and reports to keep you organized and on track. Sharing goals with others who can give you help and support is a highly effective way to increase your chances for success. If some accountability system is not used then we are likely to lose sight and fail.

5. Goals require Frequent Review and Re-assessment

When we first sit down and start to define goals it can seem like a difficult and daunting task but over time it begins to get much easier. Patience is required. Goal setting is definitely an ongoing process that is accomplished over time.

If you define your goals and then ignore them and you will fail. All goals due in the next year should be reviewed at least once a week and daily if possible. The great thing about frequent review is that this forces us to make big decisions and determine priorities in our life. We should keep watch for goals that are not being achieved on time or for goals on which we keep extending the deadline.

This is the fourth part in this series, so if you missed the others, you can find them here, and here, and here. You can also get a free worksheet to use in determining your SMART goals here. Or you can get a book to use for all your goals here.

Successful Goal Setting and Achievement Read More »

What Are SMART Goals?

Leave a Comment / goal setting / admin

SMART goals are the way to get things done. Goal setting is equal parts art and science. You real

ly have to think and focus onto the things that you need to improve or the things you really want to accomplish when setting these goals. Setting goals is not a passive activity and requires much thought to actually get this right.

Many people create goals that simply don’t work, but if you’re in business, you don’t have the luxury of creating goals that don’t work. You need to work effectively and you need goals you help you do it.

Here is a great way to create SMART goals that work that keep you on track.

They’re called SMART goals and the acronym SMART will help you to remember the things that each goal needs to be:

Specific:

Your SMART goal needs to be stated in a way that is clearly defined. Saying, I should work more, is not a goal that will be kept. However, saying, I am going to work a total of 8 hours each day, is a goal that is much clearer and specific.

Measurable:

This is closely related to the above attribute except that it also includes a way to make sure you are on track. A SMART goal that says, I want to make more money, isn’t measurable. However, a goal that says, I want to earn $3000/month, is a far more measurable goal. Its easy to see, at the end of the month, whether or not you achieved it.

Actionable:

This means that your SMART goal should be something that you need to do yourself in order to accomplish it. If you want to increase your income this year, its not realistic to say, I’m going to win the lottery this year, because you have no control over whether you will win the lottery or not. However you might say, I’m going to increase my sales efforts by cold calling 10 people each day, which is something you can take action on yourself.

Realistic:

SMART Goals that are actually achievable are much better and far more motivating. You’ll feel better about yourself when you do hit goals than if you constantly shoot for them and fall short. Realistic goals should not be so easy that you hit them every single time but should not be so hard that you never reach them at all.

Time-oriented:

Similar to the measurable attribute, your SMART goal should have a timeframe for you to accomplish it in. Deadlines help people achieve their goals. If you anchor your goal to a time, you’ll be able to watch your progress.

You can remember this with the acronym, SMART, so that when you’re creating goals, you can create better goals for yourself. This is a popular goal-setting acronym in business, although occasionally the words are changed slightly to reflect the needs of the business.

This worksheet above can be downloaded by clicking the link beneath it. Using such a template can really help you understand SMART goal setting and help you stay focused on making them correctly.

If you missed the previous posts in this series, you can get them here and here.

What Are SMART Goals? Read More »

Did You Set Goals Just For Yourself?

Leave a Comment / goal setting / admin

Most of us know that we have goals but get lost in the achievement of them sometimes. Distractions come in all forms and colors, they interfere with the plans you make to achieve your goals. Sometimes, however, it is the goal itself that sets us up for frustration. If the goals are not right, no amount of effort will bring them into reality. Today, let’s look at how to actually set goals for ourself.

There is a lot more to goal setting than just picking a goal and moving forward. While that is important, it’s also important to ensure that you are setting the right goals at the right time so that you can truly be successful. In order to ensure that you are setting the right goals for yourself, answer the following questions:

Are You Setting Specific and Realistic Goals?

