As the year comes to a close, and we reflect on the successes of 2016, we must also pay attention to where we may have fallen short. Perhaps 2016 was filled with challenges and you are ready to re- evaluate and plan for greater in 2017. Or maybe, 2016 was “your year” and you are looking forward to continuing to shine in 2017. Whatever the case, it is now more important than ever to channel our energy and focus on designing our destiny. The recent election has left many of us with feelings of confusion, despair, and intense disappointment. Entering this New Year, we need to be intentional in setting our goals and designing the life of our dreams. In this article I will show you how to set powerful goals that you can achieve in 2017.
As a Certified Dream Coach®, in order to set powerful goals that are achievable, I suggest that you take some time to research the dreams you have to find out how to best approach setting goals. You do want to challenge yourself some but you don’t want to make the goals so hard that you consistently experience failure. To ensure maximum success, make sure that your goals meet the following criteria.
Match Your Core Values
The more any goal fits into one of the four main areas of life – Family, Financial, Physical or Personal – the more likely you are to be able to set a realistic goal that you can achieve. If a goal for some reason doesn’t fit into one of your core values, it’s not likely you’ll experience much success.
Be 100 Percent in Control
While goals that rely on others aren’t wrong, they are harder to achieve. Any goal that you control 100 percent is a goal that you can reach. Do ensure that you’re not letting fear get in your way or blaming fate for your failures. Self-limiting beliefs can get in your way on this one. Be realistic about whether or not you have control and give yourself more credit. For example if you think you do not have control over your financial future because “that’s just how it is,” you are mistaken and need to eliminate this line of thinking.
Be Able to Envision the Goal
If you can’t see the end result, it will be very difficult to move forward toward achieving the goal. If you need to draw a picture, make a vision board, or take a day out to fantasize about your big dreams and see how they all fit together in the big picture of your life, do so. You need to see the end to be able to truly achieve it.
Be Spelled Out Specifically
Every goal you make needs to be very specific in nature. If you really want to be sure to reach the goal, you have to know when you reached it. Instead of saying “I want to start a business,” state exactly what type of business you want to start, who you want to be your clients, and other information that makes the goal more concrete.
Be Measurable
At which point have you achieved the goal? If you can’t give a number or something that is measureable, then you won’t have a real goal. If you want to use the business example, you might include that you want to earn x amount of dollars each week by a certain date and then how and why you are going to do it.
Be Actionable
To achieve any goal there has to be steps that you can take to get there. Like using a map to reach a destination that you want to go to on vacation, you need to draw a map to your vision of success with the steps and paths you’ll take along the way. Put not only what but when, and how you’ll accomplish the step.
Be Realistic
You don’t want to write a goal that is too hard to achieve or worse, impossible. Be sure that it’s scientifically possible to do it by researching everything realistically. For example, you’re not likely going to start a business today and earn six figures by tomorrow or even the first year in business. Look at the research and determine what is doable and how you’ll do it.
Be Timely
Every goal has to have a time limit otherwise you may never achieve it. Start with the end and work your way back to today, creating the list of things to do each day to finally reach the end result. But, do set a time limit. You can adjust as you get into the project if it works to be more realistic, but resist the urge to change the time because you’re not sticking to your task lists.
This is a proven method that can help you in creating powerful goals that you can achieve in 2017 and beyond. It has been said that a goal is a dream with a deadline, perhaps you may have to adjust your time line for your goals but don’t give up! The important thing is to give each goal a lot of thought, consideration and study before setting it. Go through the steps, commit to your goal, and work your plan! Looking forward to hearing about your successes, in 2017.
