I was so excited at the prospect of a week's holiday in Portugal, not knowing that I was about to learn a powerful lesson about Goal Setting. Most people who know me will probably say that I'm pretty switched on when it comes to setting and achieving goals, yet in this instance I learned that it's one thing to know it and another thing to do it, habitually everyday. You see, rather than focus on the sunny weather in Portugal, I was absorbed by the miserable rainy weather in England, and because 'Thoughts Become Things' I managed to create torrential rain in Portugal every single day!! Therefore, I decided to devout this week's article to Goal Setting. Interestingly, it's been a bright sunny day so far!

The art to achieving whatever you want is to have a clear picture of your goal in your mind. You’ve probably heard this so many times before that the power of this one thing may have escaped you. According to Prentice Mulford (1834 - 1891), “Every thought of yours is a real thing - a force.” To put it another way, thoughts become things.

We are all connected to each other and the universe through our energy that ebbs and flows constantly. In fact we are like a powerful electro-magnetic transmitter where our thoughts vibrate at a certain frequency and attract to us, that of which we are thinking. In his bestselling book, Think and Grow Rich, Napoleon Hill states that “the subconscious” mind proceeds to translate that impulse into its physical equivalent.

Yet the mistake made by many is that they don’t think about what they want, they think about what they don’t want. The human mind is unable to deal with negations, such as, “I don’t want to cause an argument” or “I want to get out of debt”. In these examples, your unconscious mind will create an argument and debt. If you are asked not to think of a blue tree then your mind has already started thinking of a blue tree!

Therefore, whatever type of goal you are setting for yourself it needs to focus on what it is you want, rather than what it is you don’t want.

The clearer you are about your goals, the more leverage you create because you start to attract them at an unconscious level. This means that having a picture of your goal and imagining how you will feel achieving your goal can be extremely powerful.

Having goals and well-formed outcomes will stretch and develop your ability, keeping you challenged and motivated.

Taking the time to identify and write down what you want is the first step in creating a SMART goal. SMART stands for:

Specific - because it becomes more real when you are detailed. Imagine concentrating the rays of the sun using a magnifying glass into a force powerful enough to start a fire. This is exactly what happens when you are specific about your goal, because your power to achieve it becomes more focused.

Measurable - if you have been very specific about your goal, then you are going to find it much easier to know when you have achieved it. If there is no way of knowing what you have achieved then it’s vital you develop a way.

Achievable - having the faith and the belief that your goal is stretching yet realistic, generates more clarity, drive and determination. This in turn empowers the goal setting process. If your goal is so big that you genuinely believe that it’s impossible, even though it’s what you want, your unconscious mind will hold you back because it wants to preserve your energy from being used unnecessarily.

Relevant - sometimes it can be easy to set ourselves goals that are not really our own goals, they are the goals of others who have influenced us to think that we should want them too. If our goal doesn’t have any real relevance to us, then we will find it difficult to form an emotional attachment or connect with that goal.

Timed - people often find that if they have a certain amount of work to be done within a specified timeframe they will take the allotted time to complete their task. You may have noticed that when you are busy you tend to get more done. Sometimes if we have less to do and there isn’t a deadline to do it by, the tasks can take longer. Putting a time for when we want to achieve our goal by, works in much the same way and is a vital component for our own motivation.

The following questions ensure that once you have identified your goal, they are in a format that complies with SMART. In relation to your goal, ask yourself each question in turn and answer them as fully as possible:

    • What specifically do I want?

    • Where am I now, in relation to my goal?

    • How will I know when I have it?

    • What will I see, hear and feel when I achieve this goal?

    • What will this goal allow me to do?

    • What do I need to do to get this goal?

    • Have I ever achieved this goal before?

    • Do I know anyone else who has achieved the same thing?

    • What can I learn from them, that I can apply to my situation?

    • What will happen if I get it?

    • What won’t happen if I get it?

    • When do I expect to achieve this goal?

Identifying and setting goals is the first step towards accomplishing them. There are 5 other important steps that will lead you towards regular goal attainment:

    • Set your goal

    • Take action

    • Notice if your actions are working

    • Be flexible and adapt your approach if necessary

    • Operate from a platform of excellence

A man or women without a goal is like a ship without a rudder. Each will drift and not drive. Each will end up on the beaches of despair, defeat and despondency