What does it mean to set a goal? The right goals: how to set a goal

A goal differs from a dream in that it has not only an image, but also real ways to achieve it. Without the means and concrete actions that make approaching the goal possible, one can only dream and fantasize.

A goal is an ideal, mental anticipation of the result of a person’s actions and the ways to achieve it using certain means.

In other words, a goal is a possible, imaginable future event or state of something, the implementation of which is desirable for a person (personal image of the future). At the same time, the means and possible paths necessary to achieve it are always consistent with the goal.

Otherwise, this desired future will only be a spell of the elements (lack of possible means) or fruitless dreams (lack of ways to achieve it). Thus, a goal is always something for which specific human actions are carried out. No actions, no goals. And vice versa.

How to set goals correctly

The fulfillment of our desires and the realization of our dreams largely depends on how correctly we set our goals. Rules for setting goals help turn our aspirations and desires into reality. Therefore, in this article we will consider in detail the question - “How to set goals correctly?”, and we will understand how to translate your desires and dreams into the category of real and clear goals that can be achieved.

1. Rely only on your own strengths

Before you set a goal, make it clear to yourself that all responsibility for its implementation falls entirely on your shoulders. To avoid the temptation to blame someone else for your failures, set goals that you can achieve without outside help. This goal-setting rule will save you in the future (if you don’t achieve something) from making the wrong conclusions when working on mistakes.

2. Formulate your goals correctly

Firstly, goals, like ideas, must be written down on paper (notebook, diary, diary). A goal written down in detail has a much greater chance of being realized. If you believe that you can keep them in your head without formulating goals on paper, then do not flatter yourself about achieving them. Such goals can safely be classified as dreams. Dreams and desires wander chaotically in our heads, they are chaotic, disorderly and completely unclear to us.

The efficiency of such dream goals is extremely small; in reality, they are achieved very, very rarely. Even with words, we often cannot describe what we really want. Therefore, formulating a goal must necessarily take place with a pencil in hand. The saying is true: “What is written with a pen cannot be cut down with an axe.”

Setting and formulating a goal with the help of a recording involves our subconscious in active work; a formulated goal gives confidence and makes each next step meaningful.

The man caught a goldfish. And she says to him: “Let me go, I will fulfill any of your wishes.” Well, he thought and thought about how to fit everything into one desire and said: “I want to have everything!” “Okay,” the fish answers, “you HAD everything.”

Secondly, correct goal setting and formulation imply that the goal must carry a positive charge. Therefore, it is better to formulate it using the rules of affirmations - talk about what you want, and not about what you don’t want. The correct goal is “to be rich”, “to be sober”, “to be slim”. The wrong goal is to “avoid poverty,” “not drink,” “get rid of excess weight.” If nothing positive comes to mind and something like “I don’t want this, I don’t want that” is constantly spinning around, try asking correctly: “This is what I don’t want. Then what do I want instead?

Also, following this rule of setting a goal, when formulating it, it is better not to use words that create resistance and reduce the effectiveness of the goal - “necessary”, “needed”, “should”, “must”. These words are the antipodes of the word “want”. How can you want, using blocking words to motivate? Therefore, replace “must” with “want”, “should” with “can”, “should” with “will do”.

The correct goal is “I want to relax and will go on vacation”, “I can and know how to earn money and will earn a lot of money.” Wrong goal - “I need to relax and go on vacation”, “In order to pay off the debt I must earn money.” It is also best to formulate a goal in terms of a result rather than a process: that is, “do this” rather than “work better.”

3. Break big goals into subgoals

Any big goal seems overwhelming until you begin to divide it into parts. For example, the desire to buy real estate abroad seems impossible at first glance. But if you move towards your goal in systematic steps, dividing it into stages, it will be easier to achieve it.

You can first set a goal to earn 3 thousand rubles a day, then 5 thousand, etc. Step by step (goal by goal) you will reach a level where you can think about buying real estate. Setting complex (global) goals and objectives, breaking them down into smaller ones, has an excellent motivational effect. Having achieved one, albeit insignificant, goal, you will feel satisfaction and the desire to move on. Reaching near goals, you gain strength and confidence to reach distant ones.

The way of thinking will gradually change. Understand, it is unrealistic to earn 20 thousand a month, and then in a few weeks increase your income to 500 thousand. Big money loves the prepared.

4. Specification of the goal

Often the reason why a set goal is not achieved is its lack of specificity, namely:

• Lack of clearly formulated specific results. What does it mean – “I want to learn Chinese” – to learn a couple of hundred words, or does it mean to learn to communicate fluently in this language, or perhaps “to learn Chinese” means to learn all 80 thousand characters and read the text without a dictionary?
• There is no way to measure this result. When setting goals and objectives, it is important to consider the further ability to measure the result. For example, if you want to lose weight, you need to know how much weight you want to lose, five, ten, or maybe thirty kilograms.
• Lack of clearly defined deadlines. Here are two examples of goal setting: the first is “I want to increase the traffic to my website to a thousand unique visitors per day,” the second is “I want to increase the traffic to my website to a thousand unique visitors per day in three months.” The first option, without clearly defined deadlines, looks more like a desire than a goal. Well, a person wants to increase traffic to his resource, so what? He can come to this only in five years. The second option is a different matter - there is a set deadline that will stimulate and encourage in every possible way. Surely the deadline was determined reasonably, and not taken out of thin air, and therefore you will have to forget about laziness and work productively.

More, more specifics!

