Goals that must. Man's highest goal

We are far from achieving all of our goals - and often the point is not laziness and weakness, but the inability to correctly formulate tasks and determine priorities. Self-improvement consultant Robert Sipe has published a book by Mann, Ivanov & Ferber on how to use brain science to increase productivity and focus on practical implementation their ideas and desires. Theories and Practices publishes a chapter from the book.

Reduce the number of goals

Write down the 5-6 most important goals you want to achieve in the next 90 days. Why exactly so many? The main thing at this stage is to reduce: the term and the number of items on the list. Why? There are five or six goals, because, as we already know, consciousness is not able to effectively cope with an excess of information. It is easy for him to focus on only a few tasks at a time. Of course have right time and a place for the so-called dream creation, when you get rid of all the limitations of thinking and time and indulge in bold and crazy thoughts. This exercise is useful for expanding the horizons and possibilities of your mind, but now we will do something else. Take a calendar and determine the next milestone in about 90 days. Ideally, this is the end of the quarter, the end of the month is also suitable. If the end point comes in 80 or 100 days, that's fine; the main thing is to be close to 90. Why is this important? Because for about that amount of time, a person can be very focused on one important goal without hitting the "reset button" and still see real progress.

Not for nothing that almost all diets or training programs are designed for about 90 days. A great example is the wildly popular P90X home fitness program. "P" means "strength" (power), and "X" - "limit" (Xtreme). Basically just a marketing gimmick. But behind the number "90" there are serious scientific justifications. The program is not called P10X, because you can’t achieve great success in 10 days, but also not P300X: no one can stick to the program for so long without a break. Why do you think Wall Street attaches such importance to the quarterly financial reports of companies?

Because it is during such a period that significant changes can be introduced without losing focus. In any important undertaking, much shorter than 90 days is too short to see real progress, and much longer is too long to clearly see the finish line. Study the next 90 days and write down numbers from 1 to 6 on a piece of paper. You will write down the 5-6 most important goals that you want to achieve in 90 days. Now analyze all areas of your life: work, finances, physical health, mental/emotional state, family, participation in society - so that your list is comprehensive.

As you write down your most important goals for the next 90 days, recap what makes a goal effective. In the previous chapter, we discussed in detail the five essential characteristics of your goals, and here I will list them briefly again.

one . What you write down should be meaningful to you. These goals are yours and no one else's, so be sure to fix what you really want to achieve.

2. What you write down should be specific and measurable. We're talking about a 90-day program with an explicit deadline, so general phrases like "increase income", "lose weight" or "save money" are out of place. Clearly define what exactly you intend to achieve during this period. How much money to earn or save? How many pounds to lose weight? How many kilometers to run? What will be your sales (define specific numbers)? Your numbers or details are not important to me, but specificity is necessary. By neglecting this step, you will miss out on most of the opportunities this process gives you.

3 . Goals must be of the right scale: challenging, yet achievable from your point of view. Remember: you have about three months to do everything, and then you have to blow the lights out. So choose the right scale goals. In this exercise, you will have to choose between the options "a bolder target, so you have to strain" and "a more modest one, to play it safe." The choice depends on your experience and previous successes. If you are used to achieving the main thing easily or you are a little bored, then choose a more ambitious goal. If you are doing this for the first time, then you should choose a more modest goal.

4 . Even if it is obvious, I will emphasize: the goals need to be fixed in writing. You are doing yourself and me a disservice if you read all this and do nothing. I didn't say "think about what you want to achieve in the next 90 days", I said "write it down". I assure you that the coordinated work of the eyes, hands and brain raises the choice and design of goals to a qualitatively new level. So, fix your goals in pen and paper, not just in your mind.

5 . You will regularly review what you are currently writing, so be honest with yourself and create goals that you will be interested in achieving. Once you lay the groundwork, we develop whole plan with the need to be accountable to yourself and the programming elements, so be aware that you will interact with these goals.

Enough descriptions - it's time to work! Grab a pen and paper and write down your top 5-6 goals for the next 90-100 days. Give it as much time as you need, and then go back to reading.

Define a key goal

Now you need to determine which of these goals is key for you. You may ask, “What is a key goal?” And that's great, because you've probably never looked at your goals this way before. Your key goal is one whose serious pursuit supports most of your other goals. Looking at your short list, you will surely notice that there are connections between many goals; you may even realize that some are in competition with each other. But I have found that in almost all cases there is one of the goals, the persistent pursuit of which is likely to achieve the desired results in all areas. I don't want to over complicate things. You may already know which of your goals fits this description.

Often, when a person gets to this stage, one of the goals he has written down catches his eye and seems to scream: “Hey! Make me come true!” If you have already found this goal, just mark it in the list and only then continue reading. If the key target isn't immediately visible, that's okay too. I myself often had to figure out which of my goals is the key, where to focus my main efforts. You want the one that is most likely to help you reach the rest.