It takes a little research to set a goal that is realistic. If you’re not sure if something is actually achievable then you’ve not done enough research. Once you’ve set a goal that is indeed realistic, then you need to be specific enough in your description of it so that it’s also easy to take the goal, and work backwards to create a schedule of actions needed to succeed.

Are Your Goals Multifaceted?

Focusing on only one part of your life is a bad idea. People live multifaceted lives and need to set goals for all areas of their lives in order to feel successful. If you have a wonderful business and career but your personal life suffers, then no matter how successful you are, you will not feel successful. Something will always feel as if it’s missing from your life if your goals aren’t inclusive. Therefore, set goals to include something from each aspect of your life.

Is Your Scheduling Representative of Real Need?

Once you create the schedule for yourself to reach each set goal , you need to truly consider how representative it is of reality. Say your goal is to be healthy and reduce your cholesterol by 10 percent in six months. But, you haven’t set aside the time needed to exercise and eat right. If you don’t schedule in the time needed, you won’t succeed because something will always be in your way taking time away from you. It will be very frustrating to practice your schedule because it doesn’t represent reality.

For instance, if you are going to exercise 30 minutes per day, setting aside only 30 minutes isn’t going to be realistic. You’ll probably need to set aside an hour to account for getting ready as well as cooling down or getting cleaned up to go back to work.

Are You Learning from Failure?

Many times when we set goals and schedules, instead of learning from failure, people give up. Using the example above, once you implement your schedule to reach the goals that you have set, when you notice there are things you’ve forgotten to take into account, don’t give up. Learn from the failure and change the schedule to be more realistic.

You might find that in practice you have to rewrite all your goals and your schedule, but this is perfectly acceptable. Many people believe failure is something negative, but the truth is, if you don’t fail sometimes you’re not going to learn much and it’s likely your goals are too easy.

Do Your Goals Represent Your Needs and Wants or Someone Else’s?

A lot of people set goals that represent what someone else wants instead of what they want. This can really cause a lot of bad feelings and resentment which can derail the best laid plans. As you set goals for your life, ask yourself if they’re really what you want for yourself or what someone else wants for you. Ask yourself if you’re okay with any goal you make being for someone else before you embark on your journey.

It’s okay to do things because of someone else, but it’s important that you are honest about that and make some goals for yourself too that don’t involve anyone else’s needs or wants.

Are You Checking in Often to Stay on Track?

Schedules are very important to the success of reaching any goal in life. To do lists pale in comparison to a well laid out calendar of tasks and activities that get you from point “A” to point “B”. Ensure that you look at your schedule every morning and every night and note when you succeed on sticking to your schedule and where you don’t. Noticing a pattern of activity can be helpful in fixing a poorly written schedule as well as staying realistic about whether or not you’re sticking to the plan.

Are Your Goals Focused Positively?

When writing a goal it’s important to write them in a positive way, or at least a way that feels positive to you. In the quest to improve your life, try writing down a goal and then changing the words to sound more positive to see if it isn’t more motivating. For instance, “losing weight” seems like a good goal, but for some people it might signify deprivation. So instead, the person might frame the goal as “improving my BMI by 10 points” or “improving my cholesterol by 10 percent.”

Just as setting too few goals can be a problem, so can setting too many. Everyone has a personal life and a career life and points in between. If you have set goals in too many areas of life at once, you might tire yourself out and get overwhelmed. Instead pick one personal goal, and one other type of goal to focus on until you reach them, and then you can add more goals as time goes on. You don’t need to do everything today. Slow and steady wins the race is a good motto to hang on to.

To set goals for yourself takes some thought and consideration. Don’t try to set all your goals in one day – instead, set some goals in different stages and in different areas of your life and give a lot of thought to why you’re making the goal in the first place.

So next we work on making our goals SMART. Then we break them down into manageable steps. And if you are interested, here is a workbook to help you on your goals.

In case you missed it, here is the first part of this journey to satisfaction with your life.

Did You Set Goals Just For Yourself? Read More »