5. Goal adjustment

Be flexible! Just because you've set a goal doesn't mean you can't make adjustments as necessary. Anything can happen, circumstances may arise that can slow down or speed up the achievement of the goal, so you need to be prepared to adjust the goal. Remember that inertia in aspirations has never made anyone either successful or happy. Life changes, and you must have time to change with it!

6. Attractiveness of the goal

The goal and the consequences that its achievement will lead to should attract you! choose goals that attract, inspire and inspire you, otherwise “the game is not worth the candle.”

7. Believe that your goal is achievable

After formulating and setting a specific goal, you need to penetrate it and consolidate it in the subconscious. It happens that while consciously trying to achieve a goal, we are subconsciously not ready to achieve it. You can desire a goal, but deep down in your soul you don’t believe in its feasibility, you don’t believe in your abilities, or you simply consider yourself unworthy.

It is not enough to correctly formulate a goal, you need to charge it with the energy of confidence - this is the most important condition for readiness to achieve your goal. All successful people, from television stars (Oprah Winfrey, Larry King...) and outstanding athletes (Michael Jordan, Fedor Emelianenko...), to politicians (Mitt Romney, Silvio Berlusconi, Arnold Schwarzenegger...) and businessmen (Richard Branson,...) have achieved what they have thanks to the ability to correctly formulate and set goals.

8. Adjustment of goals and objectives

If you have already defined your main life goals, this does not mean that you cannot partially change them over time. Adjustments to goals and objectives can take place at every stage of your life's journey. Flexibility in our time is the most important quality that allows us to adapt to changing conditions. It must be remembered that rigid views have never led anyone to success or happiness. You must change along with the world around you.

At least once a year, every person determined to succeed should devote time to such an activity as goal adjustment. For example, you can do this every birthday because it is the moment when you grow one year older and realize that you are wiser. Dedicate this day to analyzing the fruits that you managed to collect over the previous year.

Focus on your victories and don't forget to praise yourself for them. At the same time, you should not lose sight of your defeats. Draw the most correct conclusions and think about what you have to work on in the coming period. Be sure to evaluate the list of goals that was compiled a year ago. Carefully analyze each of the assigned tasks. Think about what exactly you did during the year to implement it.

Assess how far you have come in your pursuits. Ask yourself whether a specific goal has the same meaning for you as it did a year ago. Perhaps today this task will seem insignificant to you or, in some respects, even naive. In such a situation, you can safely cross it out.

Once you've gone through all your goals, start creating a new list. You can modify old tasks, focusing on the requirements of the present moment. If you have new thoughts about your goals, be sure to record them. At the same time, it is necessary to ensure that new tasks do not contradict the old ones that are still relevant. We must remember that our capabilities must be assessed adequately. Try to set achievable goals for yourself, since unrealistic tasks that are almost impossible to achieve at this stage will become the subject of your disappointment in a year.

If your life has changed significantly over the past year, adjusting your tasks is almost mandatory for you. There is no need to set too strict time limits for yourself. You don't have to wait a year to adjust your goals. By forming new life priorities, you will have the opportunity to understand and accept all the changes that have happened in your life.

Most likely, you have many goals. Try to write them down briefly and clearly on a piece of paper. Most likely, you won’t be able to do this quickly the first time, and the results of such work may surprise you. It wouldn’t hurt to compare the old and new lists in order to understand what you’ve given up and where you’re heading.

Remember that you have the opportunity to change both the goals themselves and the methods for achieving them. For example, a past strategy for achieving a certain goal may seem like universal stupidity to you at the moment. Make changes in your life, otherwise there is a risk that you will remain in the same place for a long time.

Greetings, dear friend! With you is Alexander Berezhnov, entrepreneur and founder of the “PAPA HELPED” project.

Until I was 18, I didn’t even know that you could set goals, much less that it needed to be done correctly. Everything changed when I entered college, where I began to go to youth forums, communicate with interesting successful people, read books on business and personal growth.

Planning my own life turned into an exciting activity for me and ultimately helped me earn millions of rubles in my business: I will also talk about this here.

I directly attribute my positive changes to goal setting and proper planning!

If you are reading this article, then like me you are striving for big changes. Great! Then study this material to the end and implement everything I recommend. I guarantee that within a few months you will be pleasantly surprised by what is happening in your life.

Setting goals - a vital necessity or a fashionable trend of our time

Today it is fashionable to be successful and efficient. On the Internet and beyond, thousands of trainings and courses on earning money and self-development are advertised.

Well-known companies like "Business of Youth" encourage you to become an entrepreneur and make a ton of money from your business. At the same time, everyone speaks with one voice about the importance of setting goals. Is this really important or are business and personal development gurus recommend setting goals “to the heap”?

Once upon a time, I decided to look into this myself and came to the conclusion that setting goals really helps to achieve what you want.

This happens due to 3 obvious points:

1. Clarity. You know exactly what you want to achieve and begin to notice the necessary opportunities. For example, you decided that you will definitely buy a new car in a year. Your brain immediately begins to look for opportunities to earn money or get what you want legally. Having a vague idea of ​​what you want from life, it will be very difficult to achieve what you want. Returning to buying a car... You must know exactly what brand, model, color and for what amount you plan to purchase a car. It is wrong to say: “I want to buy a car.” That’s right - “I want to buy a new Toyota Camry, no older than 2017, white, for 2,000,000 rubles.”
2. Focusing. Imagine that you are throwing darts at a target. Your goal is the bull's eye. You stand a few steps from the target, take aim and throw the dart. This approach will most likely lead to hitting the coveted red dot, you just have to practice. And if you were to throw a dart without aiming, or not at all towards the target... The chance of hitting it immediately decreases thousands of times. So in life, focusing on the desired goal, you will achieve it in the fastest way at your level. It was not for nothing that I wrote “at my level.” Because if you already have a million dollars, then earning another one is not such a difficult task. And if you start with “doshirak” and torn shoes, even earning 100,000 rubles a month will become a global task for you. I know this from experience.
3. Regularity in actions. Having a clear goal in itself will motivate you to take regular action. Consistency is strength! It’s like in sports: it’s better to exercise for an hour a day, 3 times a week, than for 8 hours, 5 days in a row. In the second case, you will simply overstrain yourself and quit training.

