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3 Areas You Can Apply the Science of Goal Setting to Improve Its Effectiveness

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Did you know there are currently 9,996 results for goal setting on Amazon right now? Crazy, right? By now, goal setting should be something we understand. Every motivational speaker has taught us that the first step to success is setting goals. The process is almost always the same. Figure out what you want, write down your goals and get after it.

But if goal setting is that simple, why do we need almost ten thousand different ways to tell us how to do it? Isn’t there one right way? Fortunately, the world is filled with scientists who don’t really believe in positive self-talk. In fact, they are so skeptical, they performed scientific experiments to figure out whether goal setting works, and how to improve it.

Before you panic, the findings were good. It turns out, if you are setting goals, you are setting yourself up for success. However, we should be interested in that second part. How can we use science to improve the way we set goals?

It turns out there are 3 different areas we can apply the science of goal setting to improve our effectiveness:

1. Setting Intentions

What many of us class as goals are actually intentions. We would like something to happen, but never develop these ideas into fully fledged goals. To create goals, we need to come up with a more defined approach to achieving them. However, the starting point is always intentions.

Understanding how intentions are formed helps you understand why you might be deciding the goals you set for yourself. There are three elements that contribute to intentions:

1. Values – What is important to you will influence your goals. If health is important to you, setting a goal to run a marathon wouldn’t be a surprise. Winning a cheesecake eating competition might be more surprising as it is incongruent with your values. Goals aligned with our values are more likely to be followed up, especially long-term. Goals that fall short of accomplishment often just aren’t that important to us, and at the first sign of resistance, we tend to get frustrated or give up. Clarity around your values will help you identify great goals.

2. Peer Network – The people whose opinions you value will directly impact the challenges you set. If you grew up surrounded by businesspeople, you are far more likely to have them encouraging you to be entrepreneurial. You don’t have to go through with it, but sometimes, peer pressure can be extremely useful. Unfortunately, peer pressure can work in the opposite direction as well. Your friends are all broke? Every relationship in your family ended in divorce? This shouldn’t stop you setting the right goals for yourself, but maybe you also need to think about creating a more supportive peer network.

3. Self Belief – How much do you think you can earn this year? How many more clients could you attract to your business next month? Your self-belief will affect how high you aim your sights. Aim high, but believe in yourself to accomplish these dreams by conditioning and working on your self-efficacy levels. Roger Bannister first broke the 4-minute mile at a time when everyone (other than him) thought it was impossible. As soon as he broke through that glass ceiling, others started to believe too. Your beliefs about yourself will limit how high you set your goals.

“Set your goals high, and don’t stop till you get there.” – Bo Jackson

2. Moderating Factors

Once we are clearer on our intentions, additional factors impact how successful we are with our goals. Our commitment level will determine whether we follow through when things get tough. If the goal is important, and we believe in our ability to succeed, we are more resilient and creative when our progress slows. When we start on an important path, there will be hurdles, and it is commitment that keeps us in the game.

Feedback is essential to success. Feedback isn’t always pleasant, but how we react will determine whether we are on track for our goals or falling away from our proper path. Find a way to get external feedback from people you trust, and don’t hide away from it when it gets more constructive.

Finally, ensure the goal is challenging, but not too far out of reach. Extravagant goals are great as long-term ambitions, but we need to break down goals into manageable, yet challenging action steps. If we don’t do this, we will either be overwhelmed by our bigger goals or bored by our smaller goals. Make each step of the journey equally rewarding and challenging.

“Stay focused, go after your dreams and keep moving toward your goals.” – LL Cool J

3. Follow Through Behaviour

Lastly, we will never achieve our goals unless we follow through with the action steps. If you don’t have a defined path to success, it is often easy to appear to be busy, when in reality, your efforts are not focused. Instead, think about how to concentrate your efforts, like a magnifying glass focuses the sun, and stay working hard on that one track.

One thing that reduces follow-through behaviour is lack of self-efficacy. We need to believe in ourselves. We need to know we are destined for success and it will come. For some, that journey is quicker than others, so don’t get disheartened when others around you are crushing it.

You don’t know their journey and the effort they put in behind the scenes. Focus on you. Be better than yesterday, model people, reward your smallest successes, play your favourite music on full volume, then go out and be awesome.

If you read the goal setting science papers, maybe their language is a little less colourful, but ultimately, every single one of the goal setting tips has scientific research to back it up. If you want to read it, drink some strong coffee, head over to Google Scholar and then type in ‘goal setting’. Alternatively, trust these steps, set your goals now, and make today the day you accelerate your success!

How do you use goal setting to find success? Comment below!

Image courtesy of Twenty20.com

I am Dan Storey from UK .I have worked in and around the world of Motivational seminars for many years, starting as a volunteer and affiliate before heading up one of the UK’s biggest personal development seminar companies. I have been training NLP to business and sales people for over 10 years and the author of next level persuasion. I am currently Working towards MSC in Behavioural Psychology and constantly trying to figure out why we do what we do.

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Success Advice

Mastering Self-Management for Success: Lessons From Peter F. Drucker

With careers no longer following a straight, predictable path, self-awareness and adaptability are essential for success.

