Setting goals is one of the most important lessons in life that unfortunately, many students are not being taught soon enough. Goals are not just stupid sentences jotted on a piece of paper to get a grade for class-goals are your life.
At the beginning of high school, if not earlier, students should start compiling a list, even if it is in their own head, of things they like to do and can see themselves doing for an extended period of time. As the years go by, this list will change and they will get to know themselves better, therefore gaining a better idea of what it is they want to do.Goals should be updated several times per year so that changes can be made accordingly.
"Your goals are the road maps
that guide you and show you
what is possible for your life.
Our subconcious mind is very powerful and having specific goals helps to channel that subconcious mind into working towards that goal. We visualize and set the goal and the subconcious works on the how. If we don't believe the goal is possible then not much happens. If our belief is, "That'll never work..." then it never will.
The idea is devise goals that are within our willingness to believe, then we start working on the other details. Our goals also need to be specific. We need to add as much detail as possible to define the exact goal we want to achieve.
Why is it important to set goals?
Debra Lohrere
Having a goal enables you to focus your energies on devising ways to achieve it. When someone makes a decision and begins focusing on achieving a specific goal (and even better in a specific period of time), the powerful subconscious mind goes to work and begins playing with ideas and developing strategies of various ways to bring about the successful completion of the goal.
When you set yourself a goal both your conscious and subconscious start working on it and begin to develop an action plan. You will find you begin asking yourself questions about what needs to be done to enable you to reach your goal. You may find yourselves coming up with amazing ideas and solutions to problems or obstacles that have been in the way of achieving your goal.
Solutions and ideas that you are surprised you ever thought of may start popping into your mind. Our subconscious is an extremely powerful tool.
The more often you remind yourself of your goal, the more your mind will work on ways for you to achieve it. Some people find answers come to them when they are asleep and dreaming. Have you ever noticed that there is no correlation between being wealthy and having a high IQ or a university degree? If there were, every doctor and university graduate would be wealthy, and as statistics show, most of them end up in the same situation as 95% of the population.
The main thing that the majority of independently wealthy people have in common is that they have set goals for themselves and achieved them. They invest time in reading and learning about wealth creation and are happy to learn from other people's mistakes and experiences, as well as their own.
They set goals, and realise that they will be far better able to achieve them if they familiarise themselves with the ways in which other people acted and the things that others have done to succeed. Wealthy people create wealth by carefully utilising the income that they have available to them to their best advantage.
They know that working harder and longer hours is not the way to achieve financial freedom, instead they have to utilise what they have, and make it grow.
Setting Goals. When you begin to work out your goals you need to make them as specific as possible. A vague idea or generalization like "I want to buy investment properties and become wealthy" is not enough. You need to be much more detailed.
"I want to own my first investment property within six months.
I will save for the legal and bank fees, and borrow 100% of the value of the property. I will find an extremely well priced, three bedroom brick veneer house that is close to schools and shopping centres. It will be either brand new or less than ten years old. It will be structurally sound, and require a minimal amount of maintenance.
I will find a good agent to manage it, who has a lot of experience and will find me a good tenant." This is a specific goal, and you could add a lot more to it.
Because your goal is specific your mind immediately begins to ask questions such as "How much money will I need for the fees and charges? How much does that relate to if I break it down on a weekly basis? Will I have to look at my current expenses to see where I need to cut back so as to make up the difference for the amount I need to save?"
Specific goals help you to create specific, realistic action plans and as the old saying goes, "If you fail to plan, you plan to fail". You will find that if you write down your goals on a piece of paper, and put it in a prominent position, so that you will read it often, your subconscious as well as your conscious mind will start asking questions and coming up with answers, and you will find that you have already begun to take the necessary steps to achieving your goal.
It is helpful to have a series of goals, ranging from daily, weekly, monthly, yearly, ten yearly and thirty to forty yearly. You can always refine and change your goals as time goes on and situations change. You may find that it is easier to start at the 40-year mark, and then work backwards. Try to work out what steps would be needed to achieve your 40-year goal, and spread them out over the different time spans, to what you would need to achieve to end up with the final result. Try to make your goals realistic and achievable.
Do not set a goal that is too hard. Set lots of small, easily achievable goals and work step by step to achieve your road to success. Stay positive. Believe in yourself and your abilities to succeed, even if other people patronise you or try to put you off, or tell you there is no point. Setting and achieving goals help you to create a stronger character. It is always helpful to remember that our brain cannot entertain both positive and negative thoughts at the same time.
