Define your goals

This post is part of a 14 ways to help rebuild self-confidence series.  We are working our way through the letters of SELF CONFIDENCE with this week’s focus being on the D in Confidence.  Previously covered are Self Compassion & Self Care; 10 Ways to Enjoy your Life; Learning, Love & Laughter; Finding your passion & your happy place; Clear your schedule of activities that don’t serve you; Open-Minded – The way to go and the way to grow!; Neutralise Your Inner Critic & Self-Doubter; Face Your Fears, and Imagine, Visualize and Believe.

It’s been a while since I wrote the 14 ways to help rebuild self-confidence.  I had to take myself back to the head space I was in then to recall what I had in mind for this post about defining goals.  As it came back to me, I was reminded that this series is just as much needed by me as anyone else out there.  I go off track.  I lose sight of my goals, and my self-confidence is up and down.  It’s a human thing.  We all do it!  Regular re-evaluation of your goals is needed.  How often is up to the individual.  Life situation’s change.  Priorities change.  What you enjoy doing changes.  New ideas emerge .. and so on!  So now that I’ve said all that, lets get started.

A big contributor to self-confidence is feeling organized, having some clarity around our goals and objectives, enjoying what we do, and ultimately obtaining a wonderful sense of achievement.  Before getting into the nitty gritty of planning, you need to look at the bigger picture first.  That will then inform your more detailed planning.  This post is about looking at the bigger picture goals.

What is a goal and how do I define them?

1. In order to know and define your goals, you need to ask yourself some questions, like (these are just a few examples):

Where do you want to be, what do you want to be doing, and how do you want to be feeling in 12 months?

Where do you want to be, what do you want to be doing, and how do you want to be feeling in 5 years?

What gives you a sense of achievement?  What motivates you?

What needs to happen to get you to where you want to be?

2. A goal is an overarching principle that guides your decision making and objectives (which are the more specific steps that can be taken to meet the goal).
3. Your goals need to be written down but make sure they are written in words that motivate you, not words that overwhelm you and could ultimately freeze you in your tracks!
4. Set realistic goals. Be honest with yourself and be sure that your goals are attainable.  You can have challenging goals but they must be achievable.
5. Make your goals specific and include a timeframe.
6. A couple of examples of goals might be:  1) Establish a website with a gallery of at least 50 photographs by the end of 2016, or 2) Increase followers on Instagram by 50% by the end of November 2016. 
7. Unless you’re a big corporation keep your goal setting and planning simple.  Don’t make it complex or you will overwhelm yourself. 

Why set goals?

Setting goals gives you long-term vision and short-term motivation.  It provides you with some clarity and helps you to focus and organize your time and resources so that you can make the very most of your day to day life.  Reaching for goals is an important part of strengthening self-confidence. It helps shape and update how you define yourself while at the same time helping you add to your sense of accomplishment. 

And because I’m rather fond of a good quote, here’s some awesome quotes about goal setting!

Setting goals is the first step in turning the invisible into the visible ~ Tony Robbins

What you get by achieving your goals is not as important as what you become by achieving your goals ~ Henry David Thoreau

Happy goal setting!

Ciao for now,

Linking up with Kylie Purtell for #IBOT