There are several options. Sometimes the achievement of a key goal indirectly causes the implementation of the others, almost automatically. It happens that a key goal requires the achievement of others as an intermediate step or an auxiliary tool. And sometimes a key goal can affect your life so much that you gain the strength, confidence, and energy to break down any wall you come across. Here is an example. Recently, I began to figure out what I want to achieve in the remaining 100 days of the year, and came up with the following:

one . Personal selling.

2. Personal income.

3 . Pay the debt off.

4 . Run 355 km and do 35 strength workouts.

5 . Meditate at least 50 times.

6. Take 14 days of guilt-free vacation by disconnecting from everything.

These were the most important goals. Note that they are all specific and measurable. I knew that I needed to reduce them to one and take it seriously. Strictly speaking, there is no right answer; none of them were better or worse than the others. Deciding where the main effort would bring the most return was entirely up to me. Guess which one I chose? Sales. The figure itself would not tell you anything, but I will describe my line of reasoning. By fulfilling the sales plan, I would thereby receive income and ensure the repayment of the debt. Achieving my goals would also allow me to find time for vacations. And what is the connection with training and meditation? I knew that maintaining physical, mental and spiritual health would give me the energy I needed. So all these goals are interconnected.

If the main efforts are directed to a key goal, the subconscious mind actually takes on all these goals and the likelihood of achieving them increases significantly. Do you understand? Your next step is to do this with your goals: determine which one is the key to the rest. If you haven't selected it yet, then choose slowly. Make sure you are confident in your key goal before moving on.

Confirm the reason

Now that you have one goal to focus on, it's time to answer the most important question: why? Why is it important for you to achieve it? Intuition may provide the answer. Sometimes the stars align in such a way that it dawns on you. You say to yourself: “I don’t need unnecessary reasoning. I have never felt such enthusiasm, I am eager to fight!” If so, great! Just write down your thoughts as a guide. If insight does not occur, try to stimulate your thinking with questions such as:

Why do I want to achieve this?

What will give me the achievement of this goal?

How will I feel when I realize this goal? Self-confidence? Delight? Appeasement? Inspiration? Strength?

How will achieving this goal help me become a better or stronger person? What do I need to grow into?

What else can I do with this result?

There are no wrong answers to the “why” question, and the more you have, the better.

Visualize Goals

To focus and "tune" your mind, you need to visualize goals. So far, all your activities have been related to making plans. Most don't even get to this stage when thinking about their goals, so you're already in the lead. But there is still a lot you can do to speed up the process. Your subconscious mind is billions of times more powerful than your conscious mind. It thinks and works in many different ways. As we have said, one important key to the subconscious mind is to understand that it operates with images. The conscious mind manages coherent, linear thoughts that go one after another (which even sound like sentences in your mind), while the subconscious mind, in fact, just sees the pictures and stubbornly strives for them.

Take advantage of this: let your brain have something to look at! Give him images to work with. Sometimes I suggest that clients store images in a notebook or folder. Sometimes - create a dream board and hang it in the workplace to see all the images at once. Many of my clients place images of their goals on cards along with affirmations. There are many ways to visualize your goals. Experiment and choose what suits you best.

Create supporting rituals

You don't have to sing hymns or sacrifice a lamb. To create a ritual, you will consciously build some kind of automatic behavior that will become a binding to your goals. This is not just a trick I made up. Here are three books that have convincingly proved its benefits to me:

The first two books helped me understand the science behind habits, and the third helped me put together a step-by-step program that is now bringing great benefits to me and my clients. Do you know that most of your thoughts have become a habit? Dr. Deepak Chopra states that over 99% of the thoughts we have today are repeats of yesterday, and 99% of tomorrow will be repeats of today. Actions are determined by thoughts, and many of them - at work, in relation to health, finances - are performed by force of habit. They are brought to automatism. Remember what you do in the morning from the moment you wake up to the moment you go to work: how often does one morning look like another? You put your feet on the floor, get up unsteadily, brush your teeth, shower, drink coffee, get dressed, have breakfast (maybe), drink coffee again, check email, drink coffee again, wake up the kids, make them breakfast, drink coffee again and leave. .

Track your morning activities for several days, and you may be surprised how similar one day is to another. So, you already have automatic behaviors; I advise you to perform them consciously for a while, and then replace them with new ones. There are two periods during the day when this will need to be done.

The first is as soon as you wake up in the morning. The first hour - or rather, the first few minutes - is a very good time to program your brain for success. At this time, it passes from sleep to wakefulness, and its waves are configured in such a way that your subconscious mind is exceptionally receptive to the "thought seeds" that you sow. Have you noticed how the first minutes after waking up can set the tone for the whole day? Have you ever gotten up on the wrong foot? Pay attention and you'll begin to see practical connections between an effective start in the morning and your results throughout the day.

