The Importance of Setting Goals

[chesty leroux]

Hello friends, I am going to be doing a presentation on the importance of setting goals. I know everyone here is very motivated and probably good at goal setting. I was wondering if anyone had any resources to reccomed, books etc, i need to cite three sources, and also and quotes or anything like that. I know bodybuilding and fitness have very much to do wtih gola setting so please help me out!!!!!!!!!!1

thanks -ash

[finbarrio]

Hi Ash-

A book that literally changed my life talked a lot about goal setting. It's called Pathfinder by Nicholas Lore. Here's a link to it on Amazon http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0684823993/104-0261513-0584762?v=glance&n=283155. If I can dig it up at home, I'll send you some quotes from it (rather than you having to buy/read it).

 

Btw, I love the name chesty leroux. That's the funniest name on here.

 

Best,

Finn

[finbarrio]

Sorry for the longest post ever, but I figured you might not have time to read the book. Hope this helps.

 

Allright - you wanted quotes, I got quotes. Here's a cool quote about goals:

"In the long run you only hit what you aim at. Therefore, though you should fail immediately, you had better aim at something high." (Thoreau)

 

Here is some of what Nicholas Lore's 'Pathfinder' book says about goals. I've tried to summarize how it flows in the book ("quotes" are from the book):

> "It's important that your goals represent what YOU really want. Not what your parents, boss, teachers want, but what YOU want." This is important because:

> It's important to COMMIT to your goal. "If you make a personal commitment to your goal, you're more likely to achieve it." A good way to do it is by keeping a journal, writing down your goal, and then writing "I commit to (goal)..."

> There are 3 different levels of goals: Meta goals, Specific goals, and Projects.

> "At the highest level are big, comprehensive 'meta-goals.' Meta goals usually express large, abstract ideas like good health, true love, security..."

> Next level down is 'specific goals'. These are more defined. "Under the meta-goal 'security' you might set specific goals regarding your income, savings, retirement, controlling spending..." You might set a specific goal under security as "I commit to saving as much as I can".

> The lower level involves projects: "this is the nitty gritty, step-by-step plans to making your dreams come true." Again, under the meta goal of security and the specific goal of saving, one of the project level goals might be "I commit to putting $200 into my mutual fund account every month". You might have another that says "I will maintain a savings balance of $500 in case of emergencies."

> "Wherever possible, make your goals measurable". The above examples involving actual sums are good examples of making goals measurable (as opposed to having a goal of "I will put as much as I can into my mutual fund account")

> "Manage and revisit your goals often". When you complete a goal, mark it done. So with our above example, you might revisit your journal once a month. If you have deposited $200 in your mutual fund account, you mark that as complete for the month. It helps to organize your goals, and to give you that sense of accomplishment. Also, you may wish to change your goals, or get rid of your goals during the "goal management" time.

> "Set goals that take you as far as you are willing to stretch...but not farther". This sounds a bit abstract, but here's a way to represent it: on the very left side of a piece of paper you write down a reasonable, attainable goal. Then on the very right, you write down a limitless, wildest dreams goal. Then, in between you write the steps it would take to go from reasonable to wildest dreams. Then figure out how far you are willing to stretch. Brainstorm, talk to other people who have reached their goals - then revisit that page and see if you can stretch yourself further. Lore quotes Arthur C. Clarke here: "The only way to discover the limits of your possible is to go beyond them into the impossible."

I'm trying to think of an example for this - let's say your "reasonable" goal is a pay raise of 5% (left side of paper), while your "impossible" goal is to make a million bucks a year (right side of paper). In between you might put goals of $100k and $500k. Then in between those you might put goals re what it would take to get to each. To get to $100k, you might need your MBA. To get to $500k, you'd have to work your way up to CEO - to get to that, you'd need to attend conferences, workshops, kiss some butt, get some things published etc. You may find that $100k becomes your attainable goal. So your chart might look like this:

(left of paper to right) 5%--MBA---100k---attend conferences and workshops---kiss butt---get published---become VP---become CEO---$500k------- 1million (very right side).

