Goals and Expectations

Goal setting seems to be one of the very best things we can do in order to accomplish the things we are working towards. For example many people have the goal to lose weight or to improve their appearance and overall well being. Those are great goals and for the most part they are goals that all of us should keep working towards in one form or another.

The problem with these types of goals is that they can be very vague and unspecific. Usually the individual sets the goal but has no real plan on how to achieve it .

Don’t be alarmed you have not set yourself up for failure just yet, in fact you have done the most important thing we can do in goal setting which is to identify the main objective. Now all we have to do is set a course on how to get there!

This is where expectations come into play. This is important because so often many people set unrealistic expectations for themselves and it causes them to come up short when it comes to reaching their goals.

If your goal was to lose weight, be realistic on how much you are going to set out to lose and on how committed you are to reaching that goal. Here are a few suggestions you can take to identify you expectations.

1. Talk to others that have done or are doing the same thing you would like to work towards. Learning from their experience may be very helpful to what we can expect to accomplish.
2. Look at your current schedule. If you don’t have one, make one. How much time is there available to work towards you goal? Is there anything that can be eliminated or adjusted to help you make time?
3. Set a priority list. What are you going to do first? If your goal is to lose 20lbs the first thing you do is not going to be make those 20lbs magically disappear, smaller things will have to be done first.
4. Set “mini” goals, such as taking these suggestions and applying them. Then once the ball is rolling keep setting benchmarks along the way.
5. Reevaluate! This can be done on a weekly basis. Look at what you have done well and what you have done poorly. The little failures are just learning experiences as to not what to do. The biggest mistake we can make is not believing that we are capable of making a mistake! Better yet reevaluating gives us the opportunity to let you see what you have accomplished and will keep us motivated.
6. Hold yourself accountable. The best way I can think of doing this is to write it done but there are so many other ways we have available to us today another form may be more convenient. Choose something that will work for you.