We have minds that are more ready to work at a fast pace when they feel they are part of a larger movement, as opposed to feeling like they are battling against all forces. Happiness caused by upbeat music only tends to be there when we are already in a state of positive energy and activity. Having an extra layer of certainty under our layer of activity only adds to our ability to think and act efficiently. The momentum and settings that come with the yearly switch provide this moving conveyor belt to hop onto.
As the switches between years are so far apart in time, one would do well to jump onto the “2009 Activity Train”, as it might be called. Any plans made now will neatly fit into the January-to-December schedule that our minds tend to associate with yearly time. Maintaining an organized set of plans will provide you with a successful feeling when you write the new year’s date down in various places, as you will know that it, as a yearly time frame, has only added to your value. Since one would do well to use a yearly set of goals, as well as monthly sets of goals, this framework would require starting soon enough to make use of all the months for your separate goals.
A large part of the goal-setting that should be performed is understanding that goal-setting might, and probably should, take longer than most are used to. It could be said that the difficult part is the goal-setting, but this is only the case if goals are set properly, as opposed to being idealistically written down for a future self to perform. A goal has to be thought through, mainly in order to see if it is manageable. There should be no written goals that would drag you down over time, as you may get into a discouraging cycle of wondering how you will achieve them. Goals that are manageable will feel like they are reachable in the distance, based on the time allotted for them.
The yearly goals can be easy to create, as they are items that you feel are able to be completed in a lengthy period of time. These goals should be quite large, and they need to be very specific. The effort and time taken to make the goals more refined is saved numerous times over during the year, so crafting them is worth hours, if not a few days. The monthly goals can be written down more quickly, and they should be ones that either are a part of the larger yearly goals, or are temporary goals that could be accomplished within the month. Having both of these types of goals made at this time will allow you to structure your year manageably, fit your goals into the standard calendar we are used to, and absorb the relaxed feeling of not having gotten behind during this calendar year, as you will have the completed goals to present to yourself for reassurance along the way.
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
Good article and thought process. Momentum needs to be captured when ever it arises. Whether that be New Years or because you just completed some small victory. You are very right that goal-setting is often over looked.
The action of goal-setting is the first momentum step and really gets the ball rolling towards it. Listen to this article’s advice and start writing action goals. To expand on what Armen has said, hopefully to his approval, good goals follow several steps. They must be specific actions under your ultimate objective. Most of us use result goals, such as “Make a great presentation,” which would be an ultimate objective. The ultimate objective needs to be clear and precise. Specifically, state exactly what you want and by when do you want it. Then use action goals to accomplish them. An action goal would be “prepare outline,” “rehearse with colleagues.” The second step would be to set daily and weekly goals as as a ladder toward the long term. Make them hard instead of easy. Then create a way to get feedback on a regular basis.
WA LA, your on your ways to your dreams.
Great article Armen.
Nick: I agree completely with that point about capturing momentum. I would bring up a counter-point to make it interesting, but I would normally have said nearly what you said there.
The directness of the rest of your explanation sure does match with the kind of structure that brings about results. Making the goals hard, instead of easy, has a couple of purposes that I would point out. One is that a harder goal is more appealing to inform others about, as a smaller one might be discouraged. Another is that a hard goal partially transforms you into a challenger, as opposed to an item-completer. I was glad to see our matched thoughts here. Thank you for your support Nick.