A personal development coach often helps people with goal setting. There are several thought processes that people have when setting and working toward goals. Here is one way to look at goal setting:
The actual goals that people set often become the obstacle that prevents them from reaching their full potential. They want to complete a certain task within a specific time frame. Their sense of time often clouds their ability to work toward their goal. For example, they dread the time commitment; they might say, “I’m so deep in debt it will take years to be whole,” or “I’m so overweight that it will take a life-time to get back into shape.”
If you are thinking along these lines, ask yourself, “What will my life look like, years from now, if I don’t work toward making an improvement?” You value your time and you want instant gratification; therefore, you don’t want to spend years trying to achieve something better. It takes discipline to set goals and work toward meeting them; however, discipline is not really the issue.
The problem with people is their concept of time. They think of time as something that is spent or managed. How do you manage your time? Where do you want to spend your time off work? How much time will you spend to complete a task? Time is not a resource; time cannot be spent or managed. Time goes by, no matter what you do.
All you have is the present time, not the past or the future; you only exist in the present moment. You cannot control time passing, but you can control what you do now. Do not think of goals as a way to control the future, but as something that adds clarity and focus to the present. Setting goals and assuming that reaching them will require hardship and sacrifice will set you up for failure. Your goals should have a positive effect on your life long before you achieve them. Set goals to enhance your present life; not to control the future.
When you set goals do not let yourself become discouraged with thoughts of how hard you will have to work or roadblocks that you may be faced with. Don’t think about the risks or things that might happen. Don’t let yourself start making things up that you don’t even want. Instead, imagine what your life will look like when you have achieved your goal. Consider how your goal is improving your life right now.
Setting goals should improve the quality of your life even while you are working to achieve the goal. If your quality of life suffers, then perhaps you need to reconsider your goals. The path to achieving your goals should be enjoyable and fulfilling. Feeling good now will motivate you to take action and be productive.
No matter what your goals involve, long-term or short-term, as long as you enjoy what you are doing, keep it up. It doesn’t even matter if your goal cannot be achieved in your lifetime as long as you are enjoying your mission. As long as your goal is inspiring rather than causing you to feel discouragement or powerlessness, then it’s all good.
There are a variety of processes people use to set goals and work toward achieving them. What I have discussed here is the fact that people set goals in order to improve the quality of their life. Why not enjoy a quality of life while you are working on achieving your goal? If your goal is going to take 10 or 20 years to fully achieve, does that mean it will cause you one or two decades of misery? This is just one idea; you may have another concept that works well for you.
K’Lei is a personal development coach who uses a very unique and diverse approach to bringing clarity and light to her clients’ perception of life. She uses a blend of different traditions and backgrounds so that their mind is not “stuck.” K’Lei helps people achieve the inner peace, balance and happiness while they work toward achieving their goals.
Monday, September 21, 2009
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