The most famous approach to goal setting is called SMART". Attention! This is not a translation of the word “smart” from English, but characteristics abbreviation the right goal.

Here is its transcript:

« SMART“is a universal and mandatory set of criteria that the “correct” goal must meet. In business circles the expression “ set a smart goal«.

An example of a correct SMART goal:

I am buying a black BMW X6 car no older than 2015 with a mileage of up to 100,000 kilometers, no more than 2,500,000 rubles by January 1, 2019, with money earned in my business selling building materials wholesale.

Example of an INCORRECT SMART goal:

I want to buy a BMW X6 car.

ANECDOTE on the topic of correct and specific goal formulation:

“A black man caught a goldfish in Africa, she invited him to make 3 wishes in exchange for freedom. The man agreed and made 3 wishes:

1. I want to become white.
2. Move to America.
3. So that there would be a line of women waiting for me.

The goldfish said “it will be done,” and the man became a white toilet in the women’s restroom of an American cafe.”

Now you know why it is important to have a goal and how to set it correctly.

The famous “Harvard experiment” on goal setting

In 1979, Harvard University conducted an experiment designed to determine the impact of goal setting on success in a person's life. The experiment lasted about 10 years.

To do this, they selected a group of students and asked who set their goals, and most importantly, wrote them down on paper. It turned out that only 16% of 100% had at least some goals in life and only 3% of those who wrote them down on paper in the correct way.

A few years later, this group of graduates was surveyed again and it turned out that those who had at least some goals at the university earned on average 2 times more than their “aimless” comrades. People who were included in the 3%, who recorded their goals in writing, earned 10 times! more than their classmates.

There is something to think about, what do you think?!

How to set goals correctly and achieve them: step-by-step instructions from Brian Tracy, a world-famous expert

Brian Tracy is the world's leading expert on business and personal effectiveness.

I really like this personality, and his simple and effective goal setting system has helped millions of people achieve their goals over 30 years.

I was among such “students” of Brian.

Before that, I often listened to his audiobooks on sales, management and personal effectiveness.

In a word, Tracy is truly a MONSTER in these topics! I recommend everyone to study his materials and seminars.

As for goals: just do everything one step at a time and enjoy the result!

Step 1: Be clear about what you want

I have already written about this.

It is very important to write down the goal starting with the word “I” and talk about it in present time as if it's already fait accompli :

• “I earn 500,000 rubles a month.”
• "I live in Sochi".
• "I drive a BMW."

You don’t have to limit yourself to one goal; you can set several in different areas of life. But for greater focus, choose the most important one and throw all your energy into it.

Most often, in the modern world of capitalism, people set precisely material goals (money and property), since success in other areas important to a person directly depends on this: health, relationships, hobbies.

Step 2: Write your goal on paper

The chosen goal must be recorded on paper, written down by hand, and not by typing it in a text editor on a computer! This is how our consciousness will better perceive it and then transmit it to the subconscious, which will work to achieve the goal around the clock.

It is difficult to overestimate the power of the subconscious. According to some estimates, it stores all the information accessible to a person. Our consciousness is a small part of the tip of the iceberg of the subconscious.

Using the power of the subconscious, it is also recommended to solve complex problems or make fateful decisions. The exercise is performed at night. Before going to bed, write down your question by hand on paper and go straight to bed. As a rule, in the morning the most correct and simple answer or way to solve a problem comes to mind.

Our brain never switches off completely. In his sleep, he works intensively to find the right solution.

Step 3: Set a deadline for achieving your goal

It is also called the “deadline” (dead line). By setting a deadline, you subconsciously plan your next steps so that the goal is achieved by the right time.

Use the preposition "to" or a clear date:

• by September 1, 2020 I'm buying one-room apartment in Sochi;
• December 1, 2019 I earn 1,000,000 rubles per month.

Step 4: Make a list of everything that will help you achieve your goal.

Take a piece of paper and write down everything you think will be needed to achieve your goal:

• meet such and such a person;
• learn something;
• earn so much;
• do something.

There may be a lot of items on your list: 100-200 or more.

If at a certain stage you no longer have ideas for the list, then when they appear, add to it.

So, the list is ready. Let's continue.

Step 5. Organize your plan from the list you receive.

In front of you is a sheet with a list of required actions. From now on, these are your tasks. And as you know, they cannot be performed chaotically or all at the same time.

For example, you have 100 points, the implementation of which will certainly lead to your cherished goal.

At this stage, you need to rank the resulting list. Place the letters next to each item: A, B, C, D.

Where A are the most important tasks, and D, accordingly, the most insignificant. You will get 4 categories. Now prioritize each of them.

Assign the number 1 to the most important task in your opinion from category A. You will get A1, the less important - A2, and so on.

Step 6: Take Action Immediately

Now the most important thing! Take on the tasks from the list you receive as soon as possible. This way you will start the most difficult stage of achieving your goal - the first step.

