Life planning actually is a guided route by which one takes stock of life, clarifies her / his goals, dreams, challenges and identifies the steps necessary to create the life she / he wants to live. Generally, one should address the following dimensions during life planning and goal setting:
1.Relationships with family members 2.Financial needs and resources 3.His / her career and job 4.Civic engagement 5.Community service 6.Affiliations with different groups 7.Status of friendships 8.Emotional and spiritual wellbeing 9.Learning and creativity 10.Physical health, nutrition and fitness 11.Recreation, and leisure 12.Travel preferences 13.Lifestyle 14.Housing
On the other hand, once a person have identified and evaluated the basic elements of life and career planning, she / he will be in a position to decide what he / she would like to do in life, what his / her skills are, where she / he want to go and decide on the type of work that suits her /him the best. In short, these steps are called goal settings.
In case one want to get good results that lead to tremendous achievement, happiness and success in life, she / he have to take powerful and effective action to achieve the dreams. One has to totally believe in own self, and no one can stop her / him from achieving the goals. We get many good opportunities in our lives, but only a few recognize the opportunity and take action.
Before planning for anything, one should be absolutely certain on the intentions in life, and keep those intentions in mind. For a career transition or setting up professional goals, identifying intentions is important. Ultimately, one will live better, work better and feel happier once the life is planned and goals are achieved.
Goal setting actually is very important in all aspects of life, whether in sports, at work or just setting up goals for daily lives. Goal setting provides a sense of direction of things to achieve and be focused in life. A proper life planning and through setting up goals and achieving them in future are two different things. Only if the goal is set properly, it can be achieved. Otherwise, it will make no sense.
Writing down the goals is very essential when one is set out to accomplish something. It is most likely that we get deviated away from our leading goals, and may even lose site of them. Setting effective goals and writing them down immediately will help o stay on track and accountable. It is a smart practice to write down every day goals on the refrigerator, the bulletin board at work, or even the personal planner, so that one is reminded of them on a daily basis.
In a life time, desires grow out every now and then; some we manage to fulfill, while some remain unfulfilled. Hence, goals should be more realistic, and must be set out carefully, with every bit of intention to achieve it. If this is ensured, success is bound to come.
In order to understand the process of setting personal goals, it is necessary to have a clear picture of the functioning of the mind. It can be thought of comprising of two parts- the conscious and the sub conscious mind. The responsibility of the conscious mind is to be aware of the current situations and it is the sub conscious mind that keeps all information regarding all other things. It is in the sub conscious mind that the personality of the person, the feelings, habits and thoughts are stored. The conscious-mind can be controlled. However, it takes a lot of effort and determination to reprogram and direct the sub conscious mind. In order to control it, smart personal goal should be set and there are some guidelines that are helpful in controlling the sub conscious-mind.
An important guideline of an effective goal-setting is that the goals should be set smartly. This means that the goals should be specific, measurable, attainable, rewarding and timely. If one neglects any one of the goals, they are bound to fail as the main force that drives one towards goals or holds one back, is the sub conscious mind. These set goals should be set in the subconscious mind and it should accept these goals. They are necessary criteria for the sub conscious mind.
Goals need to be specific
With the help of a specific goal, the aim is specific and one is able to know what one exactly wants from a particular thing. There should be some specific standards for achieving something. While making some specific goals it is important to write down the goals as it is an important part of goal-setting. If it is specific the chances of success is high.
Measurable
If one wants a goal to succeed it should be measured. The progress of the goal should be measured and there are some specific criteria that tell about the time in which is achieved and one can stop. One should feel the progress as it helps in staying focused and enjoy the progress of the goal.
Attainable
Attainable goals are one in which one can see a realistic path for achieving the goal and the roadblocks that may be there. However, this does not mean that if the aim is lower the chances of success is high. Each goal has a specific challenge and even if it is ambitious it is reachable. If it is achieved it gives a sense of achievement and is quite motivating.
Rewarding
If there is a clear reason of achieving a goal, then the rewards are sweeter. This is the time when one should have a goal of their own. The reasons of the goal and expected rewards should be clearly written and if possible visual pictures should be made.
Timely
The next requirement of setting goals is to have a time limit. This is am important part of sub conscious-mind. If a fixed time limit is set the subconscious mind will always keep saying the goal should be achieved. If a deadline is set it protects one from paying a price that is higher than the worth of the goal.
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