Setting the right goals is an important first step in personal and professional success. Often when you set goals for yourself, you focus on a goal that doesn’t address your core values and your intentions.
When your goals are not aligned with your true objective, you are more likely to become discouraged and frustrated when achieving those goals doesn’t get you the results you actually want.
Perhaps you’re focused on getting a raise or a higher paying job, but what does this really mean to you? When you get that raise, how will your life be different or better?
Consider instead setting a goal to pay your current household bills, pay off debt, increase your savings, and afford a fun vacation once a year. While it might seem that having more money will give you all those things, it’s far more likely reaching your goal is the result of both earning a good salary and living an enjoyable life within your means.
I experienced this for myself. I’ve earned more money than I truly needed to achieve my goals, and I’ve earned less money than I truly needed to achieve my goals. When I earned more than I truly needed, the comforts and habits of my lifestyle became more expensive as my salary increased, yet I didn’t experience the happy life I truly wanted. I also found the more money I had, the more I decided I wanted and needed. My true goal was to live a financially stable and sustainable life.
To be successful in achieving your goals, you have to set goals that focus on what you seek to accomplish instead of only considering what you want or, perhaps, what you think you need.
Here are some ideas for setting results-oriented goals:
Ask yourself, “what’s missing?” Why do you want to make a change? What is and isn’t working in your current situation? What is the problem you’re looking to solve?
You can’t discover a solution without acknowledging, without judgment, where you are today. Look beyond the surface, and answer these questions with your heart, not your head.
Ask yourself, “why does it matter?” Understanding what’s behind your goal is important to aligning your goal to your values and intentions. What does your goal mean to you?
Ask yourself, “what do I seek to accomplish?” What does personal and professional success look like to you?
Think about living a life that sustains you instead of only having or doing. What does that life look like to you? How do you feel in that life? Set goals for an outcome that actually meets your needs.
A raise, or a new job are unlikely to bring you personal and professional satisfaction if the result you really want is financial security, or professional engagement. You have to look deeper and set goals that matter to you, and what you want to accomplish in your life.
Whatever your goal, setting your goal based on results instead of your current wants and needs is important to living a life that engages and enriches you!
I love your comments! How do you determine your goals? Do you give priority to a life that fulfills you?
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