The New Year is almost upon us and it is the season for declaring our goals and resolutions for the year ahead. While good intentioned, for many, these resolutions follow the familiar cycle of setting a goal, holding out high expectations, feeling overwhelmed, de-motivating ourselves and letting the goal go by the wayside.
Why does this happen so often? It all simply boils down to desire, inspiration and motivation or in other words, the heart and soul of why the goal is important. This sounds simple enough, but unfortunately, when most people set goals, their internal dialogue bypasses the motivational component entirely, and they are left feeling un-inspired and often emotionally taxed by the goal itself. For example, have you never said something to yourself like “I should stop being overweight” or “I need to be less lazy and unproductive”? These kinds of statements are often the beginning and the end of most objectives, because they are stated in the negative and don’t address the motivating element of “Why?”, in other words, “Why is it important for me to do/have/be this?” The answer to this deceptively simple question is critical, because it allows us direct access to our internal set of values that guide, motivate and ignite our wants, desires and ultimately our willingness to act.
When you are setting a goal for yourself, first, try to frame the internal and external statement of the goal in the positive versus the negative for example: “I want to be more healthy” versus “I want to stop being overweight”. Simply changing the wording of your goal allows you to visualize the end objective as opposed to reinforcing the image of the problem or viewing the goal from the more limiting standpoint of what you don't want or what you are moving away from.
When you are setting a goal for yourself, first, try to frame the internal and external statement of the goal in the positive versus the negative for example: “I want to be more healthy” versus “I want to stop being overweight”. Simply changing the wording of your goal allows you to visualize the end objective as opposed to reinforcing the image of the problem or viewing the goal from the more limiting standpoint of what you don't want or what you are moving away from.
Next, set smaller achievable goals within the larger goals and try to make your goals as specific and measurable as possible. That way, you will be less overwhelmed and will be able to track your progress and actually notice when you are moving forward - this helps to keep you motivated and connected to the outcome.
Finally, when thinking about your goal, instead of leaving it at the “should” or “need to level”, try to envision yourself at the completion stage, looking at a vivid and salient picture of yourself having already achieved your goal, hearing what you are saying to yourself and feeling what it is like to have the outcome you want. Then, ask yourself: “Why is having this important for me?” or “What does having this outcome allow for me that is positive?” The answers to these questions will help you to directly access your motivation and will give support to the achievement of your goals in reality.
Wishing you a motivating and successful start to 2011!
Wishing you a motivating and successful start to 2011!
