Smarter Goal Setting in 3.5 Easy Peasy Steps

It’s a bit humbling to admit, but I’ve been the business of helping people change for over 20 years now.  And along the way, I’ve witnessed over 15,000 approach the whole topic of goals.  Do anything that often and it’s possible just you might learn a thing or two. 

Unfortunately, most people approach goals haphazardly and don’t consider how their own nervous system works when they set them.  With a little understanding and a few tips, you can enjoy the benefits of smarter goal setting.  Here is how to get more of what you want through Smarter Goal Setting in 3.5 Easy Peasy Steps:

1) Create goals that are exciting – to you. After not making any goals at all, the biggest mistake most people make is not creating goals that you find inspiring.  Effective change doesn’t happen because your boss, spouse or mom wants it.  Change happens when you are truly excited about the results.  Make sure your goals are big enough to activate all of your resources.

Sometimes a change in framing is key to this.  For instance, when I was younger, I was overweight.  Though I tried to lose weight many times, nothing seemed to work.  When I got excited about “feeling good about my body“, I started a fitness lifestyle that has lasted decades.

2) Make goals believable through “chunking”. One client came to me with a goal to be “a billionaire within 15 months.”   While she was excited about this goal, she really didn’t believe it was possible and had spent years studying manifesting systems with no change in her income.  If your nervous system doesn’t believe it’s possible for you, it will sabotage your efforts (interesting article on this).

Instead of one grand goal that overwhelms your system, chunk things down to digestible pieces.  Work on expanding your business by 25% on your way to bigger goals.  Run four times a week before  start your marathon training.

3) Create accountability from the start. Successful goal seekers understand that it’s helpful to let someone know you have a goal and check in with them along the way.  This is a conscious use of our social nervous system.   It’s best to find someone who is both supportive and willing to ask honest questions if we don’t make the desired progress.

Get support if you need it. This is the half step.  Not everyone needs a support person or team.  But the research is plenty clear that the bigger and more challenging the goal, the more helpful support is from knowledgeable, non-judgmental people.  Great athletes get coaching before they become great.

I’d love to hear about what’s worked for you in terms of manifesting your goals in the form of a comment below.