Scott H Young

One of my big focuses is on the power of goal setting. It is the subject of a software project I am working on designed to teach the subject. I personally believe goal setting to be an incredibly powerful technique to personal development. Too few people properly set goals and there is no excuse. Goal setting is a relatively easy skill and I have found it to give me at least triple to results compared to similar situations when I did not use the goal setting process.

While I have seen many goal setting systems, from complex to basic, I feel I have distilled the key qualities for goal setting.

The first is written. If a goal is not written, then for all practical purposes it is worthless. Writing goals puts yourself on the line, allowing you to shift your focus on it. If the goal is entirely in your head, then it is easily dismissed when things get tough.

The second property is objectivity. A goal must be objective. Any goals you set must be as objective as possible. Subjective goals like “Eat healthy foods” are worthless as well. A goal of any measure of challenge will require you to push yourself to finish it. If your goal is subjective then it is too easy to “cheat”. Just like a lawyer doesn’t include subjective terms in a contract, you shouldn’t in your goal.

The third property is a deadline. The only time your goals shouldn’t have a deadline is when they are a behavioral or habit goal. Otherwise it must have a deadline to create that sense of urgency needed to achieve with it. So if your goal is to lose x amount of weight, then you also need to set a deadline for when you will achieve it by.

I have seen other properties included in this list, but these are the basic three. Quite frankly, if it is missing one of these components it simply isn’t a goal, with the only exception being habitual or behavioral goals which are intended to be continuous and do not need a deadline.

The next step in setting a goal is to make a comprehensive explanation of why you want to achieve the goal in the first place. The success or failure of your goal is dependent on having a strong enough set of whys. By fully exploring all of the reasons you want to achieve the goal, you can improve the focusing power of goals.

After you have a list of all the reasons why you are committed to a particular goal, the next step is to formulate a strategy for achieving it. Some goals are rather simplistic, so a simple plan will likely hold you throughout the process. Some goals will require a complicated plan and there is a good chance that plan will need to be revised. The purpose of the strategy and plan is to get you to take action towards your goal. So if you need to change the strategy mid-goal, go right ahead.

Finally, once you have your objective, written goal with a deadline, along with your whys and strategy, you now need to take action to achieve your goal. Action is the most important step, as the past steps have been done only to ensure continuous action. So once you’ve set a goal, begin working on it immediately.

There are many techniques that can improve the efficiency of this process. I’ve found many techniques that were very helpful, and others that didn’t do much at all. This, however, is the core process to setting a goal.

Try using this process to set goals. If you are already setting goals with a different system take a look at how it relates to this one. I think you will find that virtually all effective goal setting systems use these steps. In my next blog entry I will go further and explain how I used this process to set a goal for myself.

I think we all need a little more gratitude in society. Everyone is constantly dissatisfied. We are dissatisfied with companies. We are dissatisfied with government. We are dissatisfied with our products. We are dissatisfied with our relationships with others. We are dissatisfied about our jobs. Worse yet, we are dissatisfied about our own lives.

When I see outraged protesters yelling at the government, I wonder if any of them stopped to be grateful that we live in a society where this kind of free speech is tolerated.

When I hear people complain about the poor customer service policies some big companies have, I wonder if any of them stopped to be grateful that the company has a customer service policy at all.

When I hear people complain about how bad their life is, I wonder if they ever stopped to express gratitude for all the opportunities they have been given.

We live in a society today with free speech, democratic elections and overwhelming abundance. We have an almost innumerable supply of consumer goods designed to make our lives easier. The majority of us don’t have to worry about starving to death or living on the street.

We live in a capitalistic society which gives us the opportunity to create our own businesses and offers us the potential to influence millions of people. Such a system allows us to expand to our true potential. Regardless of your political convictions, be grateful that the system is still better than an oppressive dictatorship.

We live in an information era where knowledge is free and plentiful. We can see different viewpoints on every different subject. We live in an era of scientific advancement where we can capitalize on the research or professionals. Literacy is very high and if I were to ask you to tell me about just about any subject you’d just google it and could tell me in a few minutes.

Try to take some time every day to be grateful for your opportunities. Seeing as you are reading this from a computer monitor, you have plenty.

Don’t worry about the things you don’t have. Instead, spend your time focusing on all of the great abundances that you do have.

My favorite example of this is the motto from Alcoholics Anonymous. “God grant us the serenity to accept the things we cannot change, courage to change the things we can, and wisdom to know the difference.”

I personally practice this feeling of gratitude several times a day. Just by doing this I immediately feel a whole lot happier. It also helps me solve my problems by showing me the resources I already have.

Gratitude is a practice. Anyone can do it, and it usually makes you feel a lot calmer and happier, so why not?

Learn to appreciate everything. Learn to appreciate the things that seem initially negative. For example, if you are having difficulties dealing with a particular person, be appreciative that they are teaching you how to better deal with difficult people. Even if you are experiencing physical pain, you can appreciate that you couldn’t feel the pain if you were dead.

I’m not trying to make you feel guilty for complaining. Gratitude is simply a practice. Learning to use gratitude can make you a whole lot happier. If you’d rather sulk in self pity, anger or grief then that is your choice. I’d rather be happy and peaceful.

Start right now. Look around where you are sitting. What are you grateful for? Don’t just be grateful for the obvious things. Be grateful for everything. Express gratitude for the ability to see these words, or if you are blind then at least the ability to read them. Express gratitude for your ability to think.

Gratitude isn’t the same as giving up on your goals and dreams. Gratitude isn’t the practice of, “Well, my life is pretty good I guess so I’ll just give up.” That is complacency, which can often be the antithesis to gratitude. Gratitude fits into the proactive lifestyle. Gratitude simply means that you appreciate what you already have. You must also be grateful for the opportunity to improve even more.

Besides if you aren’t practicing gratitude, then when you do achieve your goals, you won’t appreciate them so they will be worthless anyways. In that sense, gratitude is a critical component of goal-setting.

Just take a few moments each day to look around and be grateful. Gratitude allows you to see how inconsequential all of the little things that bother us are. If your spouse nags you, use gratitude to be thankful that you have someone who loves you.

What are you grateful for?