It’s that time of year again when we hear so much about the importance of goal setting. I’m sure it has so much to do with that “clean slate” feeling the new year brings to those of us who haven’t given up on our dreams and aspirations. The real truth is that any time of the year is a great time to set new goals and aspire to a brighter future. So no matter where you find yourself today, make a decision to set some exciting new goals and move your life in a more positive direction. Below you will find 6 solid reasons why you should strongly consider including goal setting as a regular part of your life.

6 Reasons Why Goal Setting Is Important

Setting Meaningful Goals Can Bring Your Life into Focus: Life has a way of presenting itself as one huge puzzle. There are so many moving parts that it’s easy to wander around in a very large circle, going from one activity to the next. Many times without thinking about what we’re doing or why. Without goals, there is no direction; no focus; no reason to get involved in anything worthwhile.  Without goals, your actions can become so random and confusing that you wake up one day and realized that you haven’t built anything that makes any sense. Goal setting brings focus into your life and gives you the joy that comes from living life with intention and purpose.

Setting Meaningful Goals Help You Define What You Really Want:  Life has a way of happening at such a breakneck speed that we don’t always realize the different roles that may be thrust upon us. In order to set goals that matter to you, you must spend quality time to actually think about what you really want versus what everyone around you may want. 

The pressures of society to amass great wealth in the shortest amount of time may be based upon someone else’s goals and desires, not yours.  You must get a clear understanding of what goals you are trying to achieve and that starts with defining what YOU really want in life. Without this vision of what you want, you can wander aimlessly with ideas of success and achievement that were never really yours, to begin with. 

Setting Goals Help You Grow In Leaps and Bounds as a Person: Becoming a success in life is the end game for many, but learning the process of setting goals can have a tremendous effect on your personal growth as you are becoming a success. Setting goals can help trigger new behavior and put a set of positive habits into motion. The goal is the vehicle, the new and improved version of yourself is the destination.

Setting Goals Can Improve Your Mental Health and Sense of Well-Being: Whenever we start something new we’re usually not particularly great at it. As a result, we can develop a sense of low self-esteem and/or a low level of confidence. However, when we set goals that cause us to get better and develop stronger skills, our sense of self begins to grow and develop. As a result, our self-esteem increases. If we never set a goal in these areas, we run the risk of not really growing and developing a deep sense of personal success. Even if we don’t hit that goal spot on 100%, the steps we take to hit it leaves us in a much better place than before we set the goal. Take weight loss for example; maybe you didn’t lose 60 pounds, but the 20 pounds you did lose have you feeling better in your jeans. Not to much the knowledge you gained on the journey and the confidence that you acquired knowing that you can actually lose weight. They are two accomplishments you didn’t have before you set that audacious goal. Put simply, setting and achieving goals helps us to believe in ourselves.

Proper Goal Setting Can Improve Performance: Let’s say for example that you set a goal to get a particular promotion on your job. In order to get that promotion, you will have to improve certain areas of your current performance. Each position usually has performance metrics, in order to get the promotion that you desire you may have to master a new set of habits or learn new skills. Regardless of the details, setting new skills or new habit goals will improve your performance in your current position. Whether you get the promotion or not, you will have improved your performance and that growth helps your self-esteem and confidence. It can even give you the kick in the pants to search for a different job.

BONUS: Writing Down Your Goals and Sharing Them Can Lead Even Greater Success: According to research done by  Dominican University of California psychology professor, Dr. Gail Matthews writing down your goals and sharing them with a friend can lead to more success. As a matter of fact, when that person shared weekly updates with a friend they were 33% more successful than those who just formulated their goal.

Most everyone has a goal in life, from losing weight to winning a Grammy award.  Keep in mind, however, sometimes life gets in the way of the very thing you are trying to achieve. That’s why it’s so important to encourage yourself along the way as you progress.

If you do experience a momentary setback, never give up on the dream, the goal, or the path that will lead you to it.

Here are a few of my favorite quotes about goal setting:

A goal is not always meant to be reached, it often serves simply as something to aim at.” – Bruce Lee

Success is the progressive realization of a worthy goal or ideal.” —Earl Nightingale

You are never too old to set a new goal or to dream a new dream.” – C.S. Lewis

So be encouraged and set those goals!!

Be well + prosper,

XO Elaine