Why setting goals is a huge part of motivation
Setting goals is a huge part of motivation because without something to work toward, what is the point of motivation? Unless you know what it is you want to accomplish, how can you do it? Life does not happen by accident, you make life happen by working toward goals, dreams, etc. Our life is a manifestation of our actions. If you are in debt it is because by your actions you spent money you did not have. If you are fat it is because you ate calories you did not burn. If you have children it is because you did not use protection. Whether you do things on purpose or not, actions lead to your reality. So, to achieve the reality you want, you have to set goals to get yourself there.
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Setting goals can help you progress and achieve the reality you want, but only when set properly and in a way that works for you. If you want to have and maintain proper motivation to achieve the kind of life you want, use the following guidelines when setting your goals. The way you set and work towards your goals will actually depend on you.
First, think about goals in three categories, and set your goals to achieve progress within those three categories. The categories are short, medium, and long term goals. When you use goals as apart of motivation, you work together in these time frames to get the long term intended result of the life you so desperately want. However, by breaking the goal down, it makes it easier to achieve, easier to track, and makes progress far more likely. When you break goals down like this it is far easier to see how our daily activities become the building blocks of our future.
The best type of motivational idea for illustrating this idea is weight loss. Lets say you are eighty pounds overweight. So, you set a goal to lose 50 pounds in 12 months. This is an admirable goal, and will certainly improve your life. It is also a goal that should be fairly easy to get motivated for since being at a lesser weight will make life more fun, make you more attractive, etc. However, unless you set some medium and short term goals to help you reach your long term goal, it is unlikely you will do so without liposuction or some other medical procedure. Setting those short and medium term goals keep you motivated and give you the building blocks to reach the long term goal.
Using the same goal, let's look at some ways to make it more realistic to be achieved. For example, if your long term goal is to lose 50 pounds in a year, then your medium term would be to lose 25 in six months. Then you would set a series of short term goals to help you get there. If at the 6 month mark you have not lost the 25 points, you would adjust your short term goals to make it possible. Your short term goals might be exercise everyday for a week. Then you reset that goal once you have done it. It might be stop drinking soda for a month. Or avoid desserts for two months. The specifics are up to you, but without the building blocks of short term and medium term goals, you will never stay motivated enough to achieve a long term goal.
