Goal Setting Training typically consists of various parts. First you think of your goal, make it SMART and then power yourself to give you enough energy to achieve the goal. And most people give themselves this required momentum by using techniques like positive affirmations.
Using SMART Goal Setting
Take for example, I want to buy a house within the next 10 years. That’s my goal. The next step is to make it SMART.
S – Specific – So, I can say I want to buy a 2 bedroom flat, in some specific area, say Bandra West locality of Mumbai. I can get even more specific by specifying the area of the flat, which floor of the building I want it on, etc. The more specific, the better. It gives your mind less scope for adding details that may go against what you actually want. Like if I don’t envision buying a house with 2 balconies, I could well land up with none, which may be a complete deal breaker for me!
M – Measurable – How will I know I have achieved my goal? Perhaps, by getting the keys of the house in my hand. I can also make a note of the milestones I need to have in place to know that I am headed towards my goal. So, it could be, say, I will keep aside Rs. 20,000 from my monthly salary for the same. If I am able to do this, I am headed in the right direction.
A – Achievable – Can I really reach my goal? Is it possible? Well, I need Rs. 2 crore to buy such a flat in Bandra. Considering my current salary, is it possible for me to save Rs. 20,000 from my salary every month? I’ll need to consider my current and possible future expenses for the same. And considering that I can, will I be able to reach Rs. 2 crore within the next 10 years?
R – Relevant – Does buying this house make sense for me? In other words, is it worthwhile the effort? Do I really need or want it? This is a very important question as it checks your motivation levels. And if it’s not enough, trust me reaching your goal is going to get really difficult!
T – Timebound – Is the 10 year target I have set for myself enough. Is it practical? Or do I need to extend it based on my calculation. Also, 10 years is a vague figure. Can I specify a date instead? Maybe I can say I want to buy the flat by 31st December, 2032.
As you can see, making the goal SMART gave us a really clear picture of where we want to go, why we want to go there and how we plan to reach there.
Next comes empowering our vision.
Fuelling our Dream
Now that we are clear about where we are heading, we need to ensure we have enough fuel to get there. In other words, we need to ensure we stay motivated along the journey.
Now different people use different techniques for this. Some may paste a picture of their goal on the board in front of them, while others may use creative visualisation. Yet there are others who use Positive Affirmations for the same.
Today, I want to tell you the secret of how you can make this fuelling process more successful. After all, we all set New Year’s resolutions every year, but how many of us actually see them through? We do use techniques like the one’s mentioned above and they do help us. But do they really help you go all the way till the end?
I’m guessing they may not every time. And today I’m going to tell you why you still lose steam inspite of doing all of these so diligently!
Ready?
The Negative Pull
Have you noticed that while all these techniques give you a thrust at the start, you still fall back after some time? Its as if there’s some negative force which overpowers the positivity that these techniques create and pull you back?
Yes, this is in fact what happens. And where is this negative force? No, its not in the circumstances outside or the people around you that come in the way. So, if I am not able to save the Rs. 20,000 every month after some time, I can’t blame things on the outside. If my monthly expenditure goes up because of the increasing needs of my family or because my outside situation changes, like maybe I lose my job, I can’t blame them. Why? Because our outside world is simply a reflection of our inner state.
Now what does inner state mean? It means your subconscious mind, the part that lies deep within your mind and the part you are not aware about. It’s the part that stores your thoughts, emotions, attitudes and beliefs.
The subconscious mind is a very powerful force as it makes up approximately 90% of your mind. While the conscious part, the one we are aware of, forms only about 10%. So, even if your conscious mind keeps repeating that it wants the house, if your subconscious mind has other things in mind, its not going to happen! In other words, even if I diligently keep repeating the affirmation that “I own a 2 bedroom house in Bandra,” if my subconscious mind has the belief stored “I’m not worthy of getting a 2 bedroom house in Bandra,” that will be the end of it. It will nullify whatever positive movement the affirmations are creating, and you won’t be able to achieve your goal.
And on top of that…
This process will in fact lead to a lot of inner turmoil within you. Just imagine, one part of your mind saying I want the house and the other saying but you’re not worthy of it. Its like the angel and devil both coming alive within you and quarrelling!
And can you guess who will win? It will typically be your subconscious mind as it’s the stronger of the two. Now why I say ‘typically’ is because it depends on the intensity of the negative force the subconscious mind decides to put up. So, if you foster stronger beliefs of unworthiness, the force will be strong. If it’s not so strong, the affirmation may be able to overpower it.
In other words, whether the positive affirmation will work or not depends upon what beliefs are stored in your subconscious mind and how powerful they are. And the more powerful, the more difficult it’s going to be!
Making it Work
So, to make your goal setting and its achievement successful what should you do then? No, don’t increase the number of affirmations you do in a day or do more creative visualisations! Instead, work on your subconscious mind, the root of the problem. After all, its not just one thing you want to achieve in your life. And you can well imagine how much havoc beliefs like being unworthy can create along the paths of most of them!