Creating Fun and Effective Goals
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by Dr. Kevin Polk, Togus VA and ACT Gone Wild Consulting
It seems the news media is just full of things that we are supposed to be doing to be healthier, wealthier and happier. The problem is that in order to do new things we have to give up spending time doing old things that we had gotten really good at doing. And let’s face it, it’s not fun to think about giving up what we are good at doing. So I am not going to talk about quitting things. Instead, I will talk about doing more of the things you like to do. First thing we need to do is get a picture of goals in our heads. "Goal" is a popular word these days. You hear about both short and long-term goals for business, government and people. That’s good stuff, but at times goals can sound boring. So I like to think of football, hockey and other sports goals at the same time I think of life or business goals. I like doing this because combining sports goals with thoughts of life-goals helps me have a happy, energetic feeling about goals. You can think of whatever you want; just make sure you put some happiness and energy into your goals, however you go about doing it. With that done, let’s look at some goals that are easy to get happy and energetic about. More than likely you already do some things really well. So make at least some of those things you do well into goals for the future. Just look back at your last few weeks, months or years and how you accomplished getting those good things done. Try and figure out how you did them day by day, week by week, and month by month. Now project those activities out across the next few weeks and months, Like magic you now have some goals you know you can accomplish because you have already done them. You may think I am joking, but just think about it. Are there good things that you enjoyed doing in the past that you are sorry you gave up? Most of us have them. So setting a goal of keeping up one, two or more good things you already do is a very good goal. For example, maybe in the last few months you spent more time with your parents or your children. Why not make it a goal to keep doing that? Maybe you cut down on caffeine and started to sleep better. Maybe you are balancing your work and family life better. Whatever good and healthy thing you have done set your goal to keep on doing it. Of course, like most people, you probably have some goals that you have never reached, but have dreamed about reaching. The first thing to do is to write those things down. Magic happens when you write things down. Of course it is not magic, it is simply that you are taking abstract thoughts from your brain and turning them into concrete objects you can see, touch and read. After you have one or more major life goals written down, why not look at what you already do (remember those good things you are going to keep doing?) that will help you achieve those goals? This time figure out how you can increase and/or improve doing them in a way that might help you reach your dreams. Finally, set this simple goal: "I will schedule some time during every week to think about how doing the things I already do can help me achieve my dreams." Go ahead and write the times in your schedule. You might just find you are a lot closer to your dreams than you thought. © Kevin L. Polk, Ph.D. All Rights Reserved. Dr. Polk is a clinical psychologist who helps people deal with life. Learn the five steps to Creative Problem Solving -- Register for his free course at www.drkevinpolk.com/ Contact Dr. Polk by email at kevin @ drkevinpolk.com
