Question without notice: What and why are you trying to accomplish in your life? Just think about it for a moment. What and why. This is a really key question for all of us. The first step in achieving an ambition is establishing what the ambition is and also understanding why you want to achieve it. Often we know what we want to achieve (like get better grades - especially in Math - or lose some weight) but we don't have the right reason to back it up. So, what is your goal and why do you want to achieve it?
At the next stage of goal setting we must ask ourselves not how are we going to achieve the goal but who do we need to become in order to achieve it? What specifically are the actions and mindset required to make the goal a reality? How does someone who has already achieved what we want to achieve act and behave? What values do they have? Are you being realistic in how you are going to achieve the goal you have set or will you just fumble through life hoping that by some happy accident all your dreams will come true?
Let's look at this another way. If you take no action each day how will your goal be achieved? If you don't take any steps to improve yourself, how will your goal be achieved? Can you goal happen by you continuing exactly the way you are? If not, what are you going to do about it? What improvements do you need to make?
As people, we love to focus on events - not the process. What do I mean by that? Well, we love to step on the scales and see that we are four pounds lighter than we were last week - we don't love the training and the dieting! Do we? We love to watch and experience the Super Bowl, we don't love to watch the hours of practise and drills the players go through to perfect their on-field systems which allows them to make it to the big game. We love events - not processes.
The same goes for our education. We all want to be smart and learned (I hope!) But going through each grade and passing each test and handing in each assignment and doing all our homework and getting good grades is really hard work.
Passing school is hard and getting good grades is even harder. But the rewards (i.e. events) along the way, such as getting a positive report card, serve to reinforce the desire and attitude required to go through the process to see the ultimate event happen. It's survival of the fittest. When events don't happen, or the event seems too far away and out of each, the process becomes too much to handle.
This is a significant distinction in terms of goal setting and goal achievement. Keeping in mind that because we love events and not processes, it stands to reason that we will struggle to achieve the goals we set for ourselves. Why? Well we don't want to go through the hard yards to make it happen. We just want the event - the goal being achieved! Make sense doesn't it?
So, if you are going to set a goal, you really need to understand what process you are going to have to go through to achieve it and make sure you are committed to it. The event is secondary; the process is what you are really committing yourself to. You must ask yourself, "What actions will I have to take every day to go through the process? Who will I need to be to go through the process?" If you can't answer that, you won't be able to achieve the goal you have set.
Goals don't just happen. They are clearly defined and then deliberately worked towards. You create an event (an A+ in Maths) and then you have to go through the process to get there. Focus on the process and the event will happen. Focus on the event (like everyone wants to) and nothing will happen. The choice is yours!
At the next stage of goal setting we must ask ourselves not how are we going to achieve the goal but who do we need to become in order to achieve it? What specifically are the actions and mindset required to make the goal a reality? How does someone who has already achieved what we want to achieve act and behave? What values do they have? Are you being realistic in how you are going to achieve the goal you have set or will you just fumble through life hoping that by some happy accident all your dreams will come true?
Let's look at this another way. If you take no action each day how will your goal be achieved? If you don't take any steps to improve yourself, how will your goal be achieved? Can you goal happen by you continuing exactly the way you are? If not, what are you going to do about it? What improvements do you need to make?
As people, we love to focus on events - not the process. What do I mean by that? Well, we love to step on the scales and see that we are four pounds lighter than we were last week - we don't love the training and the dieting! Do we? We love to watch and experience the Super Bowl, we don't love to watch the hours of practise and drills the players go through to perfect their on-field systems which allows them to make it to the big game. We love events - not processes.
The same goes for our education. We all want to be smart and learned (I hope!) But going through each grade and passing each test and handing in each assignment and doing all our homework and getting good grades is really hard work.
Passing school is hard and getting good grades is even harder. But the rewards (i.e. events) along the way, such as getting a positive report card, serve to reinforce the desire and attitude required to go through the process to see the ultimate event happen. It's survival of the fittest. When events don't happen, or the event seems too far away and out of each, the process becomes too much to handle.
This is a significant distinction in terms of goal setting and goal achievement. Keeping in mind that because we love events and not processes, it stands to reason that we will struggle to achieve the goals we set for ourselves. Why? Well we don't want to go through the hard yards to make it happen. We just want the event - the goal being achieved! Make sense doesn't it?
So, if you are going to set a goal, you really need to understand what process you are going to have to go through to achieve it and make sure you are committed to it. The event is secondary; the process is what you are really committing yourself to. You must ask yourself, "What actions will I have to take every day to go through the process? Who will I need to be to go through the process?" If you can't answer that, you won't be able to achieve the goal you have set.
Goals don't just happen. They are clearly defined and then deliberately worked towards. You create an event (an A+ in Maths) and then you have to go through the process to get there. Focus on the process and the event will happen. Focus on the event (like everyone wants to) and nothing will happen. The choice is yours!
About the Author:
HelpMeToStudy.org is the premier resource for learning new study skills, changing your study habits and finding the best studying tips available. We will help you change the way you think about study - and even better - we will show you how to study effectively: How To Study Effectively | How To Set Goals
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