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Vision and Goal Setting

Guest post by: Gloria Masters

Article Overview: The “Vision and Goal Setting” article focuses on the value of establishing a vision in order to have a sense of direction and purpose in business. It also discusses ways of focusing clearly on goals and how to achieve them. Suitable for both Management level and individuals it encompasses discussion on how to activate the untapped power of our their minds as they think about a unique strategy to ensures success in their workplace. The article encourages the reader to clearly articulate their vision, define it in a specific and measurable way, and plan the key steps needed in order to achieve it. Both practical and highly motivating, this article creates a palpable excitement, enthusing people to take greater personal responsibility and ownership of projects as they achieve results quickly.

Vision and Goal Setting

Many people think that in order to be successful in business, they must hold a vision and set goals accordingly. How effective is this? And how do you go about doing it?

A crucial starting point is knowing exactly what you want your business to become. This is where engaging your mind to visualise exactly what your outcomes will be, is really important. What might be helpful to recognise is that we visualise quite naturally without even realising it. New Year’s Eve ring any bells? Translating this visualising to the business arena is simple. The good news is that it is possible to have a vision and achieve it by following a few simple guidelines.

One of the key elements of achieving the vision you hold is to accept that setting a vision begins quite simply with a single thought.



A vision simply put – is a view of the desired future state - not the ride on the way. The most effective formula I believe is the one that can be used in your personal as well as your professional lives. You just use the same techniques but have a different goal or focus in mind.

A basic premise in effective visualising is the belief you hold about yourself and your individual power: - simply put

If you think you can you can, if you think you can’t – you’re right

So make sure that your vision is something you are capable of and really want. If you’re aiming to be Managing Director because it is expected of you, but on an instinctual level really feel uncomfortable with the thought of it – then it’s not right for you and it won’t work!

Some factors that contribute to making a vision become the reality include:

• Seeing the vision clearly in your mind. Imagine sitting in the office you would inherit with a particular colleague holding a strategic meeting, overlooking the numbered carpark that you would get with the promotion;

• Being as definitive as you can be with what you want. Team Leader of the production side is specific, as opposed to ‘Being promoted.’ Someone I heard of recently, set a vision to ‘be eminently successful and have people queuing up for her services’. Two years later, she had burnt out and needed 3 months on stress leave! The moral of the story: Be very clear on all aspects and possible outcomes of your vision setting process.

A crucial facet in supporting your vision is the passion you have about it. If you don’t have any, it isn’t the right vision for you. Basically, think about a time in your life when you wanted something really badly, like your first house. Do you remember all the energy that went into making it happen? That’s the sort of passion I’m referring to.

If you can rekindle that level of motivation for your vision you stand a much greater chance of turning it into a reality.

There are a couple of things that contribute to a slowing down or ending of the vision before it's achieved or even got off the ground. The first is other people and what they say, and the other is your own thinking.

Unsurprisingly negative or critical comments other people make - is usually them projecting their own inadequacies onto you or it is based in envy. The tall poppy syndrome is alive and well in New Zealand! Unfortunately it will always exist. An effective way of shutting this down is to change the topic of conversation over to them. As we know people love to talk about themselves…

The other factor that be instrumental in slowing us down is our own thinking. Thoughts are very powerful and can sabotage us achieving our vision.

Our thinking stems from our Subconscious mind, which can override what we are trying to achieve. We recognise that by that inner voice we hear on a daily basis. E.g.,

- not sure you can do that

- who are you trying it kid

- you’ll never make it

You cannot eradicate this thinking, but you can do some thought replacement by reminding yourself of what you have done to get you to this point.

In conclusion: the following 3 step method is useful in establishing a vision:

• Say what you want – be really specific/use here and now terms/be definitive
• Think it/feel it – engage the passion you would feel, once you had achieved it
• Write it down daily – research shows there is a much greater chance of success if you do

You can have what you want in your business life; you just need to engage your mind in the planning and visualising of it. You are after all the sum total of your thoughts and actions to date.

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Article Tags: excitement, goal setting, management level, personal responsibility, sense of direction, untapped power
Referred by: http://www.irisbarrow.co.nz/



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