One Action You Must Do Before Setting Your Goals

The one action you must take before setting any goals is REFLECTION.

Reflecting on where you have been and where you are is important to determining where you are going to go. [Tweet This]

“Without reflection, we go blindly on our way, creating more unintended consequences, and failing to achieve anything useful.” ~Margaret J. Wheatley

Benefits of Reflection

• Understand the why. Through reflection you can start to figure out why you want to set this particular goal. Knowing the why will give the goal a deeper purpose.  Because you know the true purpose you will be more likely to succeed.
• Understand who you are. Reflecting on why goals are important and our purpose behind them will help you understand yourself better. Knowing who we are can give each of us a better idea of how we have come to be this way and where we want to go in the future.
• Understand ways to change and improve. Goals are about change. Using reflection as a tool can empower each of us to see areas in our lives needing change or improvement.  Change is how we as humans grow, become better people, and accomplish great things!

How To Use Reflection in Goal Setting

1. Determine the goal you want to set.

Example: I will lose 10 pounds in the next 10 weeks.

2. Why is this goal important to you? What is driving you to complete this goal? Restate the goal from above and add “because” to the end of the sentence and answer the why?

Example: I will lose 10 pounds in the next 10 weeks BECAUSE I want to feel better about my body. have more energy and create healthy habits.

3. Ask yourself: What has stopped me from accomplishing this goal in the past?

Example: I didn’t have any idea how to lose 10 pounds or I wasn’t losing the weight as quickly as I thought I would.

4. What fears do I have about this goal?

Example: I am afraid I won’t lose the 10 pounds and accomplish my goal and be seen as a failure.

5. How do you think you will feel when you accomplish this goal?

Example: I will feel like I have more energy, feel better about myself, and feel like I am more active.

 By taking the time to reflect on a goal you want to set you will be  intentionally considering why this particular goal is important to you, why you want to accomplish it and the obstacles you may face that could deter you.

Spending time reflecting will increase the probably of following through and accomplishing your goal.

What other questions do you use to reflect and help establish your goals?