5 Common Mistakes in Setting Personal Goals

 
Setting personal development goals is important since it creates a clear 

direction of where your life should be heading. Goals encourage you to grow and 

become the person that you want to be. They help you achieve things that you 

probably think impossible for you to achieve. If you don't have your own set of 

goals, you might spend the rest of your life fulfilling the goals of the people 

around you.
 
However, you need to be very careful when setting goals for yourself. If you 

don't do it right, it is more likely that you will only be wasting your time and efforts. If you want to create significant changes in your life, you have to 

avoid the common goal setting mistakes listed below.
 
 1. Not putting your goals in writing. Just like any other things, writing your 

goals down allows you to remember them easily. It will also help you keep your 

focus on what you really want instead of the random things that come to your mind

every single day. It gives certain clarity on what you have to achieve, allowing you to come up with better strategies for success.
 
 2. Not creating a system for remembering your goals. Although, writing down 

goals is a good start, you need to have a system for remembering them. You need 

to be constantly reminded of the things that you have to do. One way of doing 

this is by writing your goals on a piece of paper. Then, put that paper where you

can always see it such as on your bathroom door, work/study table or computer 

monitor.
 
 3. Not setting specific or clear goals. The rule in effective goal setting is 

that your goal must be quantifiable or measurable. For example, you want to lose weight. How will you know when you have already reached your goal of losing 

weight? After you've lost 5 or 10 pounds? It would be difficult to track your 

progress if you are aiming for unspecific goals.
 
What you should do is include hard numbers to your goals. By doing so, you are 

creating a finish line for yourself which allows you to say when you have finally

succeeded.
 
 4. Not setting realistic goals. So, you now have a set of specific goals. 

Fantastic! The next thing to do is make sure that they are realistic or 

attainable. Nothing can kill your motivation faster than unrealistic goals. If 

you want to lose 5 pounds in a week, that would be a great goal, measurable and 

realistic. But if you say, you want to lose 5 pounds in a day, that's called day dreaming. Unrealistic goals are overwhelming and often results to procrastination.
 
 5. Not having a plan. Achieving your goals doesn't end in just having a goal. 

Of course, you have to make them happen. You have to create a plan on how to be 

where you want to be. You may need to do a bit of research before creating a 

plan. You may search the Internet or ask your friends who have actually been to 

where you want to be for some advice.
 
Create a clear, specific and practical plan to achieve your goals. However, be 

careful of over-planning. Otherwise, you might not get started at all. You also 

have to remember that when it comes to planning, you have to be very flexible. 

Make room for the things that might happen unexpectedly.
 
When things don't go as planned, you need to be able to adjust your actions 

based on what is actually happening around you. Analyze the situation and create another plan of action.