Setting Smart Goals in 2009

Are you ready to set goals for 2009?
It's time to start setting your goals for 2009 now. A lot of people don't set goals until early or mid January - Start now and you'll be ahead of everyone else.

Every year people think about what they want to change in their life and they usually start thinking about this on New Year's Eve or New Years day, and guess what - this is the worst time to think about making any changes!

Everyone is out, having a great time, saying they are going to change this, or loose that, etc, but then the next morning they either wake up and can't remember their "resolutions" or just decide it was a silly idea!

Like planning a holiday you need time to set your goals. You can't just rush into setting a goal, once night and then begin to make changes right away. You have to plan your goals.

The secret to good goal setting is to write a very specific goal statement.

Let's take two examples:

I want to give up smoking

I want to become healthier and be able to run for a bus without out getting out of breath. I will be a smoke free by June 2009.Looking at both statements which is more compelling? In my opinion the second one. Why? Because it's specific and gives a benefit - being healthier and not being out of breath after general exercise.

The first statement is very general - