The importance of setting realistic goals...
I recently embarked on an ambitious personal project. However only a couple of weeks into the 2 month project, I realized that the plan I'd laid out just wasn't realistic. So where did I go wrong and how will I be more realistic about setting goals next time?
To start off with, I'd broken the project down into manageable pieces - tasks if you like. Each of the tasks was less than half of one day in duration. I then set out the tasks in logical order and estimated the total time it would take based on the time I had available to me. And based on these estimates, it was a 2 month project.
As I said before, after 2 weeks, I'd fallen well behind the schedule. I decided to take the time to work out what had gone wrong with my planning. When I went back through my completed tasks I confirmed that I was completing them in approximately the time I'd estimated. So why was I falling behind?
The answer turned out to be simple enough. I'd overestimated the amount of time I had available to work on my project each week. I'd been way too optimistic. This is natural enough. Some might say it's human nature. But the reality is that we all have family and friends that need our attention. And the best laid plans are easily derailed by unexpected events. There wasn't one single thing that ate into my available time but rather a whole raft of smaller things which collectively were enough to derail my project.
The danger now is that I could become discouraged and give up. This is what could happen if you set unrealistic goals for yourself. So what steps have I taken in my efforts in re-planning? Well there are 2 main things.
First of all, I have been a lot more realistic about how much time I have available. By being conservative, I'm hoping that I can remain on schedule and therefore stay motivated through to completion. Regardless of the strength of my time management skills, I just can't manufacture the extra hours I need out of thin air. And there is only so much sleep deprivation one can manage.
The other thing I've done is to schedule "catch up days". In fact one day each week has become a catch up day. The idea of this day is to tidy up any loose ends - any tasks which aren't quite complete or which didn't have a level of quality which I was happy with. This will help me to deal with anything unexpected which crops up during the week and should ensure a higher overall quality at the end.
Hopefully these steps will do the trick. With my new plan, built around some more realistic goal setting, I should be able to stay on track this time.
Realistic Goal Setting
Motivation To Exercise
Are you looking for help with motivation to do exercise?
Being physically fit is great. You feel better, both physically and mentally, your self esteem is sky high and life is much more enjoyable. But if you're like most people , you need a little push to get you started on the path towards physical fitness. In this article I'll share some strategies to help you not only get motivated but also to maintain your motivation.
Exercise With A Partner:
This is a great motivation strategy for two reasons. Firstly, by training with a partner, you'll feel an obligation to attend each training session. On the days when you can't be bothered going out, knowing that your training partner is waiting for you and that you'll be letting them down if you don't show up can be a powerful motivating force. Secondly, while you're actually training, the session is more beneficial when you have someone else to push you. You're less likely to take a short cut or stop and walk if there is someone else there to keep you honest. Most days I run with a friend and there have been numerous occasions when I've been feeling lack-luster, yet he's twisted my arm just enough to get me out on the track. Also he's a little fitter and faster than I am so it's always a tough session.
Enter A Race:
If you need motivation to exercise and lose weight, entering a race or some other sort of organized sporting event can be a great way to get started. I've done this a number of times with fun runs, triathlons and cycling events and in my experience, setting a goal like that has been greatly beneficial. It has given me a something objective which I can measure myself against and it gives ma a fixed date to work with. And if you can convince friends and family to participate as well, so much the better - there's nothing like a little friendly rivalry to spur you on. And once you complete the event you'll feel great - another goal accomplished and a couple of steps closer to personal discovery.
Motivational Podcasts:
If you can't find anyone to train with, the next best thing may be a motivational podcast. There are heaps to choose from - just have a quick look at Google. Some provide general motivation and advice for getting and keeping physically fit while others provide specific exercise programs for you to follow. Just imagine having Anthony Robbins spurring you on to greater personal achievement while you get your exercise.
Join A Gym:
Another great way to motivate yourself to exercise regularly is to join a gymnasium. There's nothing like having spent a heap of money on a gym membership to keep you going. Because there are minimum commitments to a membership period which apply at most gyms, you'll feel obligated to get fit just because of the financial commitment you've made.
Fitness Gadgets:
And speaking of financial commitments, what about snapping up the latest hi-tech gadget to help you achieve your physical fitness goals? One useful device is a heart rate monitor. This handy gadget monitors your heart rate in real time to ensure you're exercising at the correct intensity. And for the scientifically minded, the more advanced heart rate monitors will let you download enough stats to baffle even the most hard-core statistician. You can graph heart rate against distance against time against ... well I think you get the idea. You can even track your progress against long term goals in a training diary.
So as you can see, there are many options available to you. If you're social, train with a group. If you're the solitary type go with the motivational podcasts. If you're willing to invest some money, look at the gym membership or the heart rate monitor. Take massive action! Just do whatever works for you find that motivation to exercise.
Massive Action
Are you having trouble getting started? Not making any progress towards your goals? Getting bogged down is a common experience. Sometimes we can spend so much time analyzing and planning what we're going to do that we never actually get around to the "doing" part. How can we get past this? What can we do to get moving again? The solution - take massive action!
