This is the second of three articles about the goal setting process. The first thing you should do is have your short term goals in mind. Use your short term – either three month or six month are the best, and three month give you a really good perspective. Take the example of someone who wants to earn eighty thousand dollars in the next year. If after three months they have only put ten thousand on the board, they know they are significantly behind, and will need to make changes.
Whatever you do, DON’T LOWER YOUR GOAL. If you set a goal that you believed was attainable and realistic, look inside yourself and see what it is that you must change to move forward,in confidence, in the direction of that goal. Reaching a particular goal is certainly important however, the person you are becoming while going after it is important as well, as you will be that person long after you have reached or not reached the goal.
After you’ve set your three month (or six month) goal, set your one, three, and five year goals. The best results will come if you have more than two goal cards and no more than five. Three and six months, and one, three, and five year seem ideal to work with. Be sure to focus a little time at least once and, better yet, twice each day.
In the upper left corner of your first goal card (3 x 5 index card), you will write the date for three months from now. If you want to use calender quarters, go longer, not shorter. Some people prefer to use important holidays or birthdays as their targets. If you find that this will put your first “three month” goal out four or five months, do this if its a comfortable starting point. In addition to writing the date, write which day this falls on, and example might be Wednesday December 31, 2008.
You’ll find out why you are writing the day of the week as we go through the rest of the exercises. Now, in the opposite corner write today’s date. After you’ve done this, use the remaining lines to write your goals on each card. They might appear like this:
(Goal Date) Wednesday, December 31, 2008
(Today’s date) October 1, 2008
i have increased the balance in my bank account to over fifty thousand dollars, and recently purchased a great computer for my business with cash. Also, I have test driven my dream car – what a fantastic feeling. We just returned from a vacation which was the best we’ve ever taken.
As you focus on your goals each day and repeat them, you’ll start like this; “today is Wednesday December 31, 2008 and what a fabulous day it is. You want to have plenty of Emotion throughout this exercise, this will add so much power to it. After your first goal card go to each successive card and remember to have the power of your emotions in each. Practice this two or three times each day.
One thing I want to mention before we go farther. If any of your goals are monetary, be cautious not to use paying off your credit card debt as a goal. This tends to planting negative thoughts (debt) into your subconscious so you’re working against yourself. Also, which sounds like more fun and easier to work toward, paying off your debt of purchasing a new car of a fine piece of jewelry?
Please look for the third article in the series “Goal Setting, Part 3 of 3, Using Visualization”.