Most miss this opportunity: in the morning we are either nervous for various reasons, or we move in a fog, not fully understanding what is happening. And many successful people purposefully use the start of the day to set their minds to focus on their dreams and goals.

The second time you need to program yourself is in the last few minutes of your day. They are important for much the same reasons as the first hour of being awake: it is a transitional phase for the brain. During last hour Before going to sleep, find an opportunity to visualize your goals and some affirmations one more time, and then express your gratitude for all the good things that happened during the day.

Daily tasks cannot be accomplished without setting a goal. Even the most simple and everyday actions are initially planned by a person. How to set goals correctly? What helps to turn the idea into reality? The information below will help answer your questions.

What is needed to set a goal?

An aimless existence is not to the liking of anyone. Almost every person has his own goal, an incentive to life. How to set goals correctly and For this you need to apply maximum patience and effort. The correct setting of life priorities, as well as the recommendations presented below, will help you create for yourself an attitude to achieve the goal.

Thoughts are material

What we constantly imagine, sooner or later will come true. Positive thoughts attract good luck, while negative thoughts make us passive and unhappy. How to set goals and achieve them? Think positively and believe in your own success. Without believing in yourself, setting goals is meaningless.

Think about your goals, mentally imagine the moment when they will be achieved. The more often you do this, the faster your plan will be realized.

Visualization: watch and do

Laziness is the main enemy

Do not let yourself rest in those moments when you need to act. There was a free minute - once again work out the options for implementing the task.

How to put Fight against laziness and apathy. Movement is life, whether it be physical or mental. Lazy and apathetic people do not reach heights and, as statistics show, are less successful than active individuals. Do not let laziness penetrate your thoughts, organize your day in such a way that even during a break or a break at work you are busy with something.

What should be the time frame for achieving the goals

In order to set goals correctly, it is necessary to set clear time limits for their implementation. Specific dates will help you become more collected and responsible in achieving the desired result.

You can not set goals for a long period of time, since you cannot guarantee that nothing will prevent you from achieving them. That is, if you make the installation that after 10 years you will save up for an apartment, then the goal is at risk of remaining unfulfilled.

How to set goals correctly: examples

Correctly set tasks and goals are quickly realized. For example, if a person has given himself the intention to buy a car of a certain brand in six months, then he will buy it. It's not just about setting a task, it's about the desire to quickly implement the plan. People who are passionate about achieving a goal find it easier to get what they want out of life.

A great example of good goal setting is how athletes prepare for competition. They give themselves the idea that they will be physically prepared for the sports Olympics. Here, not only the goal itself is used, but also the mood of the athletes, their determination.

One more example correct installation: "I want to lose 10 kilos in 5 months." The complete opposite This goal setting is a setting of this kind: "I want to lose weight." In the first option, the goal is clear and has a certain time frame, a tangible end result. It forces a person to work productively in order to implement his plans on time. The second option is an example of how not to set a goal. Blurred time limits and fuzzy end result will not help to realize what you want.

A few steps towards setting and achieving goals

How to set goals correctly? Before proceeding directly to the formulation of a specific task, it is necessary to choose for yourself a few (no more than 5) of the most important goals. Throw away everything unnecessary and uninteresting to you in this moment. Once you have a goal in mind, there are a few simple steps that can help you set the right mindset for yourself and make it happen.

Step 1. Conversation with your own "I"

Settle down as you like, and relax, immerse yourself in a light pleasant slumber. Now ask yourself the question: “What do I most want to achieve?” Filter out unnecessary information, exclude fleeting desires and abstract dreams. Highlight what brings you positive emotions.

Step 2. Fixing the task on a piece of paper

How to set goals correctly? Fix them on paper. Describe your goals in detail important points. Reread the written information several times a day - this will help to fix the task in the subconscious.

Step 3. Breaking down global goals into small and quickly achievable tasks

How to set and achieve them correctly? Take into account the actions required to implement them. Opposite each of the written goals, fix microtasks, the execution of which will bring you closer to the implementation of your plan.

Do you want to earn 10,000 rubles by the end of next month? Decide what you need to do in order to find additional income or change your occupation.

Do you want to get rid of extra 15 kilograms in 7 months? Design individual plan workouts and diets. Do not use other people's developments, since only those classes that are designed specifically for you are suitable for achieving your goal.

Step 4. Removing obstacles

Ask yourself the question: “What is stopping me from getting what I want?” Write down the answers on a piece of paper and analyze them. And now proceed directly to the action.

Take care of yourself daily and stop the appearance of laziness, avoid waste time to communicate with unnecessary people. Mobilize your forces to achieve your goal and try not to be distracted by irritants.

