Definition of a goal:-

A goal is:

 A Dream
 Attainable
 Measurable
 Has a Time Limit
 Within your control
 In Writing

Importance of goal setting:

The process of setting goals allows students to choose what they want to achieve. By
knowing what they want to achieve, they know what they have to concentrate on and improve.
Goal setting gives students long-term vision and short-term motivation.

Having sharp, clearly defined goals, which students can measure, will allow them to take
pride in accomplishing those goals. They can see clear vforward progress in what might have
seemed a long drawn out process.

By setting goals students can:

1. Improve their academic performance.
2. Increase their motivation to achieve.
3. Increase pride and satisfaction in performance.
4. Improve their self-confidence.
Basics of effective goal setting:-
Express goals positively:

“To improve my spelling ” is a much better goal than “don`t spell with so many mistakes”.

Be accurate:

If students set an accurate goal, putting in dates, times and amounts so that achievement can
be measured and can be satisfied at achieving it.

Set priorities:

When students have several goals,give each a priority.

This helps them avoid feeling overwhelmed and help their attention to the more important
ones.

Write goals down to make them more meaningful.

Set specific measurable goals:

If students consistently fail to meet a measurable goal, then they can adjust it or analyze the
reason for failure and take appropriate action.

The Five Golden Rules:-

Rule #1: Set Goals that Motivate You

When you set goals for yourself, it is important that they motivate you: this means
making sure that they are important to you, and that there is value in achieving them. If you have
little interest in the outcome, or they are irrelevant given the larger picture, then the chances of
you putting in the work to make them happen are slim. Motivation is key to achieving goals.

Set goals that relate to the high priorities in your life. Without this type of focus, you can
end up with far too many goals, leaving you too little time to devote to each one. Goal
achievement requires commitment, so to maximize the likelihood of success, you need to feel a
sense of urgency and have an "I must do this" attitude. When you don't have this, you risk
putting off what you need to do to make the goal a reality. This in turn leaves you feeling
disappointed and frustrated with yourself, both of which are de-motivating. And you can end up
in a very destructive "I can't do anything or be successful at anything" frame of mind.
Rule #2: Set SMART Goals

You have probably heard of "SMART goals" already. But do you always apply the rule?
The simple fact is that for goals to be powerful, they should be designed to be SMART. There
are many variations of what SMART stands for, but the essence is this – goals should be:

Specific
Measurable
Attainable
Relevant
Time Bound

Rule #3: Set Goals in Writing

The physical act of writing down a goal makes it real and tangible. You have no excuse
for forgetting about it. As you write, use the word "will" instead of "would like to" or "might".
For example, "I will reduce my operating expenses by 10% this year", not "I would like to
reduce my operating expenses by 10% this year." The first goal statement has power and you can
"see" yourself reducing expenses, the second lacks passion and gives you an excuse if you get
sidetracked.

Rule #4: Make an Action Plan

This step is often missed in the process of goal setting. You get so focused on the
outcome that you forget to plan all of the steps that are needed along the way. By writing out the
individual steps, and then crossing each one off as you complete it, you'll realize that you are
making progress towards your ultimate goal. This is especially important if your goal is big and
demanding, or long-term. Read our article on Action Plans for more on how to do this.

Rule #5: Stick With It!

Remember, goal setting is an ongoing activity not just a means to an end. Build in
reminders to keep yourself on track, and make regular time-slots available to review your goals.
Your end destination may remain quite similar over the long term, but the action plan you set for
yourself along the way can change significantly. Make sure the relevance, value, and necessity
remain high.

Creating S.M.A.R.T. goals

Specific

Measurable

Attainable

Realistic
Timely

Specific: A specific goal has a much greater chance of being accomplished than a general goal.
To set a specific goal you must answer the six “W” questions:

Who: Who is involved?

What: What do I want to accomplish?

Where: Identify a location.

When: Establish a time frame.

Which: Identify requirements and constraints.

Why: Specific reasons, purpose or benefits of accomplishing the goal.

Example: A general goal would be “Get in shape”. But a specific goal would say, “Join a health
club and workout 3 days a week”.

