Monthly Archives: July 2011

Goal Setting and You – The Benefits

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Goal setting is a powerful motivational tool that will aid you in achieving your goals. With today’s technology, writing your goals on a piece of paper seems old fashioned, and it is deemed much more sophisticated to write these on your computer using online tools. Goal setting in this manner will allow you to track your goals no matter where you are.

It’s important that you set the correct goals. Start by identifying the things that you want to happen in your life. This process will be the basis of your goal setting. The only rule to follow is that goals need to be clear, precise, realistic, measurable, attainable and timely.

Some of the benefits of goal setting are the following:

  1. Framework. Defining your goals will lead you to an accomplished life. When you start writing your goals, whether in bullet forms or well-structured sentences, you will feel a different sense of commitment. The result is your action plan, a guide that will make life more fulfilling for you – personal and work wise.
  2. Focus on Important Things. Life is full of distractions. If you have set your goals, you will know how to handle distractions. You will be able to filter the important issues that you need to address versus the ones that you need to let go. This lessens your stress or anxiety.
  3. Right Attitude. Setting goals is about life improvement. Or career improvement, if it’s about your job. Once you have decided on a plan, it will serve as your road map to a can do attitude. You will realize that along the way, you will do your best to reach your objectives to the best of your ability. And this creates the right attitude – “can do” attitude.
  4. Time Management. Goal setting is also about priorities. You will identify the things that are primarily important to you. From this, you’ll be able to come up with a time plan that will guide you in your day-to-day activities. It’ll lead you to doing more and more productive things. And you will know which activities are only wastes of time.
  5. Determination. With goal setting, you will be more determined than ever. This is coming from acquiring the right attitude. Once you have that “I can do this!” philosophy, you will have that strength to pursue your goals, you objectives, your ambitions in life. Quite honestly, nothing would be impossible for you.

Yes, these things are easier said than done. Well, the great news is that there are a lot of help along the way. One is by using an online tool to set your goals that will keep you inspired, motivated, organized and even interacting with other people who are also on their journey to achieving their goals. An example of a goal setting tool is Solid Goals.

Solid Goals is a great tool that is often times termed as the place where goals are achieved. Its user-interface helps its members fulfill the goals that they set. The best part is that it’s FREE to use! So sign up today and be on your way to achieving your goals!

Tips For Training For A Marathon

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Training for a marathon successfully requires careful preparation and goal setting irrespective of your ability or how old you are. Experts strongly recommend giving yourself a preparation time of at least three to four months prior to the event and this time period holds good for those who are strong runner and average around 20 miles or more a week.

Experienced and professional marathon runners also need time to prepare themselves even if they clock in the miles. There are a few training principles and efficient goal setting processes that can help you establish a solid running base. You need to know which level you are at: beginner, intermediate or advanced before you start training for a marathon.

Some of the main items that should be a part of your preparation list before you start training for a marathon are a good pair of running shoes, focus on rehydration, getting adequate nutrition, a proper training plan, etc. to work on increasing your overall levels of fitness.

Ideally, all marathon runners need to train 5 days a week. The two days off are a period of rest and recuperation and you can also use these forty eight hours to carry out a thorough assessment of your progress. This period is the time for the body to recuperate and recover and helps prevent injuries caused due to overstrain. To make the most of your training schedule and to make it as pleasurable and rewarding as possible, there are a few key components of the marathon training schedule for first-time marathon runners, intermediate endurance athletes, and experienced distance runners.

Nutrition is important

Athletes as well as novices need to watch what they eat. Your carbohydrates intake is important because your body will need them to cope with the strain before, during, and after the long training sessions that you put it through. So, you need to ensure that your carbohydrate stores are always good. You can monitor it by creating a nutrition sheet with the daily carbohydrate intake per day that is recommended for a runner at your level.

Give yourself sufficient time

Your ability and your fitness levels decide your training time. Overtraining leads to burnout and exhaustion. There is no point in pushing yourself till the last minute and hours before the race because your body needs to be in peak condition right before the race.