Step 5. List the means to achieve the goals

The implementation of any goals requires certain costs: financial, energy, time. Next to each goal, make a list of tools that will help you get what you want faster. It could be money free time, strength to solve everyday problems.

Remember that on the way to achieving your goal, you will have to sacrifice something. Feel free to reduce daytime rest, replacing it with the study of issues that interest you. Try not to regret the time spent, convince yourself that all this is done for your benefit.

Step 6. Planning the day

What helps you set the right goals? You need to plan your day wisely. A well-defined daily routine helps to become more collected, planning allows you to spend your personal time more rationally.

To achieve your goal, you need to make a daily schedule. Within 24 hours, you should have time both to work on the task and to solve current problems. Do not forget to take into account the time spent on rest.

Step 7. Learn to be cheerful

Do not pay attention to small failures and troubles encountered on the way to achieving the goal. Set yourself up for the positive, look for the positive in everything, here the saying “everything that is done, everything is for the better” will play a big role for you.

Remember that the goal will be realized only if it carries a positive charge.

Step 8 Praise

As soon as you solve one of the microtasks, be sure to praise yourself. Encouragement even for small accomplishments helps faster and with less energy. Praise yourself for not being too lazy to work above the norm today.

Tell yourself that nothing is impossible for you, and soon you will see that this is true. Encouraging one's own actions increases a person's confidence and purposefulness. Only in everything you need to know the measure - do not overpraise yourself, otherwise the encouragement will begin to work exactly the opposite.

Can you make adjustments to your goals?

Absolutely yes. If the end result is planned for a long period of time (for example, from 2 to 5 years), then making small adjustments is appropriate here. This is due to the fact that the world is changing, and there is nothing permanent in it. Therefore, one should not set a goal that cannot be adjusted for a long period.

For example, if you want to buy an apartment in 7 years and decide to save all these years for such a large purchase, but do not take into account that force majeure may occur during this period, then the end result will not please you. Why? Yes, everything is simple: at some point you will need a large amount of money, and you will use your savings.

To avoid this, make small adjustments to your goal. For example, write that you need to create another, additional financial "airbag" in the form of an open bank account.

What to do if the achievement of the goal is disappointing?

In the process of implementing the task, some people are faced with the fact that the work done does not suit them, and the goal is no longer of interest to them. What to do in this situation?

Do not give up and think that the work done was useless. Note for yourself that you have gained tremendous experience and yet achieved what you once wanted. If you are completely disappointed in the goal, then start implementing a new one. Our whole life consists entirely of an endless series of beginnings and accomplishments, so try to always bring everything to the end. This will instill a sense of purpose in you.

Remember one thing important rule- never stop in the middle. Despite obstacles, condemnation from people, go to your intended goal and believe in yourself. Support yourself in all endeavors.

We will not be taught to set the right goals at school, parents will not be able to explain the process of competently setting a task for the future. You can understand how to achieve what you want only through your own trial and error, self-diagnosis and work on yourself.

Whether you have big goals in life or small dreams, set yourself goals to achieve them. To achieve some things, you will have to spend your whole life, and to achieve some, a couple of three days will be enough. When your plans and dreams come true, you feel that indescribable feeling of accomplishment for a long time and dignity. Starting to fulfill your dreams may seem difficult, but we will show you how to do it.

Steps

Set achievable goals

    Define goals in life. Ask yourself some important questions about what you want in your life. What do you really want to achieve: today, in a year, or in your lifetime? The answers to these questions can be quite general, such as "I want to be happy" or "I want to help people." Imagine what you hope to achieve in 10, 15 or 20 years.

    • Goals can be completely different, for example, open your own business, lose weight, or start a family one day.
  1. Divide your life goals into smaller tasks. Divide your life into specific areas or areas that you would like to change or improve over time. These may include: career, finances, family, education, or health. First, ask yourself the question of what exactly you want to achieve in each of the areas of your life within 5 years.

    • For a life goal like “I want to get in shape,” you can set small goals for yourself, such as “I want to eat healthy food” or “I want to run a marathon.”
    • For a life goal such as: “I want to have my own business”, the tasks can be: “I want to learn how to effectively manage a business” and “I want to open my own bookstore”.
  2. Set short term goals. Now that you already know roughly what you want to achieve in a few years, you can concentrate on completing specific tasks. Set reasonable deadlines for completing tasks for yourself, in the case of short-term tasks - no more than a year.

    Turn your tasks into steps towards your goal. In general, you must decide why you are setting this task for yourself and what it will contribute to. Here are a few good questions to ask yourself: Is it worth it? Is it worth it to start right now? Do I really want this?