Key rule: do not start performing tasks from category “B” until all tasks from category “A” have been completed.

SUCCESSFUL PEOPLE differ from losers in that act immediately!

« LOSERS“They constantly put off doing important things under various pretexts or do unimportant things.

How I set goals and achieved results - sharing my experience

At the age of 24, I set several goals using the technology described above.

A document with written goals called " PLAN 30“, implying that they should be completed by my 30th birthday.

At that time, I had no idea how I could achieve them and only faith in success helped me move forward.

I won’t go into detail about my goals from 6 years ago, I’ll just say that the result even exceeded my expectations. During this period, I managed to get married, have children, buy several apartments in a prestigious residential complex in my city and a foreign car, and help my relatives financially.

I realized that nothing is impossible and even if you now have no idea how you can get what you want, just act and you will eventually be able to “eat the elephant piece by piece.”

From my own experience, I know that big goals scare people and they continue to be content with little, instead of pulling themselves together and making their dreams come true.

Now I’m already working on my goals, which I called “ PLAN 40". In 10 years (I'm 30 now), I'm going to build a number of large sources of passive income, strengthen family relationships, give my children a better education and raise them properly.

I will also definitely continue to engage in charity work, social activities and education. I plan to write several books and make my own film, visit 10 countries of the world and meet a number of outstanding people of our time.

We'll see which of these goals I can achieve in 10 years, but intuitively I feel that this plan is being implemented 100%!

Answers to frequently asked questions

Here I have collected the most popular questions on the topic. Previously, I often asked them to myself in different formulations, and later I began to receive them from friends and subscribers.

Question 1: Does a vision board help you achieve your goals? Marina, 24 years old, Krasnodar

Vision boards are a well-known tool for effectively achieving goals. It is a sheet of whatman paper or thick paper with pasted photographs (pictures) and inscriptions personifying your “wants”.

Seeing a vision board in front of you every day helps you focus on them. I think that such a “board” certainly helps, but you shouldn’t limit yourself to it alone, because it’s just a tool. In addition to it, no one canceled the written down goals and the plan to achieve them.

Question 2. How to dream and set goals correctly? And what is a dream anyway? Ilya, 19 years old, Moscow

A dream and a goal have a lot in common: both are wishes to possess something. Most people have dreams but are not serious about achieving them. Surely you have heard someone say, “I wish I had...” or “if only I had...”.

These are just empty words that will never take on material form. A goal differs from a dream in that it is as specific as possible and has a plan for achievement.

Everyone has heard the concept of “business plan,” but few people say “business dream” in the same context. The plan has clear steps to achieve, but the dream only emotionally pleases its owner.

A dream is an “unformed goal”, but also its main predecessor.

Question 3. When I invited my friends to set goals for life together, they laughed at me and said that these are difficult times and nothing can be planned. How should I react to this? Denis, 32 years old, Nizhnevartovsk

Dear Denis, I am very familiar with this question. Most people, as already mentioned, do not have clear and correct goals.

Some don't even know what they will do tomorrow. Set goals boldly and work on a plan to achieve them.

After 3-5 years, just compare your progress and the progress of the guys who laughed at you. I assure you, the difference will be colossal!

Don't try to convince anyone of anything. It’s best to show with your example how to do it right.

And even after you achieve success, some envious people will still say that you were just lucky.

The best expression here is

"The dog barks, the caravan moves on."

Question 4. How to correctly formulate goals if I don’t know what I want? Bogdan, 27 years old, Kostroma

I had similar periods several years ago. First of all, you need to find what you love, and for this you need to look for it and not stop.

Try yourself in different areas, and as soon as you feel that your heart and soul resonate with some activity, take it up professionally. It is very important for a man to do what he loves, to realize himself creatively and to earn money from it.

Think back to your childhood. In it you will find answers to the question “what do I like to do?” After that, set the right goals, and the energy from doing what you love will support your enthusiasm.

Question 5. How to set goals and objectives correctly and how do they differ? Inna, 34 years old, Izhevsk

Goals- these are global desires, the implementation of which leads to the achievement of quantitative or qualitative results. They have a significant impact on your life. A great addition to the concept of goal is “strategy.”

Task- this is a certain small step towards achieving the goal. The task is rather characterized as “tactics”. It is not as global as a goal, but it is very important as a component of it.

The goal is achieved by the correct sequence of completed tasks.

Example

You have decided to get a job at the Romashka company - this is your GOAL.

The tasks for this will be:

• familiarization with the company's activities;
• writing a resume;
• passing an interview;
• signing an employment contract when applying for a job.

This is very simplified, but I think you get the idea.

Question 6. Are there specifics in setting financial goals? Vladimir, 24 years old, Vologda

By and large there are no differences. However, when setting financial and business goals, it is customary to use the concept of “decomposition”.

Decomposition- this is the division of the goal into small components, which, if you consistently complete them, you will certainly achieve it through a simple mathematical calculation.

Example of decomposition of a financial goal

You decide to save a million rubles in 2 years. Two years is 24 months. That is, 1,000,000 rubles must be divided by 24 to find out how much money you should save monthly.

It turns out that on average you need to save about 42,000 rubles per month.

If your salary is now 40,000 rubles, then there are only 2 options:

1. Abandon the goal (reduce its size).
2. Increase your income so you can save the amount you need.

A similar principle applies to more global calculations, but the essence remains the same: you calculate the decomposition and, based on mathematically verified steps, achieve a financial goal.

