Set Realistic Goals!
Be Realistic – This is also the R in SMART of SMART Goals fame. It therefore is a very important step.
Why is it so important? Setting up unrealistic goals is setting yourself up for failure.
If the Goal Can’t be Achieved, it likely won’t.
There is an old saying quoted by many Motivational Speakers, Goal Setting Gurus and such. “What the Mind Can Conceive, It Can Achieve.”
However, the quote from Napoleon Hill actually states:
Whatever the mind can conceive and believe, it can achieve.
The mind can conceive many things, some you can’t believe, and that aren’t realistic.
Now at one time, someone once had a vision to Send People to the Moon.
And, at one time, someone thought that probably isn’t realistic.
But, let me be clear here when we talk about Getting Real!
What is Realistic?
If the average 5 year old kid said their goal was to enroll in college as a freshman at age 11, You might try to counsel that kid to set a more realistic goal.
However, 11 Year old Carson Huey-You has enrolled as a freshman at TCU, Texas Christian University. He is taking a full load.
“I’m taking calculus, physics, history and religion. Those are my four classes.” He told CBS 11 News.
Now Carson isn’t your average 11 year old, nor was he your average 5 year old. He was in high school at age 5, graduated with a 4.0 GPA and scored 1770 on his SAT.
An exceptional kid, but it does show that even the most amazing goals can be realistic if they are.
If Carson was the average kid at age 5, in the normal classes, etc., and he set a goal to be in college at 11, he most likely would not have set a realistic goal.
What does this say? Well obviously his parents didn’t tell him he was not college material….
I had the pleasure of attending my senior year in high school with a young lady that had just turned 16. And I thought that was amazing!
In my eBook, 9 Steps To Successful Goal Achievement, we define the R – in SMART Goals, Realistic to be:
Goals that are realistic are determined by what you are willing and able to do to accomplish them. It is what you really believe you can do. Is it something that with the right amount f belief, work and ability you can achieve? |
Have you set goals that you haven’t achieved? Do you know why you didn’t achieve them?
One of the first things you should look at with the goals you didn’t achieve is :
Are you setting goals that are realistic?
Can they be achieved? Not necessarily are they possible to achieve, but can they be achieved in the time frame and with the resources you have available.
You will likely find that the goal was achievable but not Realistic with the deadline, or specifics you set for yourself.
Re-evaluate that goal and see if there is a Realistic way it can be achieved.
Maybe with the parameters you set to achieve this goal, it was unrealistic.
Do you still want to achieve this goal, them redefine The What and look at it to see if it is now Realistic.
When I set my goal to earn my Certified Mortgage Banker designation, I set the deadline to achieve the goal just over 1 year from the day I set the goal.
Now, when I decided to achieve this goal, I had already completed many of the requirements I needed to meet the qualifications for the CMB Designation. When I set the goal, I knew it was Realistic, because I knew what was required AND I knew what I was willing and able to do in the time-frame it would take to complete the requirements.
Had I not had several of the requirements under my belt at that time and I had set the same goal, I would not have been able to achieve it.
The goal of achieving the CMB Designation would not have been unrealistic. The ability to achieve it by the date I wanted to receive it would have been unrealistic. I would have set myself up for failure, and I would have failed.
I would have given the subconscious mind one more “See, I told you weren’t smart enough to be a CMB. Your mom was right, You aren’t college material.” It would have One more negative thought and belief to negative programming it had received through the years.
It is important that you NOT set yourself up for failure. Set Realistic Goals!
What is Realistic in your situation? What is Realistic for you?
If you need some help to understand what I mean by “Be Realistic”, or want to look at tailoring your goals for Successful Goal Achievement, pick up a copy of my eBook – 9 Steps to Successful Goal Achievement.
My eBook, 9 Steps To Successful Goal Achievement is now available. Learn about the other steps you should follow for successful goal achievement.
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This eBook has been one of my goals for years as well. When I created the Goal Getting program, I wanted to share the 9 Steps To Successful Goal Achievement to teach my friends how to set goals effectively and efficiently for maximum Goal Achievement.
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