24 Jan Seven Goal Setting Mistakes You Should Avoid

Seven Goal Setting Mistakes You Should Avoid

As in life, there are some mistakes you should avoid. If over drinking is sometimes an issue for you, then happy hour on Fridays with the gang, would not be for you.

Goal setting is no different. Have your alert function on high when you start out on your goal setting journey. Here are seven common mistakes you can avoid right now.

1. You are extremely excited about setting goals. In this state, avoid setting too many goals. This can lead to overwhelm and it is easy to lose focus. Remember you have other obligations in your life and staying energized and focused on one thing at time works best.
2. Make sure the goals you are setting are, “YOUR,” goals. You need to be totally aligned with your goals and the influence of other people will dilute the motivation you have to complete your goals. It is okay to listen to friends and family in terms of their ideas to maintain harmony. You listen and then internally dismiss what they think you should do. After you write your goals, if they begin to complain, just thank them and say that you gave their ideas great consideration but feel you have set the right path for you.
3. Time has a way of slipping past you. You need to really think on your goal completion time and factor in all the things that may steal some of your time.  Work hard on proper scheduling and get it down on paper.
4. So called failure is a character builder. It is how you react to not completing a goal that defines you. Understand that it is possible you may not complete a goal.  This is the time to reflect and see what you can learn from that event. Ask yourself questions. Was this the right goal for me? What roadblocks did I hit and how can I avoid them the next time?
5. One way to avoid failure to complete a goal, is to make sure the goal is realistic for you. You may have gotten over excited about a big goal and not realized that you were missing a vital skill. This is one reason why you need to ask many questions before setting these big goals. For example, you had a goal of meeting a new life partner and took the steps to attract one. It turned out to be a failure because you did not fully analyze what happened in your last relationship. On reflection, you find out that when talking to a partner, you are not really there. You don’t engage the other person with questions that build rapport. Once that comes to light, you know it is time to work on your communication skills before heading out into the dating world again.
   
6. Narrowing your focus too much can be a costly mistake. An example would be you have a goal of getting a promotion to assistant manager within the next three months. You identified what was lacking in the last assistant manager who was asked to leave the company and now you are honed in doing everything necessary to stand out in the crowded pool of candidates. You are putting in the 14 hour days and doing all the right things. After two weeks of being a shining star, you start making mistakes. The issue was you forgot about putting some of that focus into your health goals and your healthy eating habits slipped. After a hard 14 hour day, you accepted an invite to go for a night cap with work friends, instead of heading home and getting in a bit of meditation before sleeping. Your goals have to work hand in hand for you to be successful.
7. You need to review your progress. Failure to do so, will result in your goals not working for you. In example number 6, that was evident. Instead of doing a quick review at the end of each day, you just put a lot of effort into one area. Reflection would have told you, the way to be at work early in the morning full of energy and focus, would be self-care. In self-care, a snack of veggies and some light yoga or meditation before sleeping would set up your next day perfectly. Review your progress daily and weekly to make necessary adjustments and stay on track.