Vary the intensity of the marathon training program

You need to have peaks and troughs in the intensity of your training program. Start building your strength and pace gradually during one week and then rough it out the next week to avoid over-training. This process is known as ‘periodization.’

Novices with absolutely no recent running experience need at least a month of planning to build up on their running mileage slowly and gradually. They should keep a dairy of some sort to track their progress and set goals. The programs at the intermediate and advanced levels can be shorter because people already have a good running base to start with.

The Impact of Goal Setting Towards a More Fulfilling Life

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Goal setting contains the elements of fun and fulfilment. Are you surprised to know about that statement? Have you been setting goals all your life and still end up having a difficult time sticking to them? Struggles in setting and meeting your goals only take place when you allow them to have control over yourself. You may say, ‘Easier said than done.’ Yes, setting a goal may be hard, but definitely it IS possible and attainable!

Setting your goals is not meant to be tough. Rather, it implies pleasure from doing what you wish to achieve in life. In the first place, reaching your vision and getting your desires should result into passion and zeal, instead of resistance and negativity. If you sense yourself being resistant and negative about it, free your mind from any thoughts and focus on your goal alone. How strong is your desire to accomplish that target? Answering this simple question can bring you back in the game and move on to reach the finish line.

Truths About Goal Setting
In order to see results in the goals that you set, it is wise to know of the facts about this seemingly challenging yet fulfilling task.

  • The goals that work best are those that are specific and realistic. Take it from the experts; successful people became who they were because they pointed out specific as well as realistic goals. “I’m going to plant a tree tomorrow” is a better and more realizable goal than saying, “I’m going to help in preserving the environment.”
  • Achieving results from your goal may take time. When you set a goal, you cannot expect to see instant results. Things that you don’t usually do will take time before you get the habit of doing it. You already have a regular routine; adding at least one activity will have your brain go through adjustments. Patience is necessary in goal setting.
  • Reminding yourself of your goal allows you to stick to it. Saying your goal over and over again will help you be reminded of what you want as well as what you are striving for. If you are comfortable about writing your goal, grab your journal and write it down. Each time you do these things, you are helping yourself to actually make it happen.
  • Gratify others and fail in your goal. Although a goal may be rooted from or inspired by someone, see to it that you set your goal because you simply want it, not because somebody wants you to. People may have the power to influence you but you have the option to make the final decision. Staying on track and keeping your goal may be impossible if you are doing it out of obligation.
  • Encountering obstacles does not suggest failure. While in the process of reaching your goals, slip-ups are a possibility. Those can be hindrances but should not be allowed to stop you from succeeding your goal. Treat each of them as part of the process and use them at your benefit. Everyone commits mistakes but only some choose to learn from them. Better become one of these few people and find satisfaction in achieving your goal.
  • Tell people of your goal and become more encouraged to fulfill it. Sharing your goal to other people may encourage you to work more on it. In fact, you can receive tips from other successful individuals on how they conquered goal setting and made it goal possible.

Similar to learning, goal setting is a continuous process. Once you have accomplished one, you move on to the next as you live a more fulfilled life, knowing that you are a very admirable achiever.

 

Better Goal Setting

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Traditional goal setting methods suggest that a good goal should be SMART; that is Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic and Timely.
These are certainly fine qualities and they make for a very clever acronym.

However if we look at them more closely, we can see that two of those letters are unnecessary. We can easily cut them out and have our goals be no worse off.

As I am about to demonstrate, we really need only 3 letters: S, R, and T.

A solid goal then should be:

Specific – what exactly do you want? You need to know exactly what you are working for, otherwise how will you know when you’ve achieved it?

Weak goal: Become rich. How rich is rich? How will you know that you have achieved this goal?!

Solid Goal: Have £100,000 in my bank account within 5 years. This is much better! Now you can start breaking it down further and create milestones for your goal.