Measurable: Establish concrete criteria for measuring progress toward the attainment of each
goal you set.

When you measure your progress, you stay on track, reach your target dates and experience
the exhilaration of achievement that spurs you on to continued effort required to reach your
goal.

To determine if your goal is measurable, ask questions such as…..

How much? How many?

How will I know when it is accomplished?

Attainable: When you idewntify goals that are most important to you to begin to figureout ways
you can make them come true. You develop the attitudes, abilities, skills and financial capacity
to reach them. You begin seeing previously overlooked opportunities to bring yourself closer to
the achievement of your golas.

You can attain most any goal you set when you plan your steps wisely and established a
timeframe that allows you to carryout those steps. Goals that may have seemed faiir away and
out of reach eventually you move closer and become attainable, not because your goals shrink,
but because you grow and expand to match them. When you list your golas you build your self-
image. You see yourself worthy of these goals and develop the traits and personality that allow
you top possess them.
Realistic: to be realistic, a goal must represent an objective towords which you are both willing
and able to work. A goal can be both high and realistic; you are the only one who can decide
just how high your goal should be. But be sure that every goal represents substantial progress.

A high goal is frequently easier to reach then a low one because a low goal exerts low
motivational force. Some of the hardest jobs you ever accomplished actually seem easy simply
because they were a labor of love.

Timely: a goal should be grounded within a time frame. With no time frame tied to it there is no
sense of urgency. If you want to lose 10 lbs, when do you want to lose it by? “Someday ” won`t
work.But if you anchor within a time frame, “by may 1 st”, then you`ve set your unconscious
mind into motion to begin working on the goal.

Your goal is probably realistic if you truly believe that it can be accomplished. Additional ways
to know if your goal is realistic is to determine if you have accomplished anything similar in the
past or ask yourself what conditions would have to exist to accomplish this goal.

Goal setting examples:

Susan life time goal as follows:

Career – to be managing editor of the magazine that you work for.

Now she has listed her lifetime goal, she then breaks down it into smaller, more manageable
goals.

Let`s take a look at how she might break down her lifetime career goal – becoming managing
editor of her magazine.

 Five-year goal: “Becoming deputy editor”.

 One-year goal: “volunteer for projects that the current managing editor is heading up”.
 Six-month goal: “go back to school and finish my journalism degree”.
 One-month goal: “talk to the current managing editor to determine what skills are
needed to do the job”.
 One-week goal: “book the meeting with the managing editor”.

As you can see from this exa mple, breaking big goals down into smaller, more manageable
goals makes it far easier to see how the goal will get accomplished.

Six Main Types of Goal-setters. They are:-

1. Judgment Callers
Judgment callers are people who choose not to set goals, either because they do not know what
they want or they are ok with the way things are. They prefer to use judgment calls instead,
which usually means that they pick the most urgent task on their to-do list and go with that.

People like this live in constant stress and struggle: reality hits – they react, problem arises – they
solve it, boss demands – they perform. And it is not that they lack intelligence, determination or
ability.

They just cannot find their inner drive. There is no goal in sight that lights up a fire in them and
makes them care enough to take proactive steps, rather than being pushed by other people or
circumstances. The challenge is that even a tiny action of choosing a goal requires mental effort
and a small amount of motivation.

If your family members tell you that this description sounds like you, I urge you to set aside
some time and figure out what it is that you would want your life to be like in a year/5 years/10
years from now.

What inspires you? What makes you tick?

2. Terminators
To us, regular mortals, is seems that these people are made of steel, as they possess an iron will
and a laser-like focus. As soon as they select their goal, nothing can stop them from attaining it!
While such determination is admirable, very often the easiest and smartest way of achieving
something is to adjust the course of action and look for an open door, instead of bursting through
walls to make an entrance.

While ‘terminators’ usually achieve most goals they set for themselves, at times their
stubbornness and inflexibility back-fires and they spend too much time and energy chasing after
the wrong things unable to accept defeat or let go.

