Goal Setting Depression
You make goals; you break goals,
it’s all the same …
You know what you want, but you just don’t know …
How to go about getting it
Feeling sweet feelings,
If only I would do this …
(sung to the tune “Manic Depression” – by Jimi Hendrix)
I don’t know about you, but many people don’t set goals. And if they do, they don’t achieve them. And then they join the crowd of naysayers chanting goals don’t work. When the truth is, most goal setters don’t work … at setting goals correctly so they are achievable.
So I think it’s time you understood how goal setting works. And it does work if you do it right.
What Gets You Up In The Morning?
What was the first thing – the very first thing -you did when you woke up today?
Was it turning off the alarm clock that woke you up?
Even though you were not yet fully conscious – you had an objective, a goal to perform – What was it? …
To turn that %@#& noise off!
What was one of the next first things you did?
Again, an automatic and natural objective or goal, get to the toilet for relief.
Another natural goal you would have had at some point in time after getting up is to eat.
And so your day starts with the natural process of reaching goals.
Using Your Natural Goal-Setting Ability
Your mind has a natural ability to set and accomplish goals. Everything you do throughout your day uses this wonderful automatic goal-achievement process.
Even if you don’t do anything – that is still a goal!
Go back to last night when setting your alarm clock. Your goal was to get up at a particular hour. Yet when your alarm clock went off this morning, your goal may have changed to – hit the snooze button and get a bit more sleep – it was still a goal.
To get up or to sleep in, a goal is a goal. And goals are the natural system we use to get to where we want to be, short-term or long.
If you don’t know where you are going, you will probably end up somewhere else.
Laurence Peter
I say goal setting is natural because it is programmed in as a process or strategy we learn to get the things we want to have, naturally, without conscious thinking a lot of the time.
You will set and change goals knowingly at the conscious level – like, what to eat for breakfast – and at the unconscious level – like, going to the toilet – all day long for your whole life.
It Really Is Think And Grow …
The basic ingredient for setting goals is thinking – in words, pictures, and with feelings.
You think of something you want, perhaps have a discussion in your head as you visualize an outcome picture and then notice how it feels to have it. Then, you compare the outcome with the input and make a decision to do the process of getting it – or not.
So, the outcome must feel good enough for you to put in the effort to achieve the goal. That’s why going to the toilet is more motivating than the alarm clock in the morning.
You may have noticed that many of your goals start with a decision of – this or that – black and white type questioning. And those questions will be based on information that you have available at the present time.
But also important to know is they are also based on information you do not have because of questions you did not ask and answer.
Back To That %@#& Alarm Clock
It’s time to use your alarm clock example again.
When your alarm clock went off this morning, did you ask yourself:
1) Do I want to get up and enjoy this beautiful day practicing healthy, wholesome living so I can become more wealthy and happy, embracing all life’s pleasures and helping others to enjoy and live better lives too?
2) Do I want to stay in bed and feel bad because I missed precious moments of my wonderful life experience sleeping the day away?
Uh … probably not.
You probably acted on the instant feel-good of smacking down the snooze button before asking yourself, how important is my job anyway …