Intentional Goal Setting

Are your goals or target objectives easily attainable? Do you have goals that simply don’t challenge you? If you answered yes to these questions I am sorry to tell you that you are not growing because you are too comfortable and not uncomfortable enough. 

When it comes to making goals that help you in the long run, it’s important to ensure that they are progressive. By this, we mean that they should be lofty, illogical, not so easy to reach. Your goals should stretch you beyond your comfort zone.

Your targets, goals, and objectives should be like a muscle, you must work them regularly in order to see results. Which means like a muscle you will become sore, uncomfortable, discouraged, yet you must push through in order to see results and ultimately hit your target. 

Let’s look at this (5) step process to see if you are on track with pursuing you goals relentlessly:

Step 1. Think About What Matters Most

Before you jump into any huge goal setting strategies, you must discover and commit to your WHY. It is important to think about what matters most to you, and no one else. It is you WHY that will force you to continue even during those times you are not motivated to do so. 

Many people start off by looking at their goals from a monetary perspective, only to find that in some cases they are still unfulfilled or unhappy even with more money. Therefore money should not be part of your “why”. Your goals should be connected to your passion, your purpose, your strong burning desire. 

Step 2. Think Long-Term, Plan Short-Term

It’s cool to think long term, Thinking long term will allow you to see the big picture. However, you must leave room for flexibility. Life happens, you may get derailed or have to pivot. With that being said, be mindful that the plan may change, but never the goal. 

For this reason, it can be very effective to plan short-term goals that are centered around your long-term thinking. Each short-term goal, achieved one by one, brings you closer to what you want in the long term.

Step 3. Use Key Results

Each task, objective, or goal should produce a result. The goal should be S.M.A.R.T.  an acronym for specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and timely. Having measurable results within a specific time lets you know if you are on the right track. 

If you are not seeing results within a specified amount of time then perhaps you need to revamp your course of action, or change your strategy. No goal setting is complete without key results. Key results are steppingstones to your goals.

For example; if you have a goal of saving six thousand dollars within six months – what are the actual key results? What are the moves you take? What do you do in order for this to happen?

For example, Let’s say you look at your results at around month (3) and realize that you only have $2500 dollars saved when you should have $3000 saved. Here is where you would need to “do something” perhaps increase savings in order to still hit your target, or perhaps extend the target date. 

Having a goal is great, but each goal you have should contain key results. So therefore you will know if you are on track or not. 

Step 4. Go for the GUSTO

Someone once said if your goals don’t scare you then you are aiming too low. Many people are so focused on the small details, which keeps them aiming too low and still missing the mark. 

Setting goals that are major only makes you stronger because you will discover that you will stretch yourself, push yourself, encourage yourself to press beyond your area of comfortability. In addition, having grand, lofty goals will increase your mental fortitude. 

With that being said, you mustn’t  take failure seriously. Any and all successful people have failed multiple times on their journey. Failure is not a personal reflection of  you or your  abilities, it’s just a part of the process.

Each time you write down a goal, think to yourself, “Is this the best I can do?”

Step 5. Think Ahead

Aggressive and progressive goals will always require you to think ahead and outside the box. Understandably, sometimes you cannot think about all the outcomes of a particular situation, but you can still plan for some events that can change or unfortunate possibilities that don’t benefit you. 

Thinking ahead will allow you to account for specific situations and make room for contingency plans. Also you will be able to recognize goals or actions that are not beneficial, and in this way, will help you to make more actionable goals. When planning or thinking ahead, the process does not have to come to a complete STOP but simply and slow down or a pivot.

Trust the process, work the process, and allow the process to work for you.

There are times in life that we are expected to show up be present, responsible and accountable. In all actuality that’s what we are supposed to do as good citizens, and high functioning adults.

We are expected to be respectful, kind, and courteous. Take care of our families, make an honest living and do good in the world. We should be practicing total self care everyday and everyday.

Total self care encompasses mental, physical, emotional , spiritual, social and financial. I am Including “ financial” as part of total self care is truly my opinion. I honestly believe that having a pulse on our your finances is part of our self care because our finances is a means to survival.

If we have a healthy insight of our finances it makes us feel empowered or in some instances just the opposite. Learning about our finances could be devastating and debilitating for some of us once we finally have a clear realistic understanding of our true networth.

At any rate finances is a topic I will take a deeper dive into at another time on a different post. However it is still a part of our self care.

With all the showing up we are expected to do in this life there are some things we should not show up for. We must condition ourselves to be a THERMOSTAT and not a THERMOMETER 

We can not change others behavior towards us however we are in total control of how we respond to theirs

The more we grow, evolve, and continuously raise our vibration there will always be negative people places and things attempting to deter, derail or place resistance in our paths. Our self care should always take priority over anything or anyone.

We all should be striving to live a life of fulfillment and purpose. A life that’s meaningful. However on this journey we will undoubtably be provoked, persecuted, and scorn. But guess what, we do not have to accept the invitation to any of these low frequency attempts to distract us.

We have the ability to choose to NOT SHOW UP!

I truly believe the MASTERY of self is a lifelong journey. As long as we are seeking GROWTH we will forever be evolving.
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However, each level, each realm we elevate to is bittersweet. I say bittersweet because in order to move forward or upward we have to face some ugly truths about ourselves before we can embrace a new level.
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Self care is more than women going to get pampered for a day at the spa, or a man purchasing a new toy. Self care involves different variations that will ultimately coexist and align with one another. Self-care encompasses mental, emotional, spiritual, and definitely physical.

The physical aspect of self care for me is cycling. I started cycling six years ago. I was at a very low place going through a very dark time. With raising two children I had to find a way to redirect this downward spiral. To avoid taking a deep dive into depression I decided to get on a 15 year old bike that I had in the garage .

Needless to say I never got off. Surely, I am not the same cyclist I was six years ago. I’ve grown a lot, covered much territory, completed countless cycling events; and yes gained a few more bikes along the way. The one thing that remained the same over six years is my love for pushing pedals.

Find something you love to do that makes you “move something “ and never let it go

Peace Until Next Time

It is a PROCESS and even when you don’t see it, if you are working you are making PROGRESS. I’m the meantime…get PREPARED. Act as if you already have it.

Many of us HOPE FOR, WISH FOR, and PRAY FOR things in our lives but only a few of us are actually “prepared to receive it simply for not being PREPARED in mind, body, spirit.