    • For example, if you want to achieve the desired shape in life, a short-term goal for you may be to take up a new sport within 6 months, however, ask yourself how much this will help you run a marathon. If not, change the task so that it becomes the next step towards achieving your goal.
  3. Reevaluate your tasks periodically. Your life goals may not change, however, sometimes think about reviewing your short-term goals. Can you achieve them within the given time frame? Are they still necessary in achieving your life goal? Be flexible in setting short-term goals.

    • Perhaps you have achieved good results in a 5K run and after a few workouts, you should change your goal from “run 5K” to “Run 10K.” Over time, you can set other goals, like “run a half marathon”, and then “run a marathon”.
    • To start your own business, after completing tasks such as completing accounting courses and finding premises, you can set yourself a task, for example, take out a loan for a small business, buy premises, obtain a license from the local government. After buying or renting a space, stock up on books, hire staff, and open the doors of your store. You may soon start thinking about opening a second one.

    Stick to an effective strategy in achieving the goal

    1. Be specific about your goals. Before you set a goal, you need to know whether it can be the answer to very specific questions: who, what, where, when and why. As you set yourself a goal, understand how it will be useful in achieving your life goal.

      • Being in shape has a rather vague wording. Therefore, it is worth creating a more specific goal to “run a marathon”, which, in turn, is achieved through short-term goals - “run 5 km”. When you set yourself a similar task, answer the questions: who? - I what? - run 5 km, where? – in the local park, when? – within 6 weeks, why? – to achieve your goal and run a marathon.
      • In order to open your business, create a short-term task to “take an accounting course”. She can answer the following questions: who? - I what? - accounting courses, where? - in the library, when? – every Saturday for 5 weeks, why? - to manage the budget of your company.
    2. Create tasks that can be measured. To be able to track progress, goals must be measurable. "I'm going to walk more" is much harder to evaluate than "I'm going to walk 16 laps every day." In fact, you should have several ways to evaluate your result.

      • “Running 5 km” is a task that can be assessed. You know exactly when you need to do it. It may be necessary to create other short-term goals, such as “run at least 3 km three times a week.” This all works towards your goal, after reaching which the next measurable goal will be “run 5 km a month, in 4 minutes”
      • Also, the task of “taking accounting courses” is quite measurable. These are specific classes that you need to go and sign up for and go to classes once a week. A less specific task is to “learn accounting,” you never know if you have reached the goal or not, whether you have completed the task set for yourself.
    3. Be realistic in setting goals. It is important to assess the situation as honestly as possible for yourself and understand how realistic the fulfillment of your goals is, whether you have everything to put them into practice. Ask yourself this question, do you have enough knowledge, time, skills or resources.

      • To run a marathon, you need to spend a lot of time running. If you don't have enough free time, given task unacceptable to you. In this case, find another task for yourself that requires less time and can help you achieve your global goal.
      • If you want to open your own bookstore, but you have no experience in such work, no start-up capital, no honest understanding of how a bookstore works, you don’t like to read at all, you should probably give up own purpose because you may not be successful.
    4. Set your priorities. At any point in your life, you have multiple tasks in various stages of completion. Crucial has a definition of the importance of a task or goal. If it turns out that you need to complete too many tasks, you will feel overwhelmed. This will lead to the fact that the final goal will not be achieved.

    5. Track your progress. Writing in personal diaries or journals is a great way to track progress, for both personal and professional purposes. Self-examination is the key to staying motivated towards achieving your goal. This method it may even inspire you to work harder.

      • Ask friends to track your progress and help you stay on track. For example, if you are training for a serious race, meet regularly with a friend who will oversee the completion of your tasks.
      • If you're training for a marathon, record in a journal or diary your accomplishments, how far and how long you ran, and how you felt doing it. Seeing where you started from will make you more motivated to take on more challenging tasks.
      • Once you run a marathon, you must understand what you want next. Do you want to run another marathon by improving your time? Perhaps you want to try your hand at triathlon? Or do you want to go back to running 5K and 10K again?
      • After opening your store, do you want to take part in social events, lead literary circles or literacy circles? Maybe you want to earn more money? Maybe you should open a cafe in a store or in a nearby building?
    • Use the SMART method to set effective goals. The SMART method is used in the work of trainers, motivation specialists, in personnel departments and in educational system to define goals, achievements and attitudes. Each of the letters SMART is the beginning of some concept that helps in achieving the goals.

Today we'll talk about how to set a goal and what should be the right goals any person. In any business, you should start with setting goals. Therefore, what exactly you will strive for and what you will achieve as a result depends on how correctly and competently the goal is formulated. Thus, this issue must be approached very thoughtfully and responsibly.

Rules for setting goals and objectives.

1.Good goals should be specific. When thinking about how to set a goal, try to formulate it as specifically as possible, so that there are no uncertainties and vague concepts in it. To do this, I recommend following three rules:

specific result. Goal setting should include a specific outcome that you want to achieve.

measurable result. The goal you want to achieve must be expressed in some specific measurable value - only in this way can you really control its achievement.

specific deadlines. And finally, the right goals should have their specific deadlines for achieving.

