We spend our lives in decision-making process which means we repeat the process between "decide" and "do". There are thousands of chances you may face at decision making such as doing your task that you need to finish until the deadline or feel like doing some exercises to go on a diet. However many people fall by wayside what they have set goal unconsciously except that goal which is directly connected to their lives.
This is not the reason we don't have a skill of goal setting but there are problems how we set goal fundamentally. I summarized the features of people who can't reach the goal they have set.
Put off what is needed to be done.
"I still have a time."
"I don't feel like doing this. I'm going to do another task at now."
These are the fundamental features that people put off what they need to do. This is because people feel stress mentally and physically against the goal before putting themselves into action. I am going to list up 3 things that people feel so stress about their goal or task.
- When setting a pretty big goal that it's difficult to achieve with your present skills
- When feeling you are expected
- When feeling deep obligation about the goal because you feel you must finish it once you set the goal.
No passion and no specification to the gaol
Driving people to take action is passion. I think you will understand a weak will can change nothing. The tip you can keep strong will until you achieve the goal is whether how clear you can imagine yourself who have already achieved goals which means you have to make your goal setting more specific.
Being vague about your goal is the same as making decision your goal is still vague. If you want to be rich, you have to look over what step you need to follow to get closed to being rich as much as you can draw your future clearly into your mind.
Self-handicapping
Self-handicapping is lowering the hurdle of people's expectation by complicating the process of accomplishment of goal. It is within the allowable range that you would say "I can't study" simply. If you dare to start cleaning your room or go on a travel even the day before examination, it might be the sign of one of self-handicapping.
The feature of people who are good at setting goal
Take accomplishing goal by continuous effort for granted
Now If you had 10 thousand dollars and this 10 thousand dollar have been increased up to 11 thousand dollars for some reason, how would you feel? On the other hand, if the 10 dollar have been decreased down to 9 thousand dollars, how would you feel? Which case would you get shocked? Most of people selected the latter case of "loss of 1thousand dollars".
People have strong feelings to avoid loss rather than to make benefit. People who are good at accomplishing goal think it is natural to reach the goal and not reaching goal is loss so they make the most effort to avoid nonattainment of the goal. If you need reward against accomplishing goal, it is difficult to make a good results that you hope for.
Find what you can do right now.
When you think you want to loose weight, if you come up with clear action to loose weight that you can do right now something like I start walking back home today without getting on train or I will go to gym to register, you will easily achieve your goal. The problem is wether you can step forward as soon as possible.
Goal should not be number but "exiting thing"
Not "I am gonna loose 5k until this summer" but "If I loose weight 5k until this summer, I will go to sea with my friend ." Motivation is very important factor to keep your will to achieve the goal. It is very important draw your enjoyable and exiting matter after achieving goal into your mind.
Having a little bit of crazy courage
People who have crazy positive thought tend to erase the word of "impossible" from their own dictionary. They must not think they don't have time or it's impossible but if they made effort continuously, things might turn out.
Very important not to think about failure.
S.M.A.R.T
SMART , each one of initials stands for the guideline to set the goal.
- Specific ＝ easy to imagine what your goal is
- Measurable ＝ your goal can express numerical data
- Agreed upon ＝ Whether it is possible for you to achieve
- Realistic ＝ Realistic
- Timely ＝ set the deadline