Question 7. Time management and goals: to what extent are they related to each other? Laima, 36 years old, Ivanovo

These two concepts are inseparable from each other. Without proper time management, it is impossible to achieve the goal or it will take much more effort. The principles of time management are illustrated in “step 5” of this article, which talks about ranking tasks.

The most successful people in the world are distinguished by professional time management and the ability to set goals. It sometimes takes years to master these skills, but when they are perfectly developed in a person, any, even the wildest desires, quickly come true.

Question 8. What should I do if I haven’t achieved the goal I set? Evgeniy, 28 years old, Stavropol

You need to understand what the reason is.

If you set a goal using the “SMART” technology and strictly followed the plan for achieving it, then:

• either you set too ambitious a goal, and you objectively did not have enough strength and resources;
• or they violated the “technology” and therefore did not achieve what they wanted.

This also includes “burning out” of the goal, laziness, force majeure circumstances.

Analyze your actions and you will certainly find a weak point.

conclusions

A correctly formulated goal, written down on paper by hand, is a powerful tool for realizing your cherished desires. I have checked this more than once from my OWN EXPERIENCE and the stories of thousands of other people say the same thing.

The technology for setting and achieving goals described in the article is the simplest and most effective in the world today. You just have to follow it in practice.

Why don't people set goals and write them down? It's so simple and only requires a couple of hours a year. The answer is obvious: because not doing it is EVEN EASIER!

JOKE

A man caught a goldfish - as always, it’s about wishes...

The man says: “I want me to have everything...”

The fish replies: “Man, you had everything, let me go!”

I wouldn't want to be in the place of this guy from the joke

Dear friend, thank you for taking the time to read this article.

Remember: the more specifically you formulate what you want, the greater the chances of getting it in a short time.

Study the principles of time management and personal effectiveness, and our online magazine will help with this.

I wish you success!

PS. Do you have experience in setting goals? Share it in the comments to this article.

(17 ratings, average: 4,06 out of 5)

The fulfillment of our desires and the realization of our dreams largely depends on how correctly we set our goals. Rules for setting goals help turn our aspirations and desires into reality. Therefore, in this article we will consider in detail the question - “ How to set goals correctly?”, and we will understand how to translate our desires and dreams into the category of real and clear goals that can be achieved.

How to set goals correctly

Rely only on your own strength

Before you set a goal, make it clear to yourself that all responsibility for its implementation falls entirely on your shoulders. To avoid the temptation to blame someone else for your failures, set goals that you can achieve without outside help. This goal-setting rule will save you in the future (if you don’t achieve something) from making the wrong conclusions when working on mistakes.

Formulate your goals correctly

First, goals, like ideas need to be written down on paper (notebook, diary, diary). A goal written down in detail has a much greater chance of being realized.

If you believe that you can keep them in your head without formulating goals on paper, then do not flatter yourself about achieving them. Such goals can safely be classified as dreams. Dreams and desires wander chaotically in our heads, they are chaotic, disorderly and completely unclear to us. The efficiency of such dream goals is extremely small; in reality, they are achieved very, very rarely. Even with words, we often cannot describe what we really want. Therefore, formulating a goal must necessarily take place with a pencil in hand. The saying is true - “ What is written with a pen cannot be cut out with an ax».

Setting and formulating a goal with the help of a recording involves our subconscious in active work; a formulated goal gives confidence and makes each next step meaningful.

Secondly, correct goal setting and its formulation presuppose that the goal must carry positive charge. Therefore, it is better to formulate it using rules of affirmations- talk about what you want, not what you don't want.

The right goal – « to be rich», « be sober», « be slim». Wrong goal - « escape poverty», « not to drink», « get rid of excess weight».

If nothing positive comes to mind and something like “I don’t want this, I don’t want that” is constantly spinning, try ask correctly: « This is what I don't want. Then what do I want instead?»

Also, following this rule of goal setting, when formulating it, it is better not to use words that create resistance and reduce the effectiveness of the goal - “necessary”, “needed”, “should”, “must”. These words are the antipodes of the word “want”. How can you want, using blocking words to motivate? Therefore, replace “must” with “want”, “should” with “can”, “should” with “will do”.

The right goal - « I want to relax and will go on vacation», « I can and am able to earn money and will earn a lot of money». Wrong goal – « I need to relax and go on vacation», « To pay off my debt I have to earn money».

It is also best to formulate a goal in terms of a result rather than a process: that is, “do this” rather than “work better.”

Break big goals into subgoals

Any big goal seems overwhelming until you begin to divide it into parts. For example, the desire to buy real estate abroad seems impossible at first glance. But if you move towards your goal in systematic steps, dividing it into stages, it will be easier to achieve it. You can first set a goal to earn 3 thousand rubles a day, then 5 thousand, etc. Step by step (goal by goal) you will reach a level where you can think about buying real estate.

Setting complex (global) goals and objectives, breaking them down into smaller ones, has an excellent motivational effect. Having achieved one, albeit insignificant, goal, you will feel satisfaction and the desire to move on. Reaching near goals, you gain strength and confidence to reach distant ones.

The way of thinking will gradually change. Understand, it is unrealistic to earn 20 thousand a month, and then in a few weeks increase your income to 500 thousand. Big money loves the prepared.

