How To Set Goals Page 1

ne way to achieve your dreams in life is to set clear goals or targets

about exactly what you want to achieve.
We all have goals (things we
are trying to achieve) whether
we know it or not.
Matt Furey, an American
wrestler, has two top goals.
They are to wake up every
morning healthy and happy.

These two goals could be

broken down into the steps
that might make us happy and
healthy - like taking daily exercise and eating the right food.
No matter what our goals are, they have a big effect on our lives. Yet some of
our goals such as Ill get through the day until its time to go home lack
inspiration.
The secret of achieving much is setting goals that are exciting enough to
inspire your creativity and get you going. However, these goals must be easy
and small enough to seem possible.
Once you have achieved the smaller goals you can go on to bigger things.
Becoming a black belt is an exciting goal but each coloured belt on the way to
black is one small step towards that goal.
Writing these goals down is also very important so that you can look at them
again and again until they are programmed into your subconscious mind as
well as your conscious mind. Harnessing the power of the subconscious mind
is important in all achievement. Sometimes just writing a goal down is enough
to ensure its completion.
Your work
Write out any goal you can think of that you would like to achieve like:

achieving grade As in every exam subject

becoming good at singing or playing a musical instrument;
becoming a skilful surfer
helping people to live happier lives.
becoming a movie star
finding a great boy or girl friend

Now pick one goal that excites you most. Choose something that will get you
up early and keep you up late.

How To Set Goals Page 2

nce you have picked a goal that is exciting but achievable take the
next step. Circle the goal or write it out again and then write a deadline
for achieving it e.g. 1 month, 6 months, 1 year, 2 years, 5 years, 10
years, 20 years etc
Write a paragraph saying why you must achieve it by then.
If time, draw a picture which symbolises your goal for you e.g. a picture of you
receiving a letter or certificate saying you have passed all your exams at
grade A.
Now write a paragraph saying how you will feel when you have succeeded
The first step to turning your dreams or goals
into reality is to picture them clearly and to
picture your success in detail so that you
start believing you can achieve these goals.
Imagine phoning your parents to tell them
you have passed your exams if passing your
exams is your goal.
Now take massive action to achieve your
goal. Attend all your lessons and study hard.
Do all your homework and revision.
No one achieves anything without taking
action. Take at least one small action
everyday to help you achieve your goal of
passing your exam. Revise some topics for at
least 10 minutes every day.
Some students find mind mapping helpful in preparing for exams. One young
American girl called Lana Israel gained straight A's by using mind mapping in
all her subjects. She produced a video about her methods (learned from Tony
Buzan) some years ago. The video is probably still available.
Try entering 'Lana Israel' into Google or you could enter 'Tony Buzan.' To find
out even more about mind mapping, simply enter 'mind map' into Google. You
can buy and download software which will create mind maps. You can even
download free software that will create mind maps or just create your own
mind maps with pen and ink or biro etc. See page 5 for an example of a map.
Your work: 1 Why should you draw a picture of yourself achieving your goal?
2. What daily actions could you take to achieve your main goal? 3 Create a
mind map of several of your goals or make a mind map of the ways in which
you will achieve one goal. 4 Write out a list of daily actions you need to take to
achieve one or more of your goals. 5. Discuss your goals with someone else.

How To Set Goals Page 3

ow brainstorm some more goals in key areas of your life where goals could be
achieved. You may already have chosen these in the exercise on the first
page.
a) Personal Development Goals

What would you like to learn? The history of London? How to make money fast?
What skills do you want to master? How to cook Mexican food? How to defend
yourself? The ability to tell excellent jokes? What character traits would you like to
develop? Confidence? Patience? Coolness under pressure? What sort of person do
you wish to become?
Brainstorm your personal development goals for 5 minutes and list them or mind map
them. There is an example of a mind map on key life areas on the next page
b) Education And Career Goals
What grades would you like to achieve in your examinations? Would you like to take
advanced courses? Would you like to go to College or University? Would you like to
become a teacher or lecturer at University? What career would you like to follow and
how far would you like to go in that career? How much money would you like to
earn? Brainstorm these goals for 5 minutes and list or mind map them. Are you
beginning to feel excited about the future?
c) Possession And Adventure Goals
Brainstorm what you would like to own if you had no financial limitations: Computer?
House? Clothes? Etc. What events would you like to attend? A concert? A play? The
World Cup? etc. What adventures would you like to experience? Bunjee jump?
Climb a mountain range? Make a list

d) Contribution Goals
This is your opportunity to leave your mark, to create a legacy that makes a
difference in peoples lives. Brainstorm what you would like to achieve to make the
world a better and happier place? Raise money for the poor? Find God? Visit the old
and sick and lonely? Make a list or mind map of ways in which you could make the
world a better place.

How To Set Goals Page 4

How To Set Goals Page 5

5 steps to achieving your goals
Step 1 One secret to achieving your goals is to program your mind with your
goals rather than with whatever pops into it. Review or look at your goals at
least once daily.
Stick them up where youre sure to see them daily e.g. on your wall; over your
mirror on your desk etc. Remember, whatever you consistently think about
and focus upon, you move toward.
Step 2 If your first attempt at achieving your goals seems futile, should you
move on and do something else? Not unless you are sure you have chosen
the wrong goal.
Persistence overshadows even talent as the most valuable quality in
achieving your goals. After all, no one ever achieved a goal by being mildly
interested in its achievement. You must be determined to keep going until
success is achieved.
Step 3 Never leave a goal without taking even a tiny step towards achieving
the goal. What can you do today to move your goal nearer? Even the smallest
step - a phone call, reading a relevant book, sketching out an initial plan - will
take you closer to your goal. Make a list of simple things you can do every day
for the next 10 days. These ten days of creating a chain of habits and building
momentum will make success much more likely.
Step 4 Picture your success. How would you feel if you had mastered and
attained all your year long goals a year from now? How would you feel about
yourself? How would you feel about your life? Answering these questions will
help you develop powerful reasons to achieve your goals. You will need good
reasons to help you keep going when you face obstacles to reaching your
goals.
Step 5

Try following this success formula i.e.

a) Decide what you want. (Be precise! Clarity is power)

b) Take action (Because wishing is not enough)
c)

Notice whats working or not. (You don't want to waste energy on an

approach thats worthless)

d) Change your approach until you achieve what you want. (Flexibility gives
you the power to create a new approach and a new result).
Your work: Make a mind map of the five steps on this page or draw five
pictures that sum up each of the five steps. There is an example on page 6.

How To Set Goals Page 6

5 steps to achieving your goals - mind map

he following mind map is an example of a mind map created with the aid
of Mind Manager Software from Mind Jet. This allows you to insert
pictures and photos which will help you picture and remember key
points in the mind map.
This mind map explores the goal of achieving your black belt through 5 steps.
Try drawing a mind map about one of the goals you would like to achieve.