Goal Setting Ideas

Everybody wants something. Perhaps you want a new car, a different career or a stronger marriage. Whether your desires are tangible, like a bigger house, or intangible, like losing 20 pounds, you won't get what you want until you do something to make it happen. Success happens when you make your desires into goals and plan to achieve them.

Brainstorm

You probably want lots of things out of life, but if you haven't written them down, they will fly in and out of your mind at random. Brainstorming will help you put your desires on paper, where they can't slip away. On the top of a sheet of paper, write "What would I want if I knew I would definitely get it?" Commit to writing for five minutes, and don't let your pen stop during that time. Write every thought that comes to mind, no matter how silly or unrealistic it sounds. If you run out of ideas before five minutes, write anything, even if it seems like gibberish or rewrite an earlier answer using different words. Don't judge your answers as you write or you may find yourself with writer's block.

Prioritize

Brainstorming gives you the raw data, but prioritizing turns your wants into an organized list of goals. Keith Ellis, author of "The Magic Lamp: Goal Setting for People Who Hate Goal Setting," recommends using a process called bubble sorting. Look at the first two desires on your list and decide which is more important to you. Then compare that to the next item and choose the most important, and so on until you reach the end of your list. Write your most important goal on a new sheet of paper labeled "Top Ten Goals", then return to your brainstorming results. Do the bubble sort process on your remaining desires to come up with your second most important goal and write that down in the number two spot of your "Top Ten Goals." Repeat the process until your top ten list is complete.

Be Specific

Rewrite each of your goals with as much detail as possible. If you want to lose weight, how much do you want to lose and by when? If you want a better relationship with your kids, think about how that would feel, look and sound. By creating specific goals, you give yourself the ability to track your progress and something concrete on which to focus your thoughts and energy. When you know exactly what you want, you'll start to notice information, resources and people that can help you achieve your goals.

Set Deadlines

Set milestones and deadlines for your goals to keep you on track and help you measure your success. A deadline shouldn't provoke panic; it's meant to help you focus. So keep your expectations realistic. If you want to lose 20 pounds, plan to lose a pound a week over 6 months instead of losing 20 pounds in six weeks. Setting unrealistic goals sets you up for failure.

Make It Emotional

Set goals for what you want, not what you don't want. For example, instead of "I don't want to be broke," you could set a goal that reads "I want to save $50,000 within five years." To make your goal even more powerful, add some emotion to it. You could say "I want to happily save $50,000 within five years." As you work toward your goal, really feel the joy or happiness and you'll work even harder.