Sounds kind of cool doesn't it. Just as an aside, take care if you ever use Google to search for some of the variations of massive action. Make sure safe search is enabled, or you may be surprised at what you find. I first heard the term "massive action" used at a forum I visit on a regular basis. To me it captured the essence of personal growth and development. No matter what your goals are, you just need to start doing something. Anything. There's and old Chinese proverb which goes something along the lines of: "Even the longest journey begins with a single step." While a major undertaking can be daunting, sometimes just pushing yourself to start can be a major step.
Nothing ventured, nothing gained - that's what they say. I think this is true of most things worthwhile especially in the area of personal growth and development. And the very concept of massive action is both inspiring and motivating. I've found that when I bring this sort of positive attitude to my projects, I normally get off to a flying start. The progress I make early on and the positive reinforcement I receive in turn motivates me to further action. It becomes self perpetuating.
A colleague of mine is a great ideas man. He's very creative - some of the stuff he comes up with is way out there. But he doesn't just sit there contemplating these ideas. He takes action. He goes out and takes the steps necessary to make his dreams a reality. To be honest, not everything he's tried has worked. In fact he's had some spectacular failures. But overall, he' done very well for himself and had some great life experiences along the way.
And his story leads nicely into my next point - what's the worst that can happen? You might fail, or you might even succeed. But even if things don't go as planned, provided you maintain a positive attitude, you'll learn a lot. Sometimes failure can be painful, but it's normally character building. To get back on track, you'll need to take stock of the situation. What worked? What didn't? Take these lessons on board and use them to help make your next project a success.
Don't get me wrong. Planning and goal setting are very important components of personal development, but they are just ideas until you take the steps to make them reality. Take massive action. You'll never know to you have a go.
What Is A Personal Development Plan?
What is a personal development plan and how do you create one?
A personal development plan is like any plan - a series of steps laid out in a consistent and logical order with the aim of achieving one or more specific goals. In this case the focus of the plan is self improvement.
As with any endeavor, we need to establish our objectives in order to work towards them. And our own personal growth is no exception. What follows are some thoughts on how to approach this planning process.
Identify Your Goals:
Let's start at the beginning. What do we want to achieve? What do we want to change. What habits would we like to acquire and what habits would we like to lose? What do we like about ourselves and our lives and what would we like to change or improve?
This is a great opportunity for us all to take a step back and give serious consideration to where we are in our lives. As the days and weeks go past, it's easy for us to get so immersed in day to day activities that we lose sight of what's really important. But, by taking the time to consciously decide what it is that we want, we can re-focus our energy and efforts on what's really important to us.
Establish Priorities:
One of the dangers of personal development planning, or of any planning for that matter, is that of coming up with a wish list so long that we'll be overwhelmed. Many of us when faced with a lengthy to do list will get bogged down. Where do I start? How can I possibly get through all of this?
Sometimes we just end up back where started - or even worse off because we now have this extra list of things to do hanging over our heads.
So we need to establish priorities. What is most important to us? what needs to be done first? Is there a logical order we can establish.
One approach is to choose the top 3 things to work on and park the rest for the time being. Devote your energy to getting these things done before reviewing your goals again and choosing the next 3 highest priorities.
Another approach is to break your goals up into short medium and long term. The period is somewhat arbitrary, but short term might be within one year, medium term less than five years and long term being longer than that.
Set A Time Line To Reach Your Goals:
This leads neatly into setting time lines. Part of the planning process involves placing deadlines against tasks on the plan. And once again, planning for personal development is no exception.
Rather than just having a vague idea of what you want to do by when, give yourself a kick start by setting a due date. This will help you to get motivated. A self imposed deadline can be worthwhile if you hold yourself to it. And achieving that goal within that time-frame provides further motivation. You will feel better about yourself and be ready for the next challenge.
However, not all goals are well suited to setting completion dates. While you can give yourself a date by which you want to lose ten pounds, quitting smoking is a different proposition. Habit based goals are normally based on some sort of permanent change.
In this case, you might like to set duration based time-lines. What I mean by that is to establish a period of time over which you would like maintain a new habit. For example you might like to set yourself a goal of getting up one hour earlier everyday for the next 30 days. Once you've met that goal, you might like to extend it to 90 day or 180 days, although by then, hopefully the habit will have become permanent.
Be realistic:
While it's important to set aggressive goals, we don't want to make them so lofty that we have little chance of achieving them. Whether it's the size and scope of your goal or the time you've given yourself to achieve it, be realistic. Failing to achieve your goals can be a demotivating experience.
Take action:
It's all very well to sit down and formulate a plan, but you still need to do the work. Don't spend all of your time analyzing and planning. You will need to take action. Start at the beginning. It's amazing how motivating the feeling of making progress can be. You never know - you might enjoy it.
Review Your Plan:
The last step in the personal development planning process is to review your plan. Measure your progress against it. Anniversaries are a common time to undergo the review. It could be your birthday or the coming of a new year. These are times when we tend to be reflective anyway, so take the opportunity to review what you've achieved in the previous year and think about what you want out of the upcoming year.