Specification of the goal

Often the reason why a set goal is not achieved is its lack of specificity, namely:

• Lack of clearly formulated specific results. What means - " I want to learn Chinese”, - learn a couple of hundred words or does it mean learning to communicate fluently in this language, or maybe “learning Chinese” means learning all 80 thousand hieroglyphs and reading the text without a dictionary?
• There is no way to measure this result. At setting goals and tasks, it is important to consider the further possibility of measuring the result. For example, if you want to lose weight, you need to know how much weight you want to lose, five, ten, or maybe thirty kilograms.
• Lack of clearly defined deadlines. Here are two examples of goal setting: the first is “ I want to increase my website traffic to a thousand unique visitors per day", second - " I want to increase my website traffic to a thousand unique visitors per day in three months" The first option, without clearly defined deadlines, looks more like a desire than a goal. Well, a person wants to increase traffic to his resource, so what? He can come to this only in five years. The second option is a different matter - there is a set deadline that will stimulate and encourage in every possible way. Surely the deadline was determined reasonably, and not taken from the ceiling, and therefore you will have to forget about laziness and work productively.

More, more specifics!

Goal adjustment

Be flexible! Just because you've set a goal doesn't mean you can't make adjustments as necessary. Anything can happen, circumstances may arise that can slow down or speed up the achievement of the goal, so you need to be prepared to adjust the goal. Remember that inertia in aspirations has never made anyone either successful or happy man. Life changes, and you must have time to change with it!

Attractiveness of the goal

The goal and the consequences that its achievement will lead to should attract you! Choose goals that attract, inspire and inspire you, otherwise “the game is not worth the candle.”

Believe that your goal is achievable

After formulating and setting a specific goal, you need to penetrate it and consolidate it in the subconscious. It happens that while consciously trying to achieve a goal, we are subconsciously not ready to achieve it. You can desire a goal, but deep down in your soul you don’t believe in its feasibility, you don’t believe in your abilities, or you simply consider yourself unworthy.

It is not enough to correctly formulate a goal, you need to charge it with the energy of confidence - this is the most important condition for readiness to achieve your goal.

All successful people, from television stars (Oprah Winfrey, Larry King...) and outstanding athletes (Michael Jordan, Fedor Emelianenko...), ending with politicians (Mitt Romney, Silvio Berlusconi, Arnold Schwarzenegger...) and businessmen (Richard Branson, Lakshmi Mittal...) achieved what they have thanks to the ability to correctly formulate and set goals.

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All successful people know how to set goals and achieve results. Read about the basic rules for setting goals and achieving results that will help you make your dream come true.

Making dreams come true consists of 2 stages: correct goal setting and an effective process for achieving results. First of all, let’s look at how to set a goal correctly.

Why you need to be able to set goals correctly

• make your dreams come true;
• correctly distribute energy and time;
• motivate yourself on the way to results;

When you have set a clear goal for yourself, your actions become as effective as possible, because... subordinated to a completely specific idea. A correctly set goal will not only show you the simplest and most effective path to achieving results, but will also give you the necessary motivation when the desire to work leaves you.

The ability to set goals correctly is a habit

Some successful people have dedicated their lives to the study of achieving goals effectively. Brian Tracy, the author of more than 70 books on self-development, paid a lot of attention to the study of this art. Of the Russian writers, Gleb Arkhangelsky, the author of the book “Time Drive,” especially stands out. Each of them came to the conclusion that the ability to correctly set goals and achieve them is a habit that can and should be developed. We will touch on some of the thoughts of these authors in this article, but to a greater extent the article will be based on my personal experience in achieving goals. Writing this article is also a small goal, a step towards achieving a more global goal - creating a useful Internet site for self-development. And the fact that you are now reading this article suggests that the result has been achieved quite well. Here we go?

How to set a goal: 5 rules

In total, I have identified 5 basic rules that affect the quality of the goal. If you follow each of them, you will be able to formulate a correct and motivating goal with which you will undoubtedly be able to achieve results. Let's begin.

The goal must be in writing

A verbally stated goal is just a thought. Only a specific formulation written down on paper is a real commitment to oneself. A written statement of a goal presupposes the presence of some convenient tool to record it. There are 2 convenient tools for formulating goals:

1. Diary

The most effective and convenient tool. People who use a diary do business much more effectively than those who neglect it. A diary is convenient because goals can be formulated for the year, month, week and day and you can always have it at hand. At the same time, short-term goals (for example, a plan for the day) should always be based on long-term ones (goals for the year).

1. Vision board

This is a small board with the ability to draw and erase, which is hung in a visible place at home or at work. It is not suitable for daily task planning, but for formulating global goals, for example, for the coming year, it is an ideal option.

For myself, I chose a diary.

The right goal should be as specific as possible

One of the reasons many people don't achieve their goals is that they aren't specific enough. Because of this, it is not clear whether you are getting closer to your goal or how far you have come. Let's look at the example of losing weight.

Bad wording: lose weight

Good formulation: lose 10 kg in 10 months, losing 1 kg monthly, by November 1, 2018;

The more specific the goal, the more clearly you can imagine the end result in your head, which means you can effectively motivate yourself.

The goal must be measurable

A measurable goal should be as detailed as possible. It must indicate the period during which you plan to achieve this goal. If the deadline for achieving the goal is not set, then you give the brain an instruction: there is nowhere to rush, and therefore it is not necessary to make every effort to achieve the goal.

The deadline does not have to be set exactly the first time. It may be subject to adjustment, becoming shorter or longer. Simply assessing your strengths right away is not an easy task, but as you work, you will understand it better.