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In today’s dynamic professional world, self-management has become increasingly important. With careers no longer following a straight, predictable path, self-awareness and adaptability are essential for success. (more…)

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How to Ignite the Spark Within for Future Success

All of us come to this world with our own reserve of magic unfortunately, not everyone can unleash it

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What is it that makes some people great leaders while others remain followers? What magic do they have that others don’t? What special blessing gives them the power to bring significant change?  (more…)

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How Your Beliefs Can Supercharge or Sabotage Your Success

Your life is dictated by beliefs and biases that drive your thinking, behaviors, and decisions

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Pause for a moment and ponder two pandemic-era beliefs: First, closing schools will control the spread of a serious virus. Second, the consequences of such school closures—particularly social interruption and the prevention of immunity—are worse than becoming sick with the virus. (more…)

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How to Break the Cycles of Mediocrity and Manifest Your Greatness

There is no greatness without becoming and there is no becoming with authenticity

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Image Credit: Midjourney

In just a few weeks, we will be wrapping up 2023. Can you believe it? This year has been absolutely incredible for me.

I have seen amazing doors opened, new relationships formed and I am seeing dreams realized in my life. While this seems like the hallmarks of a great year, this has also been the most challenging year of my life. With all of the change happening in my life, I have been forced out of my comfort zone and challenged to grow in every area of my life.

I can truly say that I have made the most of my moments this year and I have used everything as a catalyst for maximizing my greatest potential.

As a revolutionary leader, I have the pleasure of consulting and advising leaders around the world to fulfill purpose, realize their greatest potential and make an impact.

I want to share some insights with you that will help you to break cycles of mediocrity and manifest your greatness

Everything legal must come through the matrix

I am sure that some of you are wondering why I am using the term matrix. However, what you have to understand is that I am trying to make a highly complex spiritual principle practical to understand.

Regardless of your spiritual beliefs, every life has an origin and I believe that origin is divine and begins with eternity. You are birthed from eternity and into time to fulfill a unique purpose and assignment in your lifetime and generation.

The matrix is simply the portal or vehicle that brings something out of the invisible realm and into tangible form. The problem with much of the teaching today is that it excludes the matrix. We are told to believe that success is instantaneous and overnight.

Nobody talks about how a dream progresses through stages beginning with visualization and ultimately culminating in manifestation. Without a matrix or portal then everything that you attempt to birth and build will be illegal.

The matrix not only makes you legal but it gives you the authority and power to function as the greatest expression of who you were created to be. 

Every matrix has an incubation process

While many people admire and respect me today, I remember a time when nobody knew who I was or the significance of my message. How did I get to where I am today? I got here through an incubation process.

In other words, everything that has been destined for your life is incubating and awaiting a set time of manifestation. The problem is that most people live their entire lives idle and never initiate the incubation process.

What do I meany by that? Most people are living reckless and very few people are living intentionally. I am amazed at the number of people I have conversations with that have no vision, goals or strategies for their lives. They show great promise and they have undeniable potential.

However, without development they will die with their dreams still in them.

Everything that has been destined for your life must be incubated and converted to become realities born to time. 

“Visualize this thing that you want, see it, feel it, believe in it. Make your mental blueprint and begin to build.” – Robert Collier

You must give expression to that which is not yet born to time

When you think about a matrix or a prophetic incubation process, you have to understand that potential is often unrealized and untapped. In other words, your potential is in raw form and your potential cannot serve you as long as it is untapped.

The thing that makes me valuable is that I have the ability to convert potential into power. I have done it in my own life and I have empowered leaders around the world to do the same. How do you convert potential into power?

First, it is important to note that you have to perceive potential. If you cannot perceive your potential then you can never cultivate your potential. In addition, you must take the time to cultivate your potential. We often get excited about our capabilities; however, we never expand our capacity in order to realize our greatest potential.

In other words, the strength of your potential is only discovered through your willingness to stretch. The more we are challenged the more we are empowered to expand our capacity for greatness. Most of all, you must begin to express your potential. The expression of potential is different for every person.

For example, the expression of my potential is best demonstrated through the thoughts, ideas, products, services, books, etc.

For another person the expression of potential may look like a screenplay, artwork, sports, scientific discoveries, medical breakthroughs, etc.

Regardless of the form of expression, I know that you will live empty and unfulfilled until you make the decision to express your potential. The expression of your potential gives voice to your dreams, life to your vision, significance to your moments and activates your true power.

You must manifest your greatness

As a revolutionary thinker and leader, my work has impacted people around the world. I am grateful that my life is a source of empowerment to so many people. However, before anyone could ever benefit from my life, I had to make a non-negotiable decision to become who I was born to be.

I wish I could tell you that this journey is easy and that you will get there overnight. However, in a world that celebrates us for doing we are often criticized for being. As a result, I wasted a lot of time trying to be who other people wanted me to be instead of being who I was born to be.

There is no greatness without becoming and there is no becoming with authenticity. It is through our bravery to be vulnerable that we ultimately manifest our greatness. We do not bless the world by being a duplicate. We bless the world when we honor our difference. When you honor your difference you honor your potential.

Ultimately, your difference is how you manifest your greatness.

When you present anything but your authentic self to the world, you are playing small and you are robbing the world of your significance. Manifesting your greatness requires you to master your gifts.

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