Determined people set goals for themselves in many areas of their life. We may have a goal for exercise, for work or grades in school, we might be learning a new skill that we have not quite got the hang of yet. If we want to reach our goal there are a couple of little tricks about setting the goal that will help us stay determined to reach our goal.
First it should be very SPECIFIC. That means no vague or general goals. If you want to exercise more that is general, if you want to run a 5K that is specific and it is partly the second step be MEASURABLE. A 5K is measurable but then add a date to accomplish the 5K by and now we have a deadline that can be measured.
We should ask ourselves if the goal is ATTAINABLE? Any goal is attainable if we are willing to stay determined. Interestingly though, when you identify what is important to yourself – your brain also begins to find the ways for you to answer the questions and reach your goal. Now is it REALISTIC? Having a goal of playing soccer on the moon by next year may be specific with a timeframe, but not really realistic for most of us. However we do not want to set our sights too low, because a low goal exerts low motivational force and therefore less determination.
Finally is your goal TANGIBLE? If it is then you will be able to experience it with one or all of your senses even prior to achieving. Make your goal one that you can picture in your mind you doing, one that you can feel, taste, smell, almost touch. Now it is real.