If you want to know how to set goals that will motivate, inspire, and keep you on track, there are five key things that you need to know.

1. Make Your Goal Something That is Meaningful To You

Your goals need to be meaningful to you.

Setting goals to do things that other people want you to do is usually not inspiring or motivating. Sure, it’s really nice of you to set a goal to quit smoking, or to lose weight, because somebody else wants you to. But are you really going to be inspired and committed to achieve those goals if it’s not something that you want to do for yourself?

2. Phrase Your Goal Positively

Your brain responds much better to goals that are phrased positively.

If I say the word “debt” to you, what immediately pops into your mind? Probably images like piles of bills and feelings of scarcity and fear.

Keep this in mind when you are phrasing your goal. Don’t say things like “I will no longer be”. It’s better to say “I will be”.

By keeping it positive, you keep your brain focused on positive images and feelings which are much more motivating.

3. Make Your Goal Specific, But Not Restricting

You need to be able to know when you have achieved your goal. In order to do that, you need to make sure that you are specific about what you want.

If you want to be rich, you need to define what being rich means to you. How much money do you want to be earning each month? Is that amount before, or after taxes? Figure out as many details as possible.

Not only does this help you measure your success, but it also helps you develop a clear mental picture of what it would be like if you achieve your goal. Then, you can use that mental picture to inspire and motivate you to reach your goal.

4. Set a Time Frame On Achieving Your Goal

Putting a time frame on achieving your goal does two things for you.

First, it helps make your goal more measurable. If you have a time and date in mind for achieving your goal, you can measure how much you need to accomplish each day or week in order to reach your goal.

Second, it makes you more accountable. If the deadline to reach your goal is approaching and you haven’t done much to achieve it, you will start to feel a sense of urgency to get yourself moving.

5. Make Sure Your Goal is Believable and Achievable

You need to believe you can achieve the goal you set for yourself. Why would you bother working toward a goal that you don’t really believe you can succeed at?

On the other hand, if you make your goals to easy, there is little satisfaction in achieving them.

A good goal is one that will make you stretch your beliefs, but not exceed them. These “stretch goals” will do three things for you.

• Provide a challenge that will help you grow as a person.
• Give you more satisfaction when you succeed than an easy goal ever will.
• Grow your self-confidence because of the challenge you were able to overcome.

Conclusion

Now that you know how to set goals, don’t wait to start enjoying the benefits of them.

Remember, life can either control you, or you can control it. If you would prefer to be in control, setting goals is a great way to start.

PS – be sure to check out the next post in this goal setting series titled: how to achieve goals.