Goal settings: what is it, principles, methods, tips The right approach to goal setting helps to achieve success The process of forming and ...
Goal settings: what is it, principles, methods, tips
The right approach to goal setting helps to achieve success
The process of forming and setting goals requires careful study. This article will tell you about the basic rules of goal-setting and common mistakes
What is goal setting
Goal setting is the conscious process of identifying your needs and motives, that is, setting personal or work goals. The first thing to remember is that a goal and a plan are two different things.
Need is always the basis of goal-setting since first of all our goals come from what we really need. Abraham Maslow's "Pyramid of Needs" contains basic human or physiological needs at the base. Next comes the need for security, then for belonging to a social group, above- _ the need for respect, at the top _ the need for self-expression. Thus, we set goals depending on the actual need at this stage.
The second element of goal setting is motive, which is what pushes us to action. When setting goals, it is very important to determine your level of motivation, since without it it is much more difficult to achieve anything, but the other extreme can lead to haste and mistakes. Excess and extremes usually get in the way of your goal.
The third component of goal-setting is mindfulness. To strive for a goal - personal or collective - it is necessary to make a deliberate choice corresponding to internal motives, or to go your own way, realizing the goal itself and the steps towards it. That is, to understand what and why we are doing. This is conscious goal setting, which applies to both life and business. _
Why is goal setting useful?
Sometimes our global goal is presented in general terms and is rather vague, there is only an understanding of what is needed to meet the current need. The right approach to goal setting is effective in identifying steps and allows you to clearly imagine and form a big goal, as well as understand what it is for and what is the result of its achievement.
In addition, goal setting forms a system for setting priority tasks and an algorithm for their solution. Such a system helps to streamline everyday life and business.
Goal setting: expert opinion
For a broader understanding of this method, we turned to an expert. Anna Devyatyarova, HR consultant, lecturer, and author of the HRPROSVET project, will tell you more about goal setting.
How is goal setting different from standard planning?
For me, goal-setting and planning are still two different things. A goal is a vision of the future outcome you are striving for in your personal life or career. Businesses should also have a goal, Frederic Laloux, the creator of the concept of “turquoise” organizations, wrote on this topic. According to him, every company should be an evolutionary goal that gives meaning to its existence. John Strelecky, the author of The Big Five for Life, has a very similar view - in the book he describes the Purpose of Existence, and just like that - from capital letters. And these capital letters say a lot, focusing the reader's attention on the paramount meaning of the goal. In turn, planning is the process of dividing a goal into tasks and allocating time and resources for its implementation.
Where to start goal setting?
Interestingly, if you search for information on goal setting, you will find techniques for time management, planning, self-control, and combating procrastination, but not much has been written about goal setting. Why? I think that this is due to the maximum subjectivity of the goal selection process. We are all very different, you can not choose a goal from a neighbour or copy Elon Musk. You must consciously come to your goal, even if it does not look like excerpts from an interview with the top 100 most successful people on the planet. To do this, you need to reflect a lot, and think about yourself and your business: what are you good at? Why are you feeling uncomfortable at your workplace? _ What gives you a good mood? What would you like to learn? Only by asking yourself questions and trying to answer them honestly can you come to a conscious goal setting.
How to avoid mistakes in goal setting?
In my opinion, the most common mistake in goal setting is the lack of action. Real breakthroughs are always made through actions, even if they do not bring the expected result. If at the moment you feel confused, for example, do not know whether to change your profession, then your task is to take action. Find free lessons and interviews with representatives of the field you are interested in on YouTube - do you like what they say? If yes, then move on, it may be worth getting trained in the chosen specialty and start looking for a job, going to interviews. Yes, even if you don’t have an offer for a cool job yet offer, you expand your horizons and meet new people who may have completely unexpected views. And it is in the process of activity (with the help of reflection) that at some point you will find that very goal.
How to increase the effectiveness of goal setting?
There are methods that are designed to help you set a goal for yourself, for example:
Goal tree. This is a visual embodiment of your global goal and smaller goals-steps that will help you achieve it.
Balance wheel. A diagram is a circle divided into sectors responsible for different areas of a person's life: health, family, work, etc. Each sector is filled in with colour or rated on a scale from 1 to 10 according to the degree of satisfaction. Such a visual embodiment of a person’s life gives him an understanding of what needs to be focused on and what goals to set in order to achieve success in a certain area.
SMART goals. The abbreviation denotes a set of properties that a goal must-have when you formulate it. Specific - specific, Measurable - measurable, Achievable - achievable, Relevant - consistent, Timebound - limited in time. By the way, there are different interpretations of the letter A in the abbreviation SMART. Most often it is translated as achievable or attainable - achievable, which means that when setting a goal, you must look at the world realistically. However, there is a second option - ambitious, ambitious. Sometimes our goals really lack the ambition and scope to be truly inspiring.
Two tips for successful goal setting
Write it down. The culture of keeping personal diaries somehow left our lives, preserved only in museums. In fact, it is very important to write down your thoughts and feelings, on the one hand, this helps you get rid of unnecessary thoughts, on the other hand, it makes it possible to analyze your actions and choose a direction for the development, and there it’s not far from the goal.
Feel free to contact a specialist. Helping professionals, such as a coach, career consultants, and psychotherapists, so far meet a wary attitude towards themselves in our society, but in vain. If you feel that it is psychologically difficult and you are not coping with goal setting, do not know where to start, contact a specialist who has expertise in solving such problems, there is nothing to worry about.
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