For example, “I want” is an absolutely non-specific goal: there is neither a measurable result, nor specific deadlines. “I want to have a million dollars” - the goal already contains a measurable result. “I want to have a million dollars by the age of 50” is already correct setting goals, because contains both the measured result and the time frame for achieving it.

The more specific the goal is, the easier it is to achieve.

2. Good goals should be realistically achievable. And this means that you must set goals, the achievement of which is within your power and depends mainly on you. It is unacceptable to plan something that is fully dependent on other people or some external factors which you cannot influence.

For example, “I want to have a million dollars in 5 years, which my American uncle will leave me after his death” is a completely wrong and unacceptable goal. In order to sit and wait for 5 years for the uncle to die, there is no need to set goals. And the most interesting thing will be when it turns out that he bequeathed his fortune to someone else. Well, in general, I think you understand.

“I want to make a million dollars in a year.” Right target? No, if now you have not a penny for your soul, you simply will not achieve it.

“I want to increase my income by $100 every month.” This is already a realistically achievable goal, of course, if you have calculated and understand exactly how you will increase your income.

Set realistic goals and you can achieve them.

3. Right goals must come from the heart. When thinking about how to set a goal, you should choose only those goals that you are really interested in and need, that beckon you, that you really want to achieve, from the achievement of which you will be truly happy. It makes absolutely no sense to set goals for yourself to do something through force, without having a desire, simply because it is “needed”. Also, do not pass off other people's goals as your own. Even if you complete these tasks, you are unlikely to get anything really needed from it.

For example, you don’t need to set a goal to get a law degree if you want to become a pop star, but your parents “push” you into lawyers, because this is a “money and prestigious profession.”

Set goals that will inspire you, not stress you!

4. Good goals should be positive. One and the same task can be formulated in different ways: with both positive and negative connotations. Therefore, when thinking about how to set a goal correctly, avoid negativity and use only positive expressions (you write everything down!) - this will psychologically motivate you more to achieve a result. Here, too, there are 3 important rules.

- The right goals should show what you want to achieve, not what you want to get rid of;

- Correct goals should not contain negatives (“I don’t want”, “I want that I didn’t have”, etc.);

- Correct goals should not contain even a hint of coercion (the words “should”, “must”, must, etc.).

For example, “I want to get rid of poverty”, “I don’t want to live in poverty”, “I want to have no debts” - the wrong formulation of the goal, because. contains a negative. “I want to become rich” is the correct formulation of the goal, because contains positive.

“I must become rich” is the wrong goal setting: you only owe banks and creditors, it is much better to formulate the goal like this: “I will become rich!”.

Positive goals are achieved much easier than getting rid of negative ones!

5. Goal setting must be written. When your goal is written down on paper or in an electronic document, it will psychologically motivate you to achieve it much more. Therefore, when thinking about how to set a goal, keep in mind that your goals must be recorded in writing. And it is a mistake to believe that you will remember what you have planned so well. Even if you have a good memory, a goal that you have not recorded anywhere is easiest to change or even abandon it altogether.

Goals in your head are not goals, they are dreams. The right goals must be written down.

6. Break down your big goals into smaller ones. If your goal seems too complex and unattainable, then break it down into several intermediate, simpler ones. So it will be much easier to achieve a common global goal. I will say more, if you do not break down important life goals into intermediate ones, then you are unlikely to achieve them at all.

Take, for example, our first goal, “I want to have a million dollars by the age of 50.” If this is all that you have planned for yourself, you will not complete this task. Because it is not even clear how exactly you are going to earn this same million. Therefore, it is necessary to break this strategic task into several smaller, tactical ones, showing exactly how you will go towards the intended goal. For example: “Set aside $100 a month for”, “Within a month”, “Open by age 30”, etc. Of course, these are only approximate goal trends, the right goals should look, as you already know, more specific.

The global strategic goal will be achieved if you break it down into several intermediate, tactical ones.

7. Goals can be adjusted if there are objective reasons. If you have already set a clear and specific goal, this does not mean that it cannot be adjusted. However, and this is very important, goals can only be adjusted if there are objective reasons. Reasons like “I can’t do it” or “I’d rather squander this money” cannot be considered objective. Anything can happen in life and in the surrounding world that will have a significant impact on the achievement of the goal. And in the event of such force majeure circumstances, the goal can and should be adjusted, both in the direction of weakening and in the direction of strengthening.

For example, you set a goal to save $100 a month in a bank account to raise a certain amount. At the time of setting the goal, the deposit rate was 8% per annum. If the rates in banks drop to 5% per annum, you will need to adjust the goal: either save more, or, if this is not possible, reduce the amount you want to raise. But if the rates rise to 10% per annum, you will be able to adjust the goal in the direction of increasing the planned result.