3. Sufi’s
Sufi’s are firm believers that everything that happens in life, happens for the better. They are
focused on the spiritual part of their life and view material goals and “attachments” as a mere
distraction from their true purpose.

If it sounds like you, then you probably believe that there is a reason why you are reading these
words. And indeed, there is a reason. I (or the Universe through me) want to remind you that
while there is nothing wrong with focusing on your spiritual growth and having infinite trust in
the Higher Powers. At the same time it is important to remember that you are a Co-creator of
your own destiny. YOU have to do your share of work, make things happen, persist even when
you are facing difficulties, not passively wait for the Universe to make your dreams come true!

4. Sprinters
This is the category where most people often find themselves. Sprinters get easily fired up by a
new goal and just as easily leave it unfinished in a few couple of weeks, when their enthusiasm
dies down. I call people in this category “sprinters”, because they take a massive amount of
action in the beginning, and quickly tire, unable to maintain the same level of motivation and
productivity over a long period of time.

If this description sounds like you, remind yourself that the key to success is consistency. Do not
waste all of your energy and enthusiasm on one big leap of action. Most worth-while goals can
not be achieved in a week or two. They take time and require sustained effort and often lifestyle
adjustments.

In some sense goal setting is similar to running a marathon. You have to prepare for it, gradually
build up your strength and spend your energy and enthusiasm wisely. Do not aim for huge goals
right away. Start small. Break your goal into the smaller objectives and concentrate of one step at
a time.

5. Analytics
Analytics believe that before they can start pursuing any kind of goal, they have to learn
everything they possibly can about goal-setting, motivation, economical situation, future
challenges, possible benefits, and so on.

Deep down they are perfectionists so they feel that unexplainable need to get it right the first
time. They collect data, attend seminars, buy books about goal setting, evaluate, analyze, weigh
the pros and cons and end up thinking themselves into analysis paralysis.

Perfectionism, no matter in what form, is always a cause of two effects: over-preparation and
under-performance.

It is just like staring at a chess board, making moves in your head, calculating various
combinations of possible contra-moves to find the best game plan. In theory you might win the
game. In practice you have not even started playing.

Do not wait till you learn everything, or till conditions are just right. Take the first step, create
momentum and then improve as you go.

6. Goal-Getters
There is a small group of people, who just get goal setting. They have clarity and certainty about
what they do and they do not spread themselves too thin. They choose one goal and slowly, but
surely work towards it. Sometimes they might even fail, but it does not stop them from trying
again.

I spent a lot of time pondering on what it is that makes these people so special? And I believe
that it is a correctly chosen goal that is aligned with passion and purpose. Goal getters love what
they do, yet they continuously educate themselves and try to learn even from their failures and
mistakes. But unlike ‘Analytics’ they implement what they learn quickly and adjust their plans
accordingly.

If it sounds like you – congratulations! You are on the right track!

Advantages of Goal Setting:-

Setting goals is very important, however not everyone is aware of all the reasons. Here are the
advantages for setting goals.
1. By having clear goals, people know what they are striving to achieve.
2. The sense of purpose is very important in accomplishing goals.
3. By assigning goals, people are given personal responsibility for achieving those goals.
Therefore, support for achieving goals increases when they are assigned.
4. By having detailed goal plans, people increase both their productivity and performance.
5. People have more confidence when they are noticeably making progress on their goals.
6. people are more satisfied with themselves when they actually finish accomplishing their
goals.
Disadvantages:-

1. Pressure

Stated goals create pressure, especially if someone else creates them. Someone tasked with improving
her/her work performance by 25 percent over the previous year might feel the pressure of having to
meet an employer's expectations. Even personal goals create additional pressure. Someone with the
goal of losing weight might feel pressure when dining at restaurants or attending events featuring high-
fat, high-calorie foods.

2. Specific Priorities

Some people have difficulty completing tasks because they do not know their priorities. Without a set of
clear goals, people spend time on things that distract them from achievement. Depending on the
person, distractions could include watching television, surfing the Web or playing computer games.
Creating a clear plan of action forces people to determine their priorities and limit distractions.

