Setting Goals: What Do You Really Want?

Setting Goals is the cornerstone of motivation...but only if they reflect:

• your highest values and

• deepest desires

So before you embark on any goal setting exercise, ask yourself this question, "What Do I Really want?"

And don’t assume that the first answer that jumps into your head is the right one. What you think you want might not be what you REALLY want.

If you are a sales person, you might think that you want to double your sales. However, deep down, what you really want might be to run a guesthouse at a seaside village. Or to help orphans find a new home.

Or you might be in a job or relationship where you can’t express yourself.

Goals that take you further along a path of what you do NOT really want will be very hard to achieve and it will not inspire and motivate you.

In my experience of doing this exercise with many people, I’ve realized that most people think they know what their goals should be, but when they do some self-reflection and determine their values, they realize that what they were chasing all along is not what they really want deep within themselves.

So questions to ask before you set your goals might include:

These types of questions will open your mind and lead you closer to what you really want.

Here are 40 more self-awareness questions to further open your mind. Take your time and answer them from your heart, not your head!

Setting Goals That Reflect Your Values

The next thing you should do before setting goals is to determine your values.

If your goals do not reflect your highest values, you would struggle to find the inspiration that drives you almost effortlessly towards your them.

If your highest value is "Time Freedom", you might want to consider building that into your goals. Or if it is "Creativity", you might want look at things that reflect your creative side.

So determining your values is a vital exercise to do with goal setting. It will guide you to what you need to change in your life or where your focus should be. It is also useful to reflect back on your values after you’ve identified your goals.

Here is an exercise to determine your values

And there you have it. I hope you have a clear picture of how important it is to know what you really want before you start setting goals.

If you want a step-by-step exercise to determine your goals, you can get this eBOOK, "A Guide To Inspirational Goal Setting"

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Return from Setting Goals to Sustainable Employee Motivation