The goal should be divided into as many subtasks as possible

This is especially true for global goals, which may take more than one year to achieve. Gleb Arkhangelsky voiced a very good association on this issue. He compared a big goal to an elephant, and the process of achieving a result to eating an elephant. Eating an entire elephant seems like an impossible task, but if you divide the elephant into small pieces - “steaks”, and eat them gradually, you will soon see that your impossible task has been completed in many small steps.

The goal must be achievable

You should not set yourself impossible tasks - they greatly weaken motivation on the way to the result. You must constantly see progress and realize that you are getting closer to your goal. Therefore, first of all, you need to assess your strengths and decide what result is truly achievable for you.

The goal should inspire

Even just the wording itself that you compose should make you want to make efforts to achieve results. Closing your eyes and seeing yourself having achieved your goal, you should literally be filled with strength and inspiration. And remembering her early in the morning, when you don’t want to get up, you fly out of bed.

To make your goal inspire you as much as possible, do a simple exercise. Take a piece of paper and write down the 10 most desirable changes that achieving your goal can bring to your life.

An example of a well-defined goal

Let’s take for example a goal: buying a car.

If this is your cherished dream, then you should choose which car model can inspire you to great deeds. For example, Chevrolet Lanos.

I am buying a black Chevrolet Lanos on June 30, 2020 at a price of 180,000 rubles.

To do this, I need to save 5 thousand rubles every month for the next 3 years, which I will put into a special bank account, with interest accruing.

When I buy a car, I will realize my dream of car travel, I will be able to travel to work in comfort, I will get rid of the need to travel by public transport, I will listen to my favorite music loudly, I will be able to drive around an empty city at night late at night, go out onto an endless highway and drive , drive, drive...

Let's move on to the next stage.

How to achieve results: 5 rules

Even the most correct and inspiring goal will not be achieved if it is not supported by action. Once the goal is correctly formulated, it is necessary to move on to the most critical stage - the process of achieving the result.

The first thing you will encounter is a lot of fears in your head, most often fictitious. Let's look at the 3 most popular fears and how to deal with them:

Work with fears

1. “I can’t do it”

A very common thought, and extremely harmful. Take a look around. Look at the incredible results those around you achieve: they create a million-dollar business, become screen stars, popular performers. Imagine that one day one of them would say to themselves - I won’t succeed. It would have stopped him and he wouldn't have even tried. Who would he be now? You don’t want to deprive yourself of future victories, success and achievements, simply because you are afraid of defeat?

In fact, It's not defeat you need to be afraid of. In any case, it will be experience, practice, effort. But what you really need to be afraid of is not even trying. Drive this fear out of your head, and constantly repeat to yourself - “I can do it!” Soon you will believe it yourself and achieve results that you only dreamed of before.

2. “The goal is unattainable”

You need to figure out why you think this way. If no one has achieved such a goal before you, then be the first. Many people were once the first in something, and this did not stop them.

And if someone has already achieved a similar result (especially if many), then you have every chance. You are no worse. Most likely even better. Now you are working on yourself, reading useful material. And this speaks of your determination. You simply cannot fail. I believe in you!

3. "It's too late"

A dangerous and very destructive thought. I liked to tell myself that too. When I was a student, this exact thought stopped me from achieving an important goal. And after many years, I finally returned to my goal and began to work towards achieving it. And I have already achieved good results. It turned out that even after many, many years it was not too late, and after many more years it would not have been too late. But then, when I was at university, it was the perfect time. It's a pity that I didn't understand this then.

If you now give up on achieving your goal, because... It seems to you that it’s “too late,” but many years later you will be very sorry and realize that it was “the right time.” Believe me.

To achieve results - take action

The key to successfully achieving results is constant movement forward. Have you broken your goal into many subtasks? You need to take a step towards your goal every day, no matter how small. But be sure to do it. If you don’t have the strength, or you want to put it off until tomorrow, remember that the same thing will happen again tomorrow.

Think about this.

If you write only 1 page a day, then in a year you will write a book.

If you save 100 rubles every day, by the end of the year you will have 36,500 rubles.

If you do 100 push-ups every day, you will do 36,500 push-ups in a year.

Thinking about this, you realize what enormous power constants have, even if small steps to achieve your goal, and what great results can be achieved through small but regular actions.

Control the achieved result

Your constant companion in achieving results is tracking progress. If you decide to use a diary, then it would be correct to report to yourself every day about what results you have achieved.

Such reports help you not only see progress, but also feel responsible to yourself if you have been slacking. Are you really ready to accept what you have today and give up your dreams? I'm sure not. Report to yourself every night, analyze your mistakes and think about what you can do better.

Get inspired by success stories

Here is a very important point - there will probably be people who have already achieved the result you are striving for. Find their success stories - these could be books, personal blogs, forum posts. Stories of people who have conquered the peak you are striving for will not only inspire you, give you the opportunity to gain experience and valuable knowledge; learn about the mistakes they made and avoid making them yourself.

That's all, friends! Believe in yourself and you will succeed!

A dream, a cherished desire, a life goal - at first glance, these are similar concepts. In fact, these words mean completely different things. A dream may be unrealistic, and a desire may be impossible to fulfill. In order for what you dream to come true, you need to move from wishes to goal setting. However, the goal can also remain unachieved if you formulate it incorrectly. Setting goals correctly and achieving them. This logical chain is the path to success.

How to set goals correctly

Goal setting is the process of setting a goal. Many popular science books are devoted to this concept. According to psychologists, a correctly formulated task is a 50% guarantee of its achievement. Many people don’t know how to set goals correctly. Therefore, it is not surprising that trainings where professional psychologists teach the basic principles of goal setting have become popular. Unlike desires and dreams, a goal is a definite, clear concept, since it has a specific result behind it. This result must be seen. You must believe in achieving your goal. Only then can it really be achieved.

