The importance of Goal Setting

Another lesson that I've learnt over the years is that if you dont have something that you are working towards - a 'goal', you'll never find a true happiness.

Goal setting is super important, goals help us believe in ourselves and when we achieve our goals a significant amount of dopamine is released in our brains.
The hormone dopamine, excites nervous pathways providing us with a sense of fulfillment which obviously we would like to repeat. Therefore achievement and the release of dopamine sets us up for future success.

Do you want to mosey through life, attending to the whims of everyone bar yourself? Controlled by a job that is unfulfilling? Or surrounded by people that negatively impact your mental state of health?

I wouldn't be surprised if the answer is No!
We all intrinsically want our happiness to be a priority, to have a fulfilling career and be surrounded by positive people.

Here's a quick step by step guide to goal setting:

Don't let pre-conceived notions of is and isn't define your goals. Think outside the box, your mind can achieve anything that you set it too
Work on a plan of attack, start today - take baby steps. turn mountains into hills
Goals should be specific and exact, but be made up of an over-arching goal but be made up of smaller daily goals, weekly goals and monthly goals.
Give yourself a time frame. All great things take time.
Write it down, make yourself accountable. Create a vision board- sometimes these little things actually help a goal to stick
Revisit your goals - any goal should not be concrete, it should be specific but also flexible. It is a good idea to re-assess your goals daily, weekly, monthly, just to keep yourself on the right track

Some of my goals include -

Being more active on my blog. This is over-arching goal - daily I think about topics that I could potentially write on and begin to research facets of these topics that I am unsure about. Weekly, I may start a draft or two and start refining those ideas. Then monthly, I aim to complete two or more blog posts in entirety.
Exercising regularly. Daily I follow a new training plan - Shortcut to Shred by Jim Stoppani. This is a part of a larger goal, to have abs for my Europe trip. Weekly I attend the gym 6 out of the 7 days, as well as going for walks with the pooch Ratchet. And then within the next month I intend on being fighting fit to climb those European mountains, engorge on all the delightful food and drink all the wine I can.
Practicing self-care and meditation - daily I write lists and address any stress that rears its ugly head. Weekly I try to meditate 2-3 times - I often find this difficult as my schedule is already cram packed. And collectively, I am working towards having a more whole and steady mindset by the end of 2016. This goal has other avenues as well, including seeing a counsellor and regularly being social and catching up with close friends.

As you can see, Goals need an over-arching aspect but do need to be made up of micro-steps that can be completed at a daily, weekly and monthly interval. I have divulged some of my goals to you all as a means of holding myself accountable. This is sometimes a great plan for success too, If you ever feel like you'll let yourself down, confide your plan in a good friend and get them to prop you up. Accountability partners can be the best motivation you have at times!

A good friend once told me that a smart goal is an effective goal - so when you are planning your next move remember that #thrivergy

-S: Specific

-M: Measurable

-A: Action

-R: Realistic

-T: Timeline

And remember that...

Setting goals is the first step in turning the invisible into visible

What are some of your goals?

Peace love and happiness
Sarah xxx