Goal Creation: How-To Create Goals that Inspire
My Two Biggest Learnings on Goal Creation from The Beautiful You Coaching Academy
“If you want to be happy, set a goal that commands your thoughts, liberates your energy and inspires your hopes.”
-Andrew Carnegie
“To lose ten lbs before Memorial Day.”
“To be tone and in shape ahead of Mary’s wedding.”
“To complete Whole 30.”
“To achieve Dry January.”
These were several of the New Year’s Resolutions I created for myself a few years back, when I thought a goal was all about what I was losing, not necessarily about what I would be gaining in return. I am not supposed to say this as a Life Coach, but I really use to find goals boring. In school, we learned that goals should be: Specific, Measurable, Achievable…{yada, yada} this then evolved to work, as we were asked to create quarterly and annual goals. As a result, I began to associate goals with school and work and found that when I tried to apply them to my personal life, that they did not get me going; that they did not motivate me.
I transitioned to creating personal goals on a monthly basis to give it one more try: I wrote down each goal and posted them on my bulletin board. They usually consisted of some of the examples above plus “read three books by month’s end”, “organize closet” or “eat clean.”
I mean, no wonder it took me way more than one month to accomplish them, if at all, they were b.o.r.i.n.g. and unclear. They read like a task list item vs. a big vision and completely lacked emotion behind them.
What I didn’t understand at this time, is that when you set a goal, that you ultimately establish a personal mantra.
Vocabulary.com (you know I love a good online dictionary) used a fantastic example when explaining what a mantra is: it is as if you are repeating in your head “I think I can, I think I can, I think I can.” You want to feel emotion stir within you when you read your goal back, you want it to pump you up, inspire you and move you into action to achieve it.
It needs to be one bad ass statement that will move your ass into high gear.
This hit me like a ton of bricks when I underwent my Life Coach training with Beautiful You Coaching Academy (a academy that is sincerely composed of the most heart-centered women across the world coming together with one common goal: to help others, it was cheer champ for the soul, I struck gold discovering it on Google - or I was guided to it, either way, thank you, Universe!).
We underwent extensive training on goal creation and what I thought would start off as a basic overview on what goals were quickly turned to an “aha” moment for me when I read the sentence: “People create and set goals because they are responding to an inner desire and calling to live a more richer, fulfilled life.”
BAM
(-Beautiful You Coaching Academy)
Two of the greatest takeaways from my learnings that shifted my view on goals from boring to essential are as follows:
1. A goal should be positive. It should be framed in a way that allows you to focus on what you will gain instead of what you are giving up. For example, instead of focusing on how you will “Lose 10 lbs” you reframe it to read “Feel the strongest and most confident I’ve ever felt” or “Complete a half-marathon.”
2. Then taking that a step further and define the feelings or emotions against what it is you will obtain once you achieve it. For example, “I know I will feel the strongest and most confident I’ve ever felt when I wake up feeling lighter, I feel unstoppable when I run a mile and am not out of breath, that I look in the mirror and smile at myself and am overcome with pure energy, optimism and inner-peace as a result of my hard work.”
It is simply a statement or string of words you have written down unless you define the desired outcome or emotions as a result of achieving it.
Write down words that inspire, evoke positive emotions, excite and challenge you; then read it out loud and allow yourself to feel the energy behind it.
As to not overwhelm you with my excitement surrounding goal creation and achievement, I will lastly leave you with this:
“You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream.”
I’ve said this before and I will say it again, because it is something that I struggled with myself, do not let age or perceived lack of experience become a roadblock in dreaming new dreams or setting new goals: it is your life, and you have every right and permission to set forth visions that will improve your quality of life at any age or any stage.
Dream up a storm.
Create meaningful goals.
& live your life to the fullest every day.