| Effective goal setting: Goals
should be specific.
Goals should be behavioral. What is the exact behavior you are going to change.
Goals should be positive, not negative--focus on what you want to do rather than on
what you want to avoid doing.
Set performance based, rather than outcome based goals.
Develop an action plan of what you need to do to achieve your goals. Set definite
time spans for goal attainment.
Goals should be measurable.
Measure your performance, obtain feedback, and adjust (raise or lower) goals as
necessary.
Set challenging, but realistic goals. Goals should be neither easy, nor
impossible.
|
|
|
Obstacles to effective goal setting: Setting
too many goals too soon.
Excessive levels of life stress.
Social pressures to maintain the status quo.
Ambivalence about changing.
Failing to modify unrealistic goals.
Blaming setbacks on one's personality (e.g. "I lack of willpower") instead of
a lack of skills.
Not enough effort.
Low self-efficacy -- "I can't change." Not believing you can change is
the biggest obstacle to change. |
