By Carl Massy: One of the biggest things is that most people don’t have goals, or don’t think they deserve what they want, or don’t think they can achieve what they want, or are too overwhelmed with all the other sh#t going on in their lives to take the time to stop, check the map and see if they are actually heading in the right direction (or if they even have a map).
I have been doing more research than usual on Goal Setting and here are a couple of gems that I wanted to share with you, right now, so you can use moving forward:
- Research has shown that if you believe that you can achieve your goal you are more likely to do so. Obviously! But here is the surprising one. If you actually think that achieving your goal is going to be ‘easy’ you are actually less likely to succeed. Not so obvious! Imagining that the goal is going to be hard to achieve actually makes your body and mind rise to the occasion. Good to know.
- Also when you select goals you want to choose something that is difficult, but possible. You don’t want it to be too easy, nor do you want it to be so hard that it snaps you along the way. I call that “a goal that is not worth what it takes to achieve”.
- Research has shown that planning increases the likelihood of success by at least 200%. Again you might say “tell me something I don’t know dumby”. The studies showed that just deciding when and where you would do the tasks – without even writing down your plan – caused this 200% increase in probability.
- And finally, if you adopt an attitude of a growth mind-set, versus a fixed mind-set, you will deal with the inevitable hiccups, falls, stumbles and failures along the way, much easier and be more likely to succeed overall. A fixed mind-set is where you believe that your intelligence level is set, so you figure if you can’t do something then it is because you are the type of person who can’t do that sort of thing. Whereas the growth mind-set realises that our intelligence and skills are not set, but get better with practice. Meaning they enjoy the process more and are likely to keep going when there are setbacks.
So in summary:
- Imagine your goals are possible but will be challenging to achieve
- Choose difficult, but possible goals
- Plan (even if it is just where and when)
- Know that your brain can grow until the day you take your last breath
My last point:
Studies conclusively show that if you want more Happiness ensure that your goals are more focused on relationships, personal growth and contribution; rather than overly focused on wealth, fame and beauty.
Here’s to Happy Goal Setting!!
Email: carl@carlmassy.com
