Goal setting 101: What to avoid when setting your goals
Updated: Dec 21, 2021
We’ve all set our hearts on a goal, declaring “this is it!” and before you know it, it’s gone down the pan. Along with the self-belief and confidence in our ability to stick to things, and actually make goals a reality. There’s plenty of guru’s and info online talking about goal setting, but I wanted to share some of the things to avoid doing along the way. When you know these hacks (or set-backs!), you can get clear from the get-go with an added layer of awareness of potential pitfalls, and know what to swerve to make your success a smoother journey!
Here are 5 things to AVOID when setting your goals to guarantee success.
Not knowing why you want the goal. “I want to lose weight”, “I have to go to the gym 5 x a week”, “I want a better relationship”, “I want to save x amount of money”. The question is, why is your goal important to you? There are deeper layers beyond your initial conscious answer. Start diving deeper, past the stereotypical answers, because although it sounds great
saying “I want to start my own business and earn £5k per month” - it's not emotional. We need to have an emotional attachment. The reason why the WHY Power is so important is because, along your journey to achieving your goal, you may face challenges, setbacks and detours. Only if you have a deep emotional connection as to WHY you are committed to doing what you’re doing, will you dig deep and continue, keeping your heart set on the
outcome.
Letting ego get in the way. The ego does its job to protect you. The ego tries to keep you protected from the feeling of failure and the dread of being judged. Be aware and ask yourself if what you're experiencing is real, or if it's simply your ego. If you find yourself overreacting, or making rash decisions, pause, breathe and trust what our gut says, legit setback? Or self-sabotage triggered by ego?
Having too many goals. This is something that people usually do with their January goals. If you try to focus on more than 1-2 goals at the same time, it becomes overwhelming. Your mind and body run on 95% auto-pilot (subconscious programming) each and every day. Trying to squeeze in new routines and habits when your conscious mind only runs at around 5% every day, there's simply isn't enough capacity for it to give all of its energy.
Just focus on one goal, max two. By focusing on single goals, it gives you chance to build momentum and emotion around it. Once you've mastered the emotion and the actions become a habit, you free up the space (in your mind and energy) to then go and start another goal.
Not having a vision board. Putting your goals and intentions down in writing is one thing, bringing it to life through pictures, images (moving and still) and colour is another. Your mind interprets things through images, when you have your goals up somewhere you can see them, it not only activates parts of your brain that get’s to work in searching for clues, way’s in and opportunities, it helps bring more emotion and ‘realness’ to your goals and dreams. Without one, your goals are the very ‘left side of the brain’ heavy - linear thinking, logical and factual. When it comes to activating the law of attraction and your manifesting abilities, we want your imagination, intuition and more holistic thinking side of the brain at play - your right side of the brain. Vision board have been my secret weapon for many years when it
comes to success!
Clear on what you don't want. Whenever we talk about something we don't want, it comes with a surge of negative energy with it. Rather than focusing on what you don't want, start to get as excited and emotional about what you do want! Begin to shift your focus and get clear on what you truly want, giving very little air time to what you don’t.
Let me know if you've fallen into any of these traps when it comes to goal-setting and success, also which one’s you’re going to take away and shake up as we step into 2022 and beyond!
hello@carolannreid.com Call me on 07763 599570
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