When you are on the goal setting journey, you WILL suffer from the inevitable setbacks. Those setbacks are a normal part of the process of expanding and growing as a person and should be treated as such. Easier said than done, right?! Being able to endure setbacks, and even embrace them as a valuable learning experience, will go a long way towards making the process of achieving your goals faster and easier.

When we deny the setbacks, we are also denying the opportunity to learn from the lessons they have to offer. If we resent these temporary road blocks, we can create our own misery and lose momentum. This often begins with stories in our heads telling ourselves about the way things “should be”. Anybody who sets out to achieve a goal will already have a story and a narrative in their mind describing exactly how they want things to go, and how they feel things should work.

Any setback that you encounter will inevitably challenge this story, so the key is to create a flexible story that can be challenged without falling completely apart. The key is in adjusting your sails so that no matter what is thrown at you, you can come back.

Become stronger and smarter about the process than you were before.
These lessons will also sort the wheat from the chaff and show you your mettle so you’ll learn what you’re made of! You’ll see how quickly you can come back and whether you can come back with enthusiasm and determination. You’ll learn whether the desire for the end goal is strong enough to carry you through the challenges that occur. And remember that everyone has these challenges, and only those who are able to rise above them will succeed.

It’s okay for you to decide that the goal isn’t worth the trouble, but you need to be honest with yourself and absolutely clear that you’re not simply giving up because things got rough! Nothing worth doing ever came easy, and when you consider all the things you’ve done in your life, haven’t the really rewarding things you’ve accomplished all come with a bit of challenge?

Think of the stories you’ll be able to tell about the problems that arose, and how you solved them and rose above them! This can be very motivating and inspirational to those around you, as well, so your journey isn’t really just your own. There is a ripple effect that is important to consider as well. You can become a role model of success for your friends and family to aspire too; how’s that for stroking your ego?!

It is a great thing to set goals and start off on the journey towards their achievement, so long as you’re aware that you’ll need flexibility to endure the hard times, and the motivation and momentum to bounce back and get back on the proverbial horse again!

There is no greater pleasure than achieving a goal, and when the journey there has allowed you to grow as a person, it’s an even sweeter ending. So grit your teeth, knuckle down and keep grinding until you get there, but also allow yourself to enjoy the process and reward yourself when you do overcome these obstacles! Keep hustling!

Goal setting may appear to be a rather intuitive process that results in you reaching some sort of achievement. But you need to follow a few specific rules regarding your goal setting to make the process much more efficient, and ultimately effective in helping you reach a successful conclusion!

Set Yourself Up for Success From The Start
Everyone should have big goals as they are incredibly motivating and it is a chance for you to see the future in advance! The end goal, the big one, can be as big as you’d like, but make sure that’s not the only goal you set as it can appear to be overwhelming and this can cause you to start procrastinating and stop taking action, thus losing momentum.

Break your big goal down into smaller interim goals as they will appear to be much more achievable and will help to smooth the road to success. It can easily become too overwhelming to set one goal of “I will buy a bigger home next year” (although this can be an excellent end goal)!

Break that big goal down into smaller, more readily achievable goals such as; “Pay off all credit card debt”, “save 20% down payment”, and “raise credit score”. Achieving these smaller goals will keep you motivated and this really sets you up for success in your major end goal!

Set Realistic Goals
If buying a house next year just isn’t going to happen, don’t set yourself a goal that big, or you’ll only be setting yourself up for failure from the start and this may cause you to feel like a failure and disempower you, the exact opposite of what a good goal should be doing! Instead, try to set more realistic goals that you actually have the chance to achieve. It’s ok to dream big, but be realistic in how you are going to reach that big goal.

There are usually many smaller goals that make up large goals, and there’s nothing wrong with setting a pace for yourself so that you stay on track. This is definitely preferable to getting overwhelmed and ending up endlessly negatively analyzing your every move. Setting realistic goals will make sure that you achieve them!

The Power Of Visualization And Belief
The goals you set become so much more concrete in your mind when you can also visualize them and believe that you’ll reach them. The first step in effective visualization is to become completely engaged and to put all of your senses into the process. If your goal is a new, larger home, imagine how it feels to walk around in that house with ample room. Visualize yourself making a meal in the large kitchen. You’re surrounded by the sounds of a happy family, the smells of good food cooking and the feeling you have everything needed, organized and at your fingertips.

Utilizing the senses in this way when you visualize will help secure this goal within your subconscious mind, and effectively make it easier to take the actions you need to take to work towards your goals. Your actions will follow your thoughts, so make visualization a part of your daily routine!