Formulations: “I want to expand my business”, “I want to increase my income” are examples of desires. To translate them into the category of goals, you need to specifically define what it means for you to expand your business. Open new branches? Expand the range of services? Attract more clients? Increase production volume? How much to increase or expand: by 20% or 2 times? The result you strive for must be measurable.

The result you strive for must be measurable.

It is best to write down a specific goal in your diary. To formulate it, use active verbs such as “do”, “earn”, “achieve”. Do not use the words “must”, “necessary”, “needed”, “should”, as they carry a semantic connotation of coercion and overcoming internal barriers. This is your goal. You want to achieve it, no one is forcing you to do it.

Achieving goals that are too simple is not fun. The task must be complex so that you have to overcome difficulties on the way to it; this is the only way to develop. But the goal must be real. Therefore, before formulating it, it is necessary to analyze the current state of affairs and evaluate the available resources and capabilities. It is unlikely to be possible to open 5 new branches at once or increase income 10 times. Achieve smaller goals first. Over time, you will come to what you didn’t even dare to dream about at the beginning of your journey.

Correct goal setting necessarily contains an indication of the time for its achievement. For example, goals to expand the customer base or increase production volume need to be specified in percentage terms (by 30%) and a period (1 year).

If you learn to correctly and specifically formulate goals for yourself, you will be able to clearly and clearly set them for others. The head of the organization must know the basic principles of goal setting. Then he will require his managers to correctly formulate the goals of their work. And this is a guarantee that they will actually complete their tasks.

How to achieve your goals

The methods for achieving goals are:

1. The goal leads to the result. If it is very important to you, then it will be easier to achieve it. Imagine all the benefits of achieving the final result. Anticipate in advance the feelings of joy and success that you will experience at that moment. Then no fears or doubts will interfere with your path to your goal. Psychologists call this technique the visualization method. It helps to actualize all external and internal resources to achieve the goal, attracts the necessary ideas, people, and means. For example, think about the benefits you'll get from increasing your income by 50%. You will be able to afford more expensive real estate, a car, vacation, gifts for loved ones. Increase your social status. Which of these benefits do you most desire? Imagine that you have already achieved it. And let this picture motivate you. When you set goals for your employees, help them see the positives in their overall achievements. Salary increases, bonuses, career growth, receiving additional funds in the company budget for corporate events.
2. To go a long way towards achieving a big and important goal, you need to divide it into stages. To do this, the global goal is divided into smaller goals. These, in turn, can also be broken down into smaller tasks. If all this is schematically depicted on paper, you will get a real system of goals and subgoals. Try to formulate each of them clearly, indicating the time frame for achievement, and then this diagram can be easily turned into a step-by-step plan for moving towards the main global goal. Such planning will become the basis for drawing up clear instructions for action for your subordinates. For example, the goal of expanding the range of services can be divided into subgoals: study the specifics of new services, purchase the equipment necessary to provide them, select specialists or train your employees, find additional space.
3. Close people can help you achieve your personal goals. And when it comes to business-related tasks, you cannot do without the help of employees and partners. Having broken down the global goal into specific subgoals, think about which of your subordinates can cope with each of them most successfully. But remember, you set the initial goal for yourself, it is important to you, therefore the responsibility for achieving it also lies, first of all, with you. If you do not achieve your goal because one of your employees did not complete the task assigned to him, then the blame for this will lie with you. This means that you overestimated the resources of this employee. Perhaps he needs more time to solve his problem or needs to improve his skills. Or maybe a completely different specialist is needed to achieve this subgoal.
4. Try to assess in advance the obstacles that will arise on the way to achieving your goal. Think about how you can overcome or eliminate them. Not all at once, but gradually, one at a time. Of course, it is not possible to predict all problems. But you will have a plan to eliminate at least some of them.
5. Look for additional resources. New information, new knowledge and skills will help overcome obstacles that at first may seem the greatest. You may have to hire new specialists (marketers, analysts, content managers, business trainers) or your previous employees will need to take training courses, workshops, and seminars.
6. Make a general plan of action for the period of time that you have given yourself to achieve your goal. It will reflect who will solve intermediate tasks and in what time frame, what resources and additional investments will be attracted to overcome obstacles. Based on the overall plan, create more detailed plans for each quarter, month, and even week. Of course, you will have to adjust a lot in your plan during execution. After all, on the way to your goal you will gain new knowledge, experience, and circumstances may change. Most likely, during the implementation of the plan, you will see mistakes made during the preparation. So along the way you will need to work on mistakes. You may even have to adjust your goals if you realize that your resources are not yet enough to achieve the initial ones. But it's not scary. Anyway, you will already go part of the way, gain new knowledge and experience that will help you adjust your goals and move on.
7. Periodically analyze your goals, methods of achieving them and resources. This is useful for further rational planning of your path.
8. Weigh the price you will have to pay to achieve your goal. Financial investments will be required to train employees and purchase equipment. To monitor the work of a new branch, additional time is needed. You may have to reduce your personal leisure time or spend less time with your family. To complete the training you need to expend strength and energy. And bringing a partner into the business will force you to give up the habit of deciding everything on your own. Assess your willingness to sacrifice it all and step out of your comfort zone.

A goal always leads to action, because if you do nothing, you won’t achieve your goal. And vice versa, in order to start acting, you need to set yourself a goal. There is no better motivation for action.