Goal-Setting Tips: Companion Piece to "Be Specific and Aim High"

In my last post, I mentioned the importance of being specific and aiming high in your goals.  Here are a few more tips that can help you achieve your goals:

• Write your goal down. 
• Give yourself a deadline.
• Do daily affirmations.
• Have a visual goal.

Write your goal down.  Napoleon Hill says the act of writing your goals down "crystalizes your thinking" and creates "an indelible impression in your memory" (152).

Give yourself a deadline.  Hill goes on to say that this step is important to motivation.  A deadline will "set [you] out in the direction of your goal and keep [you] moving toward it" (152).

Do daily affirmations.  According to Barbara Stanny, affirmations are "positive statements expressed if they've already happened" (102).  Work with them, saying them aloud or writing them down, keep them in sight and in mind.  This way you'll internalize them (103).

Have a visual goal.  According to a recent article on ScienceDaily, Rajesh Bagchi and Amar Cheema conducted a study on visualizing goals in abstract contexts.  They found that an easy to visualize goal is a strong motivator.  Cheema says even drawing a graph can help (Virginia Tech).

So, there you go, a few more techniques to help you achieve that specific, high goal of yours.


Cites:

• Hill, Napoleon, and W. Clement Stone. Success through a Positive Mental Attitude. New York: Pocket Books, 1977.  Print.
• Stanny, Barbara. Secrets of Six-Figure Women. New York: HarperBusiness, 2004. Print.
• Virginia Tech. "Easy to visualize goal is powerful motivator to finish a race or a task." ScienceDaily, 17 Aug. 2011. Web. 18 Sept. 2011.