A goal without a plan is nothing more than a wish. Conversely, a careful plan built around a wish becomes a powerful goal that can motivate you to achieve more than you ever thought you could. Since half of the work of building a house is creating the blueprint, try to think of a goal as a blueprint for a dream.
Vision Goal Setting
Vision goal setting is a process whereby you begin with inspiration based on your passion and translate that into long-term, medium-term and short-term goals based on specific objectives, according to performance psychologist Jim Taylor. Mindtools.com advises setting long-term goals for your entire life in all major areas of importance to you--career, education, money, relationships and health, for example. Organizations can take a similar approach to goal-setting. The advantages of vision goal-setting is that the goals it produces are comprehensive and interrelated, and that they harness your passions so that they can be translated into achievements.
Types of Goals
Taylor divides goals into five types--vision goals, mission statements, yearly goals, project goals and weekly goals. Vision goals are general long-term goals; mission statements summarize an individual or an organization's basic philosophy, values and identity; yearly goals are medium-term goals that are more concrete than vision goals; project goals are detailed, step-by-step goals geared towards the completion of a specific task; and weekly goals are short-term goals designed to support project or yearly goals. Take all of these types into account when formulating your goals, but don't be afraid to modify the categories to suit your temperament and circumstances.
Goal Guidelines
The SMART goal-setting model can help you formulate individual goals, according to the University College for the Creative Arts. SMART goals are Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant and Time-Specific. An example of a SMART goal would be "Run 10,000 meters in 39 minutes or less by November 15," assuming that this is realistic given your current physical condition. This goal will be relevant only if it is personally meaningful to you, however.
Positive Goal Statements
Your success will depend in part on how you formulate your goal statement. You should formulate your goals in positive terms whenever possible, according to Mindtools.com. This means that you should frame your goals as the accomplishment of something positive rather than the avoidance of something negative. Even an intrinsically negative goal such as quitting smoking could be embedded into a larger program of positive physical fitness.
Feedback and Rewards
In addition to setting detailed goals, keep track of your progress to provide yourself with motivating "accomplishment feedback." Write your goals in a journal, break them down into sub-goals that each have measurable benchmarks and deadlines, and take note whenever you achieve a sub-goal. Find a way of rewarding yourself every time you achieve a sub-goal. Make sure to reward yourself in a manner that doesn't undermine your goal--don't reward yourself with a banana split, for example, for losing 5 lbs.
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