3. Sense of Failure

Goal achievement creates a sense of accomplishment or mastery of a skill. When someone does not
achieve a goal, he may experience a sense of failure. This failure could prevent the person from setting
goals in the future or working to achieve important milestones. But, anyone who fails to achieve a goal
should take time to assess that goal. If the goal was not realistic or the techniques used to achieve it
were faulty, then a new goal should take its place. Using this information to adjust goals turns failure
into an opportunity for learning.
Achieving goals:
If the goal was a significant one, reward yourself appropriately. All of this helps
you build the self-confidence you deserve.

With the experience of having achieved this goal, review the rest of your goal
plans.

 If you achieved the goal too easily, make your next goal harder.
 If the goal took a dispiriting length of time to achieve, make the next goal a
little easier.
 If you learned something that would lead you to change other goals, do so.
 If you noticed a deficit in your skills despite achieving the goal, decide
whether to set goals to fix this.

Questionnaire:-
1. Are the goals relevant?
2. Is the scope of the goals neither too grand nor too small?
3. Are there neither too few nor too many goals?
4. Are your goals coordinated with other people's goals?
5. Are the goals results-based and verifiable?
6. Are the measures set at the right level?
7. Are the measures practical?
8. Is achievement of the goals under your employee's control?
9. Does the employee have the skills needed to achieve the goals?
10. Is each goal truly a goal rather than a competency masquerading as a goal?

Tips to get started:

1. Determine the things that you really want to achieve and write them down.
2. Write goals that you know you are “do-able”. Take care not to set goals too low or too
high.
3. Be goal specific. Vague goals like “I want to better at sport” won`t work.
4. Break down each goal into smaller, achievable sub-goals with action plans.
 5. Give yourself a specific deadline and leave yourself plenty of time.
6. Try to anticipate obstacles that might come up.
7. Identify all the resources/people that might help you.
8. Think about rewards for meeting your goal.
9. Review, modify and update your goal constantly. They can keep you motivated.
10. Give yourself a reward. But don`t reward yourself until you have achieved your goal.

Goal Setting – Powerful Written Goals In 7 Easy Steps!

If you follow the 7 steps I’ve outlined below you will be well on your way to becoming an
expert in building the road maps to your goals.

1. Make sure the goal you are working for is something you really want, not
just something that sounds good.

I remember when I started taking baseball umpiring more seriously. I began to set my sites on
the NCAA Division 1 level. Why? I new there was no way I could get onto the road to the major
leagues, so the next best thing was the highest college level. Pretty cool, right. Wrong.

Sure, when I was talking to people about my umpiring goals it sounded pretty good, and many
people where quite impressed. Fortunately I began to see through my own charade.

I have been involved in youth sports for a long time. I’ve coached, I’ve been the President of
leagues, I’ve been a treasurer and I’m currently a District Commissioner for Cal Ripken
Baseball. Youth sports is where I belong, it is where my heart belongs, not on some college
diamond where the only thing at stake is a high draft spot.

When setting goals it is very important to remember that your goals must be consistent with your
values.

2. A goal can not contradict any of your other goals.

For example, you can’t buy a $750,000 house if your income goal is only $50,000 per year. This
is called non-integrated thinking and will sabotage all of the hard work you put into your goals.
Non-integrated thinking can also hamper your everyday thoughts as well. We should continually
strive to eliminate contradictory ideas from our thinking.

3. Develop goals in the 6 areas of life:

Family and Home

Financial and Career

Spiritual and Ethical

Physical and Health

Social and Cultural

Mental and Educational

Setting goals in each area of life will ensure a more balanced life as you begin to examine and
change the fundamentals of everyday living. Setting goals in each area of live also helps in
eliminating the non-integrated thinking we talked about in the 2nd step.

4. Write your goal in the positive instead of the negative.

Work for what you want, not for what you want to leave behind. Part of the reason why we write
down and examine our goals is to create a set of instructions for our subconscious mind to carry
out. Your subconscious mind is a very efficient tool, it can not determine right from wrong and it
does not judge. It’s only function is to carry out its instructions. The more positive instructions
you give it, the more positive results you will get.