There is nothing wrong with adjusting goals for objective reasons - circumstances may arise in life that could not have been foreseen.

8. Believe in achieving your goal. It is necessary not only to set the right goal, but also to believe in its achievement. This will psychologically help you go to the intended and overcome all the obstacles that come your way.

Faith in achieving the goal - the most important factor on the way to success. Setting yourself goals that you don't believe you can achieve makes no sense at all.

I hope this article has helped you understand how to set a goal correctly, and what your proper goals should be.

You will find many more in other publications on useful tips and recommendations that will become your assistants on the path to success, as well as teach you how to properly manage your personal finances, because the achievement of almost any life goal has its own financial side. Until we meet again on the pages of the site!

In a person's life, the greatest value is his life goals. Their presence and scale determine the level of achievements of the individual, and their absence leads to an existential vacuum. The consequences of such a state can be the so-called noogenic neuroses, which are treated only by meaning.

The concept of purpose in psychology

In psychology, goals are understood as the results realized by a person, towards the achievement of which his actions are directed. Thus, goals encourage a person to act in order to meet actualized needs. Distinguish between activity goals and life goals.

During a lifetime, a person performs great amount various types of activities, each of which pursues a specific goal. They reveal only certain aspects of the orientation of the personality of the individual.

The life goal is a generalization of all private goals of certain types of activities. At the same time, the implementation of each individual goal of the activity is a partial implementation of the general one.

In the life goals of a person, the "concept of one's own future" that he realizes finds its expression. When a person is also aware of the reality of its implementation, they talk about the perspective of the individual. Therefore, the level of achievements of the individual is associated with life goals.

Man's highest goal

E. Fromm, a famous German-American philosopher and psychologist, considered the disclosure and the most complete realization of his inner potential as the highest life goal of a person. He considered it unchanging and independent of other supposedly higher goals.

According to E. Fromm, who shares highest values humanistic ethics, a person must understand that he is the center and goal of his life. Being yourself is what matters most. To achieve this, you need to be a person for yourself, which means loving yourself, instead of throwing yourself into extremes of self-denial or self-love, the manifestation and assertion of your own "I", and not the suppression and rejection of your individuality. In other words, you need to allow yourself to be natural and become what he potentially is.

aim life path E. Fromm saw the development of a person's own personality. At the same time, he emphasized that there is no other meaning to life, except that the individual himself gives it in the course of a fruitful life and the disclosure of his natural talents.

Why is it important to be the center of your life?

The main moral problem of our time, according to E. Fromm, is the indifference of a person to himself. Speaking about moral problems, he emphasizes the differences between the authoritarian conscience of a person and the humanistic one, which very often have contradictions.

Authoritarian conscience is the result of the internalization of the external authorities of parents, society, and the state. On the one hand, it performs a regulatory social function, on the other hand, it makes a person dependent on the opinions of others.

Humanistic conscience does not depend on external rewards and sanctions. It represents a person's own inner voice, expressing his integrity, personal interests, and demanding to become what he potentially is.

E. Fromm saw contradictions and intrapersonal conflicts of a moral nature at the basis of most neuroses. He considered them as a symptom, as a result of an unsuccessful attempt to resolve the contradictions between the insurmountable internal dependence on some attitudes or rules and the desire for freedom. This shows how important it is to be at peace and harmony with yourself.

Innate desire for meaning

According to the views of the Austrian psychologist, neurologist and psychiatrist V. Frankl, a person's desire to find and realize the meaning and goals of his life is an innate motivational tendency. It is inherent in all people without exception and is the main driving force that determines the behavior and development of the individual.

Feeling the meaning of one's own existence and determining vital goals are extremely important for maintaining the mental and psychological health of any person, regardless of age. Guided by his life observations, the results of clinical practice and a variety of empirical data, V. Frankl came to the following conclusion: in order to live and act actively, a person must believe that his actions have meaning.

existential vacuum

V. Frankl discovered that the lack of meaning in one's actions and deeds plunges a person into the so-called state. This state can be described as suffering from a feeling of emptiness and loss of life orientations. The loss of life goals and values ​​makes him think about the meaninglessness of his own existence. At the same time, a person loses interest not only in the activities performed, but also in life itself.

According to V. Frankl's observations, supported by numerous clinical studies, it is the existential vacuum that is the cause of the noogenic neuroses that are widespread today. To work with such states, the scientist developed native method- logotherapy, which means treatment with meaning. To overcome such an ailment, a person must reconsider personal life priorities, change your attitude to the world around you, and find your unique meanings.

