Goal Setting Activities That Keep Your Dreams on Track

Only if you can see how your goal will improve your life or the life of others will it become a meaningful goal for you that will keep you motivated through the tough times ahead which probably await you on your journey towards the achievement of your goals.

SAFE goal setting

The SAFE approach to goal setting takes account of one very important aspect of goals which the SMART approach tends to neglect; that is people have needs and values that influence what they want to achieve. Individuals differ in their values. Values determine whether a particular goal is rewarding, so in SAFE goal setting you should:

See your goal

Accept is a good one for you

Feel your goal emotionally

Express it

Goal setting sheets

Goal setting sheets help you to focus on your ambitions. Here are a few questions to help you formulate your very own goal sheet:

1. What do you want most in life?

2. What are the most important things you’ve accomplished so far?

3. If you could look back in 20 years time, what would you have accomplished?

4. Within the next 10 years, what would you liked to have achieved?

5. Within the next 5 years, what would you liked to have achieved?

6. Ignoring all your commitments, what do you REALLY want out of life?

Now you need to get practical. Success doesn’t just fall in your lap; you have to work for it, I’m afraid. Any successful person who tells you otherwise just wants to make you jealous of them and prevent you joining their exclusive club of successful people; don’t believe a word they say!

7. In the next six months, what steps are you going to take toward your goals?

When you are clear about these things, creative visualization really helps with goal setting.

Creative Visualization

When you think about your goals, your unconscious and subconscious get involved too. A good goal setter will be able to use creative visualization to imagine having accomplished his or her goals. You can learn this technique very easily.

What you need to do is think what it is you want to achieve. It can be anything so long as you really want to accomplish this goal and you can invest some emotion into it.

What you must do in creative visualization is to picture in your mind’s eye your goal and what it will be like to have achieved that goal; what will it look like? What will it feel like? How will you have changed as a person? How will your mindset be different and how will your emotions and thoughts be more positive? You need to make time for yourself to visualize this for a few minutes a couple of times per day. Pretty soon your subconscious mind will realize you really want this goal and it will start looking for opportunities to help you achieve that goal.

Creative visualization works on the same principles of hypnosis and self-hypnosis, to rid your mind of its unconscious blockages to success. We can be out own worst enemies at times with our negativity and fears paralyzing us and preventing action. If we allow our fears and uncertainties about our goals take over then we are likely to become self-fulfilling prophecies of doom, failing to attain our goals. You can turn this around and utilize the full positive creative power of your mind with creative visualization.

Making use of these three goal setting activities will really help you achieve what you want to achieve in life.