Thinking positively in everyday life will also help in your growth as a human being. Don’t limit
it to goal setting.

5. Write your goal out in complete detail.

Instead of writing “A new home,” write “A 4,000 square foot contemporary with 4 bedrooms
and 3 baths and a view of the mountain on 20 acres of land.

Once again we are giving the subconscious mind a detailed set of instructions to work on. The
more information you give it, the more clearer the final outcome becomes. The more precise the
outcome, the more efficient the subconscious mind can become.

Can you close your eyes and visualize the home I described above? Walk around the house.
Stand on the porch off the master bedroom and see the fog lifting off the mountain. Look down
at the garden full of tomatoes, green beans and cucumbers. And off to the right is the other
garden full of a mums, carnations and roses. Can you see it? So can your subconscious mind.

6. By all means, make sure your goal is high enough.

Shoot for the moon, if you miss you’ll still be in the stars. Earlier I talked about my umpiring
goals and how making it to the top level of college umpiring did not mix with my values. Some
of you might be saying that I’m not setting my goals high enough. Not so. I still have very high
goals for my umpiring career at the youth level. My ultimate goal is to be chosen to umpire a
Babe Ruth World Series and to do so as a crew chief. If I never make it, everything I do to reach
that goal will make me a better umpire and a better person. If I make it, but don’t go as a crew
chief, then I am still among the top youth umpires in the nation. Shoot for the moon!

7. This is the most important, write down your goals.

Writing down your goals creates the roadmap to your success. Although just the act of writing
them down can set the process in motion, it is also extremely important to review your goals
frequently. Remember, the more focused you are on your goals the more likely you are to
accomplish them.

Sometimes we realize we have to revise a goal as circumstances and other goals change, much
like I did with my umpiring. If you need to change a goal do not consider it a failure, consider it
a victory as you had the insight to realize something was different.

A 5 point checklist:
Once you know what you want in life, how do you go about getting it?

That`s where Goal setting comes into play. If you are ever tried to set goals in the past and failed. Or
ever felt frustrated or overwhelmed when it came to goal setting, you will find the following five point
checklist to be an invaluable aid.

1.Is it clear and precise?

Goals need to be clearly stated in language that is very specific and measurable. Unclear goals create
poor results, if any at all.

For example,

Non-specific goal: Spend more time with my kids.

Specific goal: read to my children for atleast 30 minutes 3 times a week.

Non-specific goal: Improve my fitness.

Specific goal: walk on the treadmill 4 times a week for 20 minutes.

Non-specific goal: reduce my stress level and increase my peace of mind.

Specific goal: Meditate atleast 15 minutes each morning.

2. Do you why you want it?

You need to identify a strong enough “why” for achieving your goal, otherwise you will most likely
struggle to find the necessary motivation for its achievement.

3. Is it aligned with your values?

If your goal is not aligned with your values, one of two things will happen. Either you won`t achieve the
goal because it`s not really that important to you, or you will achieve the goal but you feel very
dissatisfied with the result.

4. Does it have a deadline?

Timelines help you create stronger intentions for what you want to achieve as well as strengthen your
commitment.

Determining specific dates for completion of tasks will also enable you to plan your tim,e better, and
thus maximize your efforts.

5. Do you have a plan for achieving it?

Having a great goal is only half the journey to success. You also have to focus on “how” you are going to
make it happen- your plan.

A good plan will break down the larger goal into bit sized pieces that can be scheduled as action items in
your daily calendar.

6. Bonus check point?

All the above check points are helpful in their own right, but in the end this one is the most important.

You have got to be sure you are willing to do whatever it takes to achieve the goal you are come up
with.

Ask yourself

-Will I make sure this happen?

-Am I honestly hoping this will be achieved simply because it`s on the least?

-Am I actually going to do this?

If not, you might as well remove it from your list.

Goal setting doesn`t have to be a painful, disappointing process that you shy away from and try to avoid.
You use the above checklist can help you create strong intensions that are aligned with what you really
want, moving you closer to leaving the life that you truly desire.

THANK YOU