Goal Setting Mistakes

Goal setting is a powerful process for thinking about your ideal future and for motivating yourself to turn your vision of this future into a reality.  There are hundreds of research studies going back decades, showing that setting goals can increase people’s performance.

However, poorly set goals can decrease your motivation, resulting in frustration and a lack of effectiveness.  Most have heard the goal-setting mantra that goals should be specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and time-targeted (S.M.A.R.T.), but few people recognize the dangers of poor goal-setting and the unintended consequences that can follow.

Ever wonder what the common goal setting mistakes are that a lot of people make?

I have people send me their goals all the time.  The biggest mistake that I see a lot of people make in setting their goals is that they are too general and/or vague.

You need to keep your goals simple and straightforward.  Focus your emphasis clearly on what you want to achieve.  Always remember that clarity is power.

If you want some examples of how to set goals, check out my blog monthly goals report.

Watch the video below:

(Click here to watch on YouTube)

Video transcript

All right guys, quick video on goal setting mistakes. I have people send me their goals all the time. I recently put out an Instagram post asking people to share their number one goal. The biggest mistake that I see a lot of people make in setting their goals is that their goals are way too general and way too vague; they're not specific in any way.

Clarity is power

The more specific, the clearer you can be about exactly what it is that you want, your brain will find a way to get there. It's almost like if you want to go to a certain destination in your car. You've got to know exactly where you going, the exact address, the exact location so that you can build a strategy in the road map to actually get there.

A lot of people, they just set such general goals that there's no way of knowing exactly what they want and then people are so afraid of alienating anything that they're just trying to put something out there and accept whatever shows up. You've got to define exactly what you want.

SMART formula

You always want to remember when it comes to goal setting to use the SMART formula. SMART is an acronym that stands for Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, and having a Timeline. The timeline is very important as well, exactly what you want by a certain date.

The timeline creates that urgency within yourself and makes it something that becomes real for you. It's not until you actually schedule something and actually set a date for when you're going to achieve it by, that's when it becomes real as opposed to just some areas of your dream that's in your head.

Make sure your goals are specific

Always remember that, guys. Make sure that your goals are specific. If you guys want some examples on how to set goals, check out my blog, my monthly goals reports, where I set my goals every single year. I also have a great goal setting workshop that's been really popular over the years as well showing you exactly how I set my goals for the year.

Make sure that you revisit that. Hopefully, when people send me their goals, they'll be more specific, clearer and actually following that philosophy. Thanks for watching guys. Leave your goals below. Leave a comment below sharing what some of your goals are and I'll give some feedback on them as well. Talk to you soon.