Hopefully this article has given you some new ideas - or maybe reinforced some existing ones. Or at the least you will now be familiar with what a personal development plan is.
Personal Development Multimedia
Personal development multimedia (video) Tony Robbins style.
I can across this Anthony Robbins video on YouTube a little while ago. I know that Tony is a somewhat controversial figure in the self help movement, but what he says in this presentation is certainly worth thinking about in the context of working on your own self improvement.
In the presentation he talks about what motivates people and about human needs - universal needs that we all have and which we all strive to fulfill (at last in Tony's opinion). Whether or not you agree with the ideas he puts forward, I think it's a great starting point for considering what your needs are. What motivates you? What are your goals? What do you want out of life?
While the group he is presenting to in the video seem to be high achievers already, the concepts discussed are still worthy of consideration for the rest of us. Watch the video and keep an open mind.
Anthony Robbins Video on Personal Development
For those not familiar with some of the controversy surrounding Anthony Robbins, I suggest you take a look at the Wikipedia entry for Anthony. I can't vouch for some of the information in there but it's well worth a read. I didn't know about some of the law suits. I was more familiar with his Personal Power infomercials on late-night television.
But more importantly, broaden your search for information on how to improve yourself. Don't forget that there are many ways to consume this information - audio (podcasts and CD's), video (Youtube and DVD's) are other ways to expand your knowledge using personal development multimedia.
What Is Personal Development?
What is personal development and what does it mean to you?
It an attempt to put a framework in place for this website, I went looking for a definition of personal development. I was looking for a generally accepted understanding of what it means - a standard, one-size-fits-all description which I could just reference and use as a starting point for discussion.
But I was surprised at how difficult it was to find such a thing. While there are plenty of websites which have taken a stab at it, I couldn't find an authoritative source which I felt captured the essence of what personal growth and development is about. Even the ever-reliable Wikipedia didn't offer much help.
So then I thought - I'll just write my own definition. I figured I could do as good a job as anyone else. I've given the matter a great deal of thought over the years and indeed taken a number of steps to improve myself. I should be able to distill my thoughts and experiences in this area into a succinct and useful definition. But when I sat down to pen my definition, it hit me. Personal development is different for everybody.
Is this a cop-out? I'd like to think not. I know what personal development means to me, but I couldn't presume to put a label on it for everybody else. Broadly speaking, personal development is an activity undertaken by an individual in an attempt to improve one or more aspects of themselves or their lives. It might relate to such areas as health and fitness, personal productivity, relationships, personal finances, spirituality or just a general sense of self.
For me, this is the key. Everyone has different priorities - and people's priorities change over time as their circumstances change and as life experiences shape each individual's outlook. While career advancement or pursuit of their first million dollars may drive some people, for others losing weight or gaining self confidence might be more worthy goals.
What follows are some areas of personal development which I'd like to explore in more depth. I intend to do this in upcoming articles on this blog.
Health and Fitness:
Most of us would like to be healthier and fitter than we are currently. Your goal might be weight loss for the sake of your general health and wellbeing. You might want to give up smoking. Or maybe you aspire to running a marathon or achieving some other feat of physical and mental endurance. As with most areas of self improvement, priorities will vary greatly for each individual.
Personal Productivity and Organization:
Do you get as much done each day as you'd like to? Have you ever thought there must be a way to organize your time in such a way as to maximize the tasks you can complete each day. Many people (myself included) want to improve their time management and organization skills so they (and I) can get more done. I'm aware of a number of systems which can be adopted in an effort to maximize your personal productivity. I'll explore these in detail in the near future.
Wealth, Money and Personal Finances:
There's a lot more to life than money. I can't emphasize this point too much. However, the reality for most of us is that we will need to manage our limited financial resources (both money and our ability to earn money) to provide an adequate, if not comfortable, lifestyle for ourselves and our families. This is a very broad topic and covers everything from basic budgeting and day to day money management to wealth generation with a view to achieving financial freedom.
Motivation and Goal Setting for Success:
Getting started can be one of the hardest things about personal development. How do you motivate yourself to do more? What drives you to achieve your goals? Just as importantly, how do you set your goals? Do you have a structured approach? Are your goals (and the time-lines you've set yourself to achieve them) realistic? Do you have a plan - a clear idea of what you want to do and how you're going to do it? For me, motivation and goal setting are inter-related. I find the act of setting goals helps motivate me and achieving these goals spurs me on to do more.
Happiness and Self Esteem:
For me, this is ultimately what personal growth and development is all about. And that's why it's such a personal and individual thing. What makes you happy may not - in fact probably wont - make the next person happy. But there's more to it than that. Do you really know what will make you happy? What is happiness anyway? Is it something you can strive for and once achieved will be permanent? Or is it a temporary or even fleeting state?
These are some of the topics I'd like to explore - and anything else that takes my fancy. I think I've rambled more than I'd have liked. But to be honest, I don't think there is a simple answer to the question - What is personal development?