Then, as you're getting toward your 100k goal, you might find that $500k is getting a bit more attainable, so you might change your goal. This might be an awful example in terms of what YOU want out of life (I know it is for me), but it's the first thing I could think of.

 

So, that's my synopsis of his chapter on goals.

 

Here's a personal example using this method:

> After reading his book, I "committed" to 'living a principled life.'

> I refined that meta goal into something of a personal motto: To "Live True". This reaches into virtually all aspects of my life.

> One specific goal of living true was to become vegan. I'd been veggie for a long time, but ignored what I knew to be true about the dairy industry because I loved cheese. In order to 'live true', I had to admit that dairy was cruel and I had to quit it. I had to become vegan.

> Under that specific goal of becoming vegan, I have various projects such as learning to cook varied foods, learning more about veganism and animal rights/welfare, spreading the word when I get the chance.

> I keep a journal that I revisit regularly. In it I do fairly regular "check-ups" on various specific goals: my job, my house, my relationship, my music, health, fitness, being vegan. This helps my track my progress, motivates me to work on certain things, helps me celebrate my accomplishments.

 

I hope that helps you somewhat. Lemme know if you have any questions.

[Gorilla]

That's awesome, finbarrio.

 

There's also 'Awaken the Giant Within' by Anthony Robbins:

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthony_Robbins

 

I know Robbins has come under criticism over the issue of plagiarism, and the Stanley Williams case, but for all that, he has helped thousands, including me, to improve themselves.

 

Then there's 'The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People' by Stephen R. Covey:

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Seven_Habits_of_Highly_Effective_People

[CrispyQ]

I posted this here some time ago, but it is always relevant when discussing goal setting.

===

 

In First Things First, Stephen Covey tells a great story:

 

One day an expert in time management was speaking to a group of business students. As he stood in front of the group of high-powered overachievers he said, "Okay, time for a quiz." He then pulled out a one-gallon, wide-mouthed Mason jar and set it on the table. He produced about a dozen fist-sized rocks and carefully placed them one at a time into the jar. When the jar was filled to the top and no more rocks would fit inside, he asked, "Is this jar full?" Everyone in the class said, "Yes." Then he said, "Really?"

 

He reached under the table and pulled out a bucket of gravel. Then he dumped some gravel in and shook the jar causing it to work down into the space between the big rocks. Then he asked the group once more, "Is the jar full?" By this time the class was on to him. "Probably not," one of them answered. "Good!" he replied.

 

He reached under the table and brought out a bucket of sand and started dumping the sand in the jar until it filled the spaces left between the rocks and the gravel. Once more he asked the question, "Is this jar full?" No!" the class shouted. Once again he said, "Good."

 

Then he grabbed a pitcher of water and began to pour it in until the jar was filled to the brim. Then he looked at the class and asked, "What is the point of this illustration?"

 

One eager beaver raised his hand and said, "The point is, no matter how full your schedule is, if you try really hard you can always fit some more things in it!" "No," the speaker replied, "that's not the point."

 

"The truth this illustration teaches us is that if you don't put the big rocks in first, you'll never get them in at all. What are the 'big rocks' in your life? Your children, your loved ones, your education, your dreams, a worthy cause, teaching others, doing things that you love, your health; your mate. Remember to put these BIG ROCKS in first or you'll never get them in at all. If you sweat about the little stuff then you'll fill your life with little things and you'll never have the real quality time you need to spend on the big, important stuff."big

 

So, tonight, or in the morning, when you are reflecting on this short story, ask yourself this question: What are the 'big rocks' in my life? Then, put those in your jar first.

[Gorilla]

Yeah that's a cool illustration.

[chesty leroux]

Thanks so much finbarrio, I really appreciate that you typed that all out for me!!!!!!

 

And thanks everyone else as well!

[finbarrio]

My pleasure - it was good to revisit that stuff.

 

Good luck on your presentation!