Set positive goals in your life

Set goals and stick to them!

Every New Year finds us inclined to promise changes to ourselves. Changing habits is not an easy task, which is why by February, 80% of us will have left behind the decisions we made for the new year. Why is self-improvement so challenging, despite our good intentions?

Goals are crucial in our lives.

Setting goals is one of the most important things in life because goal-setting, whether new or readjusting old ones, creates a positive mindset. It harnesses our internal strength, abilities, and skills towards achieving them. It is important to love what we do or at least enjoy it. When we love it, we don't get bored, and time passes without us realizing it.

Factors Influencing Our Goal Choices

Sometimes we set goals, and after pursuing them for a while, we become disappointed. This happens because we don't choose goals that we truly want to achieve, but rather goals influenced by other people, such as friends, relatives, and parents. At other times, we may start with a certain goal, but it changes along the way. There can be numerous factors that influence our goal choices, but the most significant ones are our adopted values from the adults surrounding us and the way we were raised.

How to make your goal:

1. Be specific and simple.

For example, aiming for a balance between personal and work life should be clear: "I will not check my email messages on weekends or after 6 PM."

Another example for successfully adjusting your diet: "I will not eat after 6 PM. I will only consume healthy beverages every two hours."

2. Be measurable.

It's essential to know when we've achieved a goal so that we can enjoy the satisfaction that will motivate us to continue. Instead of setting a goal like "exercise more," state it as: "I will be able to do push-ups at all levels without getting tired in twenty minutes.’’

3. Be achievable.

If we aim too high, we're likely to lose confidence and motivation quickly, leading to failure. If you've always struggled with saving money, it's unlikely you can suddenly set aside 25% of your income. Start with 5% first.

4. Be relevant to your interests.

Often, our goals are not achieved because, in reality, they don't interest us enough. Perhaps the goal we set is a result of societal or family pressure.

5. Have a specific time frame.

If you don't set a deadline for achieving your goal, you risk constantly postponing it. Always establish a time frame for a decision.

Remember to forgive yourself along the way when you don't succeed and enjoy the tremendous feeling of achievement and completion when all the hard work pays off."

Imagination helps us more easily identify our goal.

So, imagination. It will help us find the desired goal. Imagine that you are in a beautiful valley with a lake in the middle, surrounded by trees. As you move towards it, vivid images, sounds, and smells come to life. After enjoying the nature around you, focus your attention on the center of the lake, where suddenly a large daisy sprouted. You lightly raise your right foot and start floating in the air.

After making three circles above the daisy, you land on it and lie down on its yellow petals. Now, mentally create the scenario where you see your wildest dream, the one you love dearly and want to come true, unfolding before your eyes, and you fill yourself internally with a sense of fulfillment and happiness.

Our goal must be positive to improve our lives.

The goals we choose to set in our lives should be good for the broader social context, meaning they should not harm others in any way but instead inspire them. Some people today do not function collectively based on consciousness. With the goal of becoming wealthy and controlling the world, they destroy the environment, promote human exploitation, and lawlessness. Hitler's goal, for example, to conquer the world, sowed death and pain in millions of people.

Imagine those who chose very ambitious dreams and achieved them, for example, astronauts. They may not be many in the world, but whoever they are, they dreamed and visualized their goals before achieving them or inventors, scientists, artists and writers. Jules Verne envisioned the future. In his time, he was considered crazy, but history justified him.

Promoting the goal

It is not enough to just dream of a goal because we will remain forever in the dreamy level. We need to pave the way for its implementation. What does this mean? To find ways, means, and how we will get there. We need to explore, find the right people who know and can guide us correctly, find any information related to what we choose, and gradually start implementing it.

In our lives, of course, it is most likely that we will encounter many obstacles along the way. Each time, we need to envision our goals, and if the dream and passion are still there, look for new perspectives to see it again and find alternative solutions. To make this happen, it will take time and persistence, as well as flexibility to adapt to new conditions. Abraham Lincoln became the President of America after many failures in his political life. It is worth studying the stories of people who have achieved things in their lives. But what does success mean to you? Perhaps I'll leave you to dream about it, and we'll see it next time.