As you can see from the above, a goal that is specific is by definition also measurable, meaning that we don’t need to worry about the letter M. By making it specific, we make it measurable automatically!

Realistic – Ask yourself- is it really possible for me to achieve this? Some things are just not possible, no matter how hard you work at them.

For example, as much as I would love to be a professional basketball player the fact that I’m 5 foot 8 and have never played basketball in my life means that it’s supremely unlikely to happen. I accept this and rather than dwelling on what I can’t do, I focus on things I know I can achieve

By the way, I’m not suggesting for a moment that you sell yourself short when goal setting. By all means be ambitious. Actually, I’ll repeat that: BE AMBITIOUS!!

In fact, it’s often better to be over-ambitious than it is to be under-ambitious when it comes to goal setting.
“Aim for the stars and maybe you’ll reach the sky”
As you can see a realistic goal as outlined above is no different than an attainable one. The effect is the same.

Timely – Although the word timely may sound a little mysterious here, all it actually means is that your goal should have a time limit. If you are anything like me then if you don’t have a deadline you likely will not push yourself to get things completed.

When you introduce a time limit however, you are immediately guiding your subconscious mind towards success and towards achieving that success ASAP!

Weak goal: Complete my novel. When will you complete it?! Publishers give authors deadlines for a reason!

Solid goal: Complete my novel by the 31st of December 2011. Much better! From here, it’s easy to break your goal down into specific actions that ensure your novel gets written before the deadline.

In the words of Peter Druckers, “What gets measured gets done.”

Incidentally, this explains why SolidGoals.com is such a HUGE HELP in hitting your targets.

Not only do we help you to set your goals and to break them down into milestones along the way, but we also make sure that you stay on track by emailing you when the time limits for your milestones are approaching.

These features may seem fairly small individually, but when you combine them you can skyrocket your chances of achieving your goals. We literally HARRASS you into getting the success you deserve!

Best of all, you can meet other positive people who share your goal and are excited about supporting you on your path.

So there you have it, the three qualities that make a goal SOLID!! Please don’t just read them and nod your head – go and put them into action.

Set some goals NOW!

9 Funky Ways To Stay Productive and Keep Your Goals on Track

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1. Start with a big goal in mind then break it down into smaller tasks.
These tasks should take less than half a day to achieve. The satisfaction of crossing each item off the list propels you toward the end result faster.

2. Keep a tidy work area.
If you spend most of your time sitting at a desk make sure you keep it tidy. A tidy desk means a focused mind.

3. Wake up at the same time every day.
If you wake up at a specific time each day your body won’t get confused about when it should be awake and asleep. A tired, confused body is an unproductive body.

4. Surround yourself with supportive people.
If you can get encouragement from people and celebrate the small successes you have working toward your goal it will greatly increase the chances of achievement.

5. Use a social goal setting website.
Using a goal setting website to announce the goal publicly makes you accountable for it. A website to consider for this is Solid Goals.

6. Write daily to-do lists.
This is probably the most important thing of all when it comes to staying on track. If you can set a list of things to do each day and stick to the order you will notice massive improvements in your performance. Again you can use any of the goal setting websites listed above to store your to-do lists online.

7. Keep a dairy in your pocket.
When you head out the door make sure you have some way of storing notes. Mobile phones are useful but if you prefer the old-fashioned way then a pocket-sized notebook is perfectly fine.

8. Purchase a whiteboard.
A whiteboard is the easiest way to store notes when you’re not out of the office/house. If you have a bright idea then you can just scribble it on the whiteboard where it’s in plain sight most of the time so you won’t forget about it. Try and use different coloured markers to keep things interesting.

9. Reward yourself with a break.
If you have been working hard at your goals and ticking off those to-dos ahead of time then you deserve a break. Make sure you treat yourself to your favourite foods and entertainment. Remember, this is a small reward so don’t allow yourself to indulge too heavily. The big reward comes when you finish the goal you set out to achieve