By: Life Coach Spotter |
Many of us labor under the misapprehension that simply doing our best is enough in life, and that a formal goal setting process is unnecessary. Although it may seem counter-intuitive, just doing your best really isn’t enough. Why? The answer lies primarily in the role of the subconscious, as well as the questions of purpose and motivation.
The Role of the Subconscious
The subconscious plays a strong role in the goal setting and achievement process. As you see yourself set and achieve goals, your subconscious will subscribe to a greater sense of your effectiveness and abilities. Because of the influence your subconscious has on your minute-to-minute thinking, this is critically important.
Additionally, you can deliberately harness the power of your subconscious through looking at and reviewing your goals every day. Ensure that your goals are a part of your everyday life. Don’t let them fade into the background. It is essential that you think about your goals every day, and that they play a constant part in your subconscious and conscious thinking.
Below are some helpful tips for making your goals part of your everyday life:
- Every morning, take time to read your list of goals. Ensure that your goals are always written in a positive way, as we discussed earlier in the guide.
- Visualize the accomplished goal. For example, if your goal is to have a new home, visualize that new home in detail.
- Before you go to bed every night, read your goals and practice your visualization techniques again.
Motivation and Purpose
Goal setting can provide you with along-term vision as well as short-term and long-term motivation. Proper goal setting will allow you to keep track of your goals and celebrate your successes. As your goals are achieved, you’ll feel a great sense of pride and accomplishment, which will help propel you forward. Make sure to acknowledge your success and reward yourself every time a goal is accomplished.
Four Impacts on Performance
Theorists have isolated five ways in which goal setting helps to improve performance. They are listed below:
- Choice: When you set goals, your attention tends to become narrowed and directed to goal-relevant activities, and away from actions that you perceive to be goal-irrelevant or undesirable.
- Effort: When you set goals, you are likely to make more of an effort to accomplish them.
- Persistence: Goal-setting will help you work through life’s obstacles and difficulties.
- Cognition: Goal-setting will make you more likely to develop or change your behavior for the better.
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