POSITIVE THINKING CHRONICLES :- CHAPTER FOUR

Ch. 04: 
Set Goals

This is a really crucial step that will help you to be successful in changing your negativity to a more positive mindset. When you set realistic goals it will help you to keep focused. 

Achieving a reachable goal will step-up your positive outlook. If you set a goal of making a million dollars in a month which most likely won’t happen it will only destroy the efforts you've made to be more positive.

Look Forward 
These basic tips are organized in a sequence that will support you from thinking of your goals to actually accomplishing them. These are only suggestions, take what you like and try it out for a while to see what works best for you. 

1. Utilize a journal to keep track of your goals journey where you may keep daily or weekly records of your advancement including affirmations, successes, appreciations for your hard work, reinforcements, resistances, obstacles, etc. Use your goals journal to write goals initially and to rescript them over time. Use it to break your goals into steps. Review your progress regularly and jot a few notes. 

2. Get yourself into a positive state before writing your goals: It’s truly crucial to get yourself into an inspired, positive and relaxed state before writing goals. A few ideas for getting yourself into a positive state include: Meditation, listening to inspiring music, reading something fun or amusing, watching a amusing movie, taking a walk in a naturally beautiful place, brisk exercise, reading or listening to an inspirational story, listening to motivational tapes, brisk exercise or prayer. 

3. Begin brainstorming: After getting into a good mental and emotional state, start your brainstorming. Write all potential goals quickly with no editing or criticism. You can review and prioritise later; right now you want to be as creative and grand in your vision as you are able to be. 

4. Areas of your life to consider for goal setting: Here are a number of potential areas of your life to consider when you're formulating your goals list: Career, financial, relationship, family, home, friends, personal development, wellness, appearance, possessions, fun and recreation, travel, spiritual, self-respect and service/community. Some types of goals include: personal development like emotional, mental, physical and spiritual. 

5. Goals time frames: Goals fall under varying time periods such: Immediate goals, 30 day goals, 6 month goals, 1 year goals, 5 years, 10 years or longer. Make certain you are able to accomplish what you want in the time frame you set. 

6. Here are 4 tips for writing effective goal statements: Say it like it’s already happened: When writing your goal, say it like it's already happened. Put your goals in words that presume that you already have accomplished them. For instance, "I now have a new silver BMW 4 door 2002 sedan." 

Utilize motivating language: To get you passionate, committed and motivated, add emotional language to your written goals. Here’s an instance "I utterly love and am excited about my beautiful new home in the hills" which is much more passionate than "I like my new home in the hills". 

Write specifically and in detail: as your subconscious manifests things literally, you want to write particular detailed goals. Use language that's clear in describing exactly what it is you want 

Author in positive terms instead of negative ones: Examples of positive statements may be: "I'm now free of the habit of smoking", or "I'm now a smoke-free individual". Negative examples may be: "I don’t smoke any longer" or "I’m not a smoker". 

7. Make sure they’re really your goals: Check in with yourself to make certain that you’re thinking of what you really want. Often we try to please others at our own expense. You won’t be successful trying to accomplish the goals your parents, spouse or other friends or relatives want for you. 

8. Be congruous in making goals: Consider your most crucial values and beliefs when forging your goals (e.g. honesty, security, integrity, freedom, responsibility, respect for others, love, leadership, etc.). For example if you value freedom, your goal may be to be self-employed. If security is what you value, you may want to work for the government where layoffs rarely occur. 

9. Pick out rational goals: select goals that you can really reach in a reasonable amount of time. An example of a rational goal might be: "I’m 55 years old and I want to sing opera with a local light opera performance group, a choir, or monthly recitals with my voice teacher’s students" (given of course that you have a good voice). An irrational goal might be: "I’m 55, I’ve never taken singing lessons, and I want to be a world class opera singer performing key roles with the New York Metropolitan Opera". It’s unlikely that anybody starting at the age of 55 could do this, even with an excellent voice and rigorous training. 

10. Prioritize your goals: After you’ve brainstormed, one way to prioritise is to put the highest priority goals at ten out of a possible ten points and the least important at 1 out of 10. Pick 3-7 of the goals with high numbers and center your efforts only on them for the next few months. Try not to pick too many goals to center on as this will dilute your energy and make it harder to get the results you want. 

11. Produce a step-by-step plan: Break each goal down into manageable blocks creating a step-by-step plan to achieve it. For instance, if you want a new car, first decide exactly what color, model, year, and brand you want. Write this down in your goals journal. Then write the particular steps you need to get to your goal like: Apply for a auto loan, look at and test drive different models, write affirmations, visualize yourself driving the car, and so forth.