The Impoprtance Of Setting Goals In Any Diet ProgramThe setting of goals in any diet program sets the tone. You will fail any diet if goals are not set. You need to know what you want and a way to get it. Setting of both short term and long term goals are necessary. The first step is to sit down with pen and some 3x5 cards and get ready to write down your goals. Figure your goals for daily, weekly, monthly, and finally a year away. You need to be specific, such as I will have 5 balanced meals daily, or I will lose 2 pounds a week for a specific time period. Why are goals important? Goal setting is an important method of: * Deciding what is important for you to achieve in your life * Separating what is important from what is irrelevant * Motivating yourself to achievement * Building your self-confidence based on measured achievement of goals Goal setting techniques are used by top-level athletes, successful business-people and achievers in all fields. They give you long-term vision and short-term motivation. They focus your acquisition of knowledge and help you to organize your time and your resources so that you can make the very most of your life. By setting sharp, clearly defined goals, you can measure and take pride in the achievement of those goals. You can see forward progress in what might previously have seemed a long pointless grind. By setting goals, you will also raise your self-confidence, as you recognize your ability and competence in achieving the goals that you have set. Goals are set on a number of different levels: First you decide what your long term goals are and what how long it is going to take to achieve this goal. Second, you break these down into the smaller and smaller targets that you must hit so that you reach your long term goals. Finally, once you have your plan, you start working to achieve it. The process of setting goals helps you choose where you want to go in life. By knowing precisely what you want to achieve, you know where you have to concentrate your efforts. You'll also quickly spot the distractions that would otherwise lure you from your course. More than this, properly-set goals can be incredibly motivating, and as you get into the habit of setting and achieving goals, you'll find that your self-confidence builds fast. Unlike animals with their internal programming called instinct, the human mind has the colossal potential for reasoning, coming to conclusions, thinking things through. So desires start in the mind. Research has shown that impulses are transmitted through electro chemical processes across the synapses, tiny spaces less than one millionth of an inch across, which separate the brain cells or neurons. Patterns and tracks are formed in our thinking processes. Think the same thought regularly and it becomes a habit forming a deep track like a well-used path across a field. On the other hand, an occasional thought may pass through the mind and be forgotten just like a path seldom used which becomes overgrown. Now apply this information to the kind of desires you need to cultivate before you set goals. A desire may come into the mind and soon be forgotten in the everyday hum drum of life. But keep thinking about it, keep your mind focused on it and what happens? The desire becomes strong, very strong. The following broad guidelines will help you to set effective goals: * State each goal as a positive statement: Express your goals positively - 'Execute this technique well' is a much better goal than 'Don't make this stupid mistake' * Be precise: Set a precise goal, putting in dates, times and amounts so that you can measure achievement. If you do this, you will know exactly when you have achieved the goal, and can take complete satisfaction from having achieved it. * Set priorities: When you have several goals, give each a priority. This helps you to avoid feeling overwhelmed by too many goals, and helps to direct your attention to the most important ones. * Write goals down: this crystallizes them and gives them more force. * Keep operational goals small: Keep the low-level goals you are working towards small and achievable. If a goal is too large, then it can seem that you are not making progress towards it. Keeping goals small and incremental gives more opportunities for reward. Derive today's goals from larger ones. * Set performance goals, not outcome goals: You should take care to set goals over which you have as much control as possible. There is nothing more dispiriting than failing to achieve a personal goal for reasons beyond your control. These could be bad business environments, poor judging, bad weather, injury, or just plain bad luck. If you base your goals on personal performance, then you can keep control over the achievement of your goals and draw satisfaction from them. * Set realistic goals: It is important to set goals that you can achieve. All sorts of people (parents, media, and society) can set unrealistic goals for you. They will often do this in ignorance of your own desires and ambitions. Alternatively you may be naive in setting very high goals. You might not appreciate either the obstacles in the way, or understand quite how much skill you need to develop to achieve a particular level of performance. * Do not set goals too low: Just as it is important not to set goals unrealistically high, do not set them too low. People tend to do this where they are afraid of failure or where they are lazy! You should set goals so that they are slightly out of your immediate grasp, but not so far that there is no hope of achieving them. No one will put serious effort into achieving a goal that they believe is unrealistic. However, remember that your belief that a goal is unrealistic may be incorrect. If this could be the case, you can to change this belief by using imagery effectively. Article Directory: http://www.articledashboard.com
The author has been a dieter for over thirty years and has tried hundreds of diets, pills, and potions. He has dedicated his time and resources in his newsletter Lose The Fat Safely Newsletter You can also read some of his articles, reviews, and his recipes, from some of the best culinary minds at Losethefatsafely.com |
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