3 Keys Thursday: 3 Keys to Successful Goal-Setting

Dodgerton Skillhause via Morguefile

Yesterday, I wrote about my mid-year goal-setting session. One of the reasons I've come to enjoy this process is that I've come to look at it as me time -- time to think about what I want to do and what I want to accomplish, rather than stuff that has to get done.

Want to do some goal-setting of your own? Whether you jot your goals down on a piece of scrap paper, in a neatly tabbed notebook or somewhere in the recesses of your planner, here are a few suggestions to make the process more helpful than painful.

Dream big. Do you remember being a little kid and having adults ask you what you wanted to be when you grew up? Try thinking of goal-setting in that respect. You can dream as big as you'd like, change your mind at any time and include things like princess, superhero and pro athlete on your list of goals. What would you do if the sky was the limit?

Think small. So, you've done it. You've identified your goals. That part was fun, but now they seem so far away and unrealistic. What is one baby step you can take in the next week to get to one of those goals? When I said I'd made progress on my goals, I didn't mean I'd checked them all off my list; I'd simply taken a succession of baby steps in the right direction. Maybe I'll get there, maybe I'll take a detour or maybe I'll change the route entirely, but in any event I need a destination, and each step takes me closer to where I want to be.

Make recognition a part of the process. Long-term goals, in particular, can be big and intimidating. If we learn to focus on how far we've come rather than how far we still have to go, the process gets easier. In addition, we need to acknowledge our small successes. We don't need to throw ourselves a party every time we do one little thing, but we should at least take a moment to pat ourselves on the back (or put a checkmark on the page) when we take a step in the right direction. If we aim for a succession of baby steps, we creep ever closer to the goal, even if we fall down and get back up again after each step.

How about you? Are there any secrets to successful goal-setting you'd like to share?