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?
Once you have established the "what" and the "why", you can move to the next step - the "who". As in, who do you need to be to make sure that goal happens? What sort of actions do you need to take? How will you know if you are really on track or if you are just kidding yourself? Are you becoming the person you need to become to achieve the goal? Or are you just hoping that you can be exactly as you are now and still achieve the goal?
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?
Achieving a goal is a process not an event. The problem is that people don't like processes - we like events! You see, we like to get an A+ on our Maths test, but we don't want to do the study and homework required (i.e. the process) to get the A+, we just want the event - the great score! We like the idea of looking fit and healthy but we don't like part where we have to eat well and exercise constantly. Do we? It all makes sense when you understand that we don't like the process - we just like the events.
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.
However, for those of us who make a choice to go through the process, the events are extra sweet. A top grade, getting into College, winning the Super Bowl, or running a four minute mile are all events that happened because the person made a decision and went through the process.
So what does this mean to us in terms of goal setting and goal achievement? Given that we now know that we don't like processes and we do like events, it makes a lot of sense that we may enjoy setting goals such as "I want an A average in all of my subjects" but we don't like doing the hard work to make sure that the goals actually happen. The process is hard and can be boring and tedious. We want the event (A average for every subject) not the hard work!
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!
Once you have established the "what" and the "why", you can move to the next step - the "who". As in, who do you need to be to make sure that goal happens? What sort of actions do you need to take? How will you know if you are really on track or if you are just kidding yourself? Are you becoming the person you need to become to achieve the goal? Or are you just hoping that you can be exactly as you are now and still achieve the goal?
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?
Achieving a goal is a process not an event. The problem is that people don't like processes - we like events! You see, we like to get an A+ on our Maths test, but we don't want to do the study and homework required (i.e. the process) to get the A+, we just want the event - the great score! We like the idea of looking fit and healthy but we don't like part where we have to eat well and exercise constantly. Do we? It all makes sense when you understand that we don't like the process - we just like the events.
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.
However, for those of us who make a choice to go through the process, the events are extra sweet. A top grade, getting into College, winning the Super Bowl, or running a four minute mile are all events that happened because the person made a decision and went through the process.
So what does this mean to us in terms of goal setting and goal achievement? Given that we now know that we don't like processes and we do like events, it makes a lot of sense that we may enjoy setting goals such as "I want an A average in all of my subjects" but we don't like doing the hard work to make sure that the goals actually happen. The process is hard and can be boring and tedious. We want the event (A average for every subject) not the hard work!
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 discovering the best studying tips available. We will help 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
No comments:
Post a Comment