If you stay positive you will dispel negative thought patterns. Even if you come across little obstacles that get in the way of your goals, don't give up. Focus on finding a solution. Rather than focussing on the problem utilise a positive response.
Focussing on finding solutions enables you to put your brain to work, to find ways around things. If you just see an obstacle as a problem and just accept that life has dealt you a blow, and let it stop you in your tracks, then you will never learn and grow.
Remember that children learn to walk by falling over. Focus on the long-term achievements that you want to fulfil, and it will be easier to overcome your problems.
Debra Lohrere is the author of several books on property investment, creating financial security, goal setting and the power of compounding. Please visit her homepage http://www.debra.lohrere.com/home.shtml or storefront at http://www.lulu.com/DebraLohrere
How to set goals http://www.mindtools.com/pggoalef.html
Goal Setting For Students - 5 Simple Tips on How to Set Goals and Still Have Fun in Education
When you are a student, one of the last things you have on your mind is setting goals, it feels like you just want to have fun all the time. Well by following these tips, you can get the best of both worlds
1. REVIEW WEEKLY
Each week you should set aside one hour here you make sure that you are keeping up to date in your goals and this time can be used to set tasks for the next week. Make this on a day when you have some free time and you can relax, once this is done you are set for the rest of the week.
2. SET TIME QUOTA GOALS
Set a goal that you will do all your homework on a certain day of the week. That way you save the time it takes going back and forth between homework, you get in homework mode making you more effective also.
3. STOP WATCHING TV
Do you know how much an average person watches tv? Hours per day. Now that might not sound too drastic. But let us say that you watch 4 hours per day, that's 2 months of constant time, no sleeping that you use up per year. Now I know lots more important and fun things I could do with that time. Get assignments in earlier, increase my income etc.
4. SET GOALS PER SUBJECT, BUT NOT TOO MANY!
Set different goals per subject depending on what you want to achieve and how good you are at the subject. Do not set too many though as you will feel overwhelmed.
5. FOLLOW A GOOD SYSTEM
By following a good system goal setting for students you can minimize the amount of time that you spend on setting and achieving the goal and spend more time doing what you love best. This system has seriously opened my eyes with its amazing 100 day program.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Richard_Shelmerdine
Learning this one simple task will be the difference between success and failure.
Most folks do not make goals or write them down and this is so vitally important for your own success.
There was a study done back in the 70's with college students. They did a poll to see how many students made goals and wrote them down.
It turned out that only 3% of the whole student body made goals and wrote them down.
The other 97% never made any goals let alone writing them down.
Here is the most important thing for you to pay attention to is the next paragraph.
Ten years later they looked up those same college students and did a poll on the wages that they currently were making.
It turns out that the 97% of the students that never made any goals on average were making between 25k -40K
The 3% that consistently made goals and wrote them down made on average of 4 to 8 times as much as the other 97%.
Now I would like to inspire you if you are not currently making goals for your self to start to do so.
It is easier than you think. Start out by sitting down some where that is quiet and ask yourself what it is that you truly want out of life. How would you like it to be different from what it is today.
write down a list of what you want to change be specific that is really important.
Think about this in all areas of your life. Then write out a goal for what you want it to be and start making a plan to make it happen then take action toward achieving it.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Sunny_James
Simple Steps to Achieve Your Goals
The habit of setting and achieving goals is one of the most important habits you can form in life. If you don't set goals, then you could feel that your life is not going anywhere. But if you're busy working toward achieving your goals, then you'll feel that you're making progress in life and that you're moving toward something greater. Here are 4 simple steps you can use to start achieving any goal you set in life:
1. Write your goals down. You won't be able to start achieving your goals if you don't write them down. A goal that only exists in your mind is nothing more than a wish. By writing them down, you turn your goals into something real and tangible.
2. Create a plan of action. Write down a list of things you need to accomplish in order to achieve your goal. Having everything written down in a master plan will help you tremendously to stay clear on what you're trying to accomplish.
3. Visualize your goals. By constantly visualizing your goals, you'll be able to stay focused on them. It'll help you to stay on track and prevent you from being distracted by unimportant things. Think about your goals when you wake up in the morning, before you go to sleep at night and regularly throughout the day.
4. Take action. The most important step of all is taking action. Your goals will not come into reality unless you put in some work into achieving them. Try to take action every single day, even if it's only a small step toward your goals. It'll get you into the habit of taking continuous action and help you maintain your forward momentum.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Rick_D._Lee