Last week we worked through the Circle of Perception, and now we are ready to do the work to move forward with MaXIMIzing our lives! Yes, we are going to talk about setting and achieving goals. First though, we are going to talk a little bit about values and principles.
Each of us has a set of core values and principles that guide our lives. We know when we drift away from these core items because we feel "wrong" when we do - something feels off, we may even go so far as to feel sick to our stomachs or have other physical manifestations, depending on how far we have drifted.
Why is this germane to goal setting, you ask? In order for us to be successful at attaining our goals, those goals need to be in alignment with our core values and principles.
In order to determine your core values and principles, think of ten ideals that you aspire to and/or that are important to you - things like honesty, integrity, faithfulness, honor, love, peace, just to name a few. You can Google values and principles if need be to find others.
Then, take that list of ten ideals and pick the top five that are most important to you. Now, narrow that list to three. You can even go a step further and narrow those down to the one value or principle that is most important to you, but that is not necessary for what we are doing today.
Now that you have your top three core values and principles, you can vet the goals you develop against them to see if the goals you come up with are truly in alignment with your core values.
And how you vet them is by asking the five whys - this is a deceptively simple method to get to the deepest reasons for wanting to achieve your goals. Here is an example of how this method works, as show by a comedy bit I wrote:
"Excuse me, but you're sitting on my hat."
"That's a hat. Oh, now I see...very cool. Can you tell me where I can get a hat like that?"
"Why?" (first one)
"If you tell me where, I'll tell you why I want a hat like that."
"Why?" (second one)
"The ladies like the look of a well-fitting lid."
"Why?" (third one)
"I don't know, Herby, now where'd you get that derby?"
"Why?" (fourth one)
"Because old chap, I need me a new cap."
"Why?" (fifth/last one)
"Because, some young cat took off with my hat, and that's that."
Yes, even when you are asking yourself the hard questions, and sometimes because it is you asking the question instead of someone else, there can be some evasion, however, if you keep asking why, you will get to the root of the issue and see if why you've set a particular goal fits with your core values.
Okay, on to the science of setting goals that are achievable!
Some of you may recognize the following acronym from the business world - yes, many of the tools used in the business world can be used in our personal lives as well (like the five whys).
S - Specific - answer the five Ws - who, what, where, when, which (how), and why.
M - Measurable - how many/much, when; be concrete, make it tangible.
A - Attainable - one step at a time; break goals down to the smallest steps.
R - Realistic - aim for something just out of current reach, but doable. Goals should not be low-hanging, easy to reach fruit, but rather the fruit in the higher branches - reaching for them will make you stretch and grow.
T - Timely- a saying I came across recently is: "Someday is not on my calendar." Set reasonable timelines - Rome was not built in a day, and neither was your life to this point.
By using the tools I've shared above, you'll be able to achieve the goals you set for yourself because they will be in alignment with your personal core values and principles and you will ask the questions and do the work to make them SMART goals as well!
Next week we will address manifestation boards as a tool to keep your goals visible. You may know them better as vision boards - I'll explain the difference!
Until then, Namaste!
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