Freedom of choice and responsibility

According to V. Frankl, finding the meaning and main goals in life is only half the battle. It is also important to implement them. This process is not simple, it is not done automatically. Fear of losing something is often the main reason for refusing to move towards the desired goal.

  • physiological;
  • in safety;
  • in belonging and love;
  • in respect;
  • in self-actualization.

As the needs of one level are satisfied, the needs of the next level are updated. Accordingly, as you move from the lower floors of the pyramid to the higher, the priorities, goals and motives of a person change. At a certain stage of development highest value acquires a need for self-actualization.

Human self-actualization

Self-actualization according to A. Maslow is a person's desire for self-fulfillment, for the manifestation of one's potential and the full use of one's talents, abilities and capabilities.

According to his concept, people are intelligent, conscious creatures. They are naturally good and capable of self-improvement. The very essence constantly moves them in the direction of personal growth, creativity and self-sufficiency.

The self-actualized person is not a common person, to whom something has been added, but an ordinary person, from whom nothing has been taken away. He considered the average individual as a complete human being, with suppressed and unconscious abilities and gifts.

A. Maslow considered the tendency to self-actualization as the core of personality. A person strives to constantly embody, objectify himself, his abilities and talents. But he can realize himself only in activity. Thus, the need for self-realization and the need for activity are indivisible for the individual.

How to define your strategic goals

Since the life goals of a person are a generalization of all his private goals, then one should think about them with a scale. At the same time, attention must be directed to the desired future. What prospects of his development does a person see? What achievements do you dream of? What is the meaning of them? What does he see as the purpose of his life?

Often people do not have conscious goals, simply because they live on autopilot and do not think about the future, do not engage in strategic planning for several years ahead. And it happens that there are goals, but not their own. For example, mother, father, husband, child. In this case, in order to increase the level of awareness and understanding of oneself, to determine and separate one’s goals from others, a person is invited to conscientiously answer questions like these:

  • What are my goals in life?
  • How would I like to spend the next 3 years?
  • Where do I want to be in 10 years?
  • If I had 3 months to live, how would I live?
  • If I lived forever, what would my life be like, what would I do?
  • If I were incredibly rich and could never work at all, what would I do?

There are no strict and specific rules for setting goals. This process is deeply personal and creative. And yet, in order to determine your life goals, it is better to rely on some scientific model, technique, system. For example, the neuro- logical levels R. Dilts. And you can get tips, pointers, codes for a life goal in numerology, astrology.

Pyramid of logical levels

As part of neurolinguistic programming, R. Dilts developed a model of neurological levels. It is based on a hierarchy of semantic levels of personality, each of which has its own specific questions. The author presented it in the form of a pyramid and identified the following levels:

  • Mission - Why? For who else?
  • Identity - Who am I?
  • Values ​​and beliefs - What matters? What do I believe?
  • Abilities - What can I do? How?
  • Behavior - What to do?
  • Environment - Where? With whom? When?

The pyramid of neurological levels by R. Dilts allows you to deeply explore a specific goal. Answering, it would seem, very simple questions, moving from one floor of the pyramid to the next, a person gets the opportunity to ascend from the lower level of the usual surrounding reality to the level of awareness of his mission.

Filled with new meanings, a larger and more holistic vision, it is necessary to go through the issues of the pyramid again, only now in the opposite direction. This will allow you to see untapped opportunities, inhibitory factors and understand what adjustments need to be made at each level of the pyramid. The use of this model by R. Dilts to determine the main life goals of a person will also make it possible to authentically coordinate his private goals with them.

Everything is possible, but what a person allows himself is possible

Many people consider some things unattainable, and therefore do not set themselves ambitious goals. They proceed from the principle: if all this does not work out early, then there is no need to try. Nevertheless, life is replete with examples when some individuals prove by their example that it is never too late to radically change your life, fill it with meaning and make it more rich, fruitful and happy.

Nick Vujicic is a motivating and inspiring speaker, gathering entire stadiums, a writer, and also a husband, the father has neither arms nor legs. However, he managed to difficult situation his life, find meaning, and now helps other people find them.

The writer, a participant in the documentary film "The Secret", before his path to success began, was at the bottom of his life, having neither a livelihood nor a place to live. It was desperation that pushed him to Conversations with God. This is the name of his first book, and the film subsequently shot based on it.

Joe Vitale is a popular author of books about achieving success, the owner of his own company, a millionaire, a participant in the movie "The Secret" in his biography has a long period when he was homeless. Perhaps it was this circumstance that served as a launching pad for a deep transformation of the personality and opened the way for a new life, self-realization and prosperity.

The acquisition of faith in oneself, the meaning and purpose of one's life is available to every person, and with them the ability to change it for the better. Achieving life goals depends on the continuous search for new opportunities for self-realization. Self-knowledge, expanding horizons, new interests and hobbies are great for this.