Tuesday, June 14, 2005

3 Reasons Why Goal Setting Never Works For You

by Peter Murphy

Although goal setting is fundamental to achieving greater
success and happiness, most people make the same goal
setting mistakes.

Here are the three mistakes that can prevent you from
having the success and happiness you deserve:


1. Setting goals that do not inspire you

This is the biggest mistake I see people making. Instead of
setting a goal to live in their dream home they instead aim
a little lower and hope to pay the rent on time next month.

This is a mistake because paying bills will never inspire
you to get up early and stay up late. Getting by does not
require you to be all you can be and in fact it tires you
and leaves you feeling exhausted at the end of each day.

2. Trying to use money as a motivator

A related mistake is focusing on money. It´s hard to get
excited about numbers on a financial statement. Your
intelligence will not let you work harder for the sake of
improving a list of numbers.

People who get a lot done rarely work just for the money.
They have inspiring reasons to improve their lives and they
use money as a tool to get things done and to get what they
want. Money itself is not the ultimate goal.

3. Avoiding regular progress reviews

The vast majority of people set goals once a year in
January, forget about them and repeat the process 12 months
later. This is a recipe for failure.

Unless you review your goals and measure your progress or
lack of it there is no way you can correct a lack of action
or identify actions that are taking you further from your
goals.

The failure to plan leads to poor results while the failure
to track your progress leads to frustration and the false
hope that your dreams will come true.

What is the solution?

1. Set bigger goals that excite you, goals that you can
see, hear and touch in your mind´s eye. Then, imagine these
goals as real. This makes it much easier to hold in mind
what you want and to make your dreams come true.

2. Aim to get things that exist in the world and to enjoy
time with people you care about - use money as a
facilitator that enables you to make these goals happen.

Keep your attention on the ultimate end results and staying
motivated become much easier. e.g. a beautiful home and
happy family rather than a million bucks in the bank.

3. Finally, on a weekly and monthly basis track your
progress against your most important goals. Unless you
measure and assess your effectiveness you have no
opportunity to adjust your approach when you are off track.

Objectively notice what you are doing well and what you are
neglecting. Then make improvements to your approach as
required.

Now, stop using goal setting the wrong way and start
enjoying more success with these three powerful solutions
to the most common goal setting mistakes.

Peter Murphy is a peak performance expert.
He recently produced a very popular free report that
reveals how to crush procrastination and sustain lasting
motivation. Apply now because it is available for a
limited time only at:
http://www.getmotivatedstaymotivated.com/special.htm

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