PERSONAL GOALS

By: Claudia Díaz Jiménez

Let us think for a moment about the goals we have set for ourselves during our lives. Which ones do we currently have in mind? Which ones have we not achieved? Are there any that we are constantly rethinking because we have not been able to achieve them? Which goals have remained dusty over time?

Goals are actually a purpose, goal, promise, or commitment that we make to ourselves to fulfill in a certain period or in a specific project, it has a final meaning and our success or failure will depend on our ability to achieve it.

When it comes to personal goals, usually refer to things that we have a hard time doing and that we want to overcome, and we will precisely deal with these in this article.

It is important that people have goals in their lives since they are the engine that drives us to face the challenges that reality itself gives us and allows us to improve our quality of life.

Setting personal challenges always brings with it a feeling of a new beginning, this energy that inspires us to make changes, and to have new aspirations.

And the goals that we set ourselves are a great tool to achieve them, however, on many occasions, as time goes by, we abandon them.

What is the reason? Why do we give up on our personal goals? Why do we prioritize objectives of a different nature, for example, those in the labor area before objectives that have to do with our person?

Although it is true that professional or work objectives are of great importance, there are also others that have to do with our physical and emotional health that we must take into account.

Experts on the subject explain to us that there are various factors that we must take into account when setting our objectives and the ways that help us to achieve them.

Let’s review some of these aspects and analyze our personal goals, to give them a proper approach to achieving them.

1. Is it really your goal or is it someone else’s?

Analyzing our objectives is an important task. Know if it is what we really want and why. On many occasions, we set ourselves goals that are not really ours and that we impose on ourselves for the wrong reasons, because we believe that we should do it or because that is what we expect others to do. This reduces the strength and motivation of our goal, since, after all, it is not what we really want.

2. The time factor

It is necessary to consider the time that we really have to carry out the objectives, the current rhythm with which daily life and work move on many occasions limits our options, it is better to prioritize them, to be clear about what objectives we can achieve in the short term, which ones will take us longer and which ones we are not in a position to comply with, because they may only cause us useless stress.

3. Clear goals

The goals must be specific and realistic, that is, we must be clear about what we want to achieve. It is not the same to have a generalized goal and, for example, say: “My goal is to lose weight” without being clear about what steps we are going to follow, than to specify how, when, and where we are going to achieve it, in this case, we would have to be clear what balanced diet are we going to take and what specialist is going to monitor the process, what days will we exercise: Monday, Wednesday and Friday after work, what exercise are we going to do and with what intensity, etc.

4. The comfort zone

When setting our goals we must be really committed and be aware that achieving our goals always means leaving our comfort zone. This often upsets us and is a reason to generate a series of excuses that prevent us from moving forward, excuses such as “I don’t have time”, “I don’t have money”, and “tomorrow I’ll do it”, among others. These are clear signs that we don’t want to go out from this area. We must be vigilant and return to our goals with more zeal when excuses invade our minds.

5. Think only about the results

An important factor for the achievement of our objectives is not to focus only on the results, we must be aware that each goal has a process and in many cases thinking about immediate results only causes frustration and discouragement, we must enjoy the process and celebrate our achievements, for small as they are, this will stimulate our spirit to get ahead.

6. Negative thoughts

It is also essential to take care of our mind if we think in advance that we are not going to make it or that we do not have the will to do things or have a tendency to complain, criticize or blame others for what happens to us, this will not contribute to meet our goals. We must be attentive to the messages that our mind sends us and discard them, placing instead thoughts that generate encouragement and desire to move forward.

7. Saturate ourselves with objectives

When we create our personal goals, we should not clutter ourselves with a long list that we will not be able to meet later and that will only cause us stress and anxiety. It is better to select the objectives that interest us the most and focus our energy on achieving them. It does not matter if they are very few, the important thing is to put all our attention and energy into giving them continuity in order to reach their fulfillment.

8. Write them down

Writing our objectives and drawing up the plan that we will follow helps us to have clear goals, to evaluate how we are developing them, strengthens discipline and will, and encourages our self-esteem. It provides us with an action plan. An important recommendation is that we must try to have them somewhere visible and that allows us to have them on hand.

9. Flexibility

It is necessary to take into account that in our environment there are always changes and that the circumstances in which we live can vary over time, in this sense, we must have the flexibility to adapt to changes and not lose track of the objectives.

10. Perseverance

We must be aware that, in a process of change or transformation, there will always be relapses, but this does not imply losing the objective, it is about accepting the error and focusing again on achieving results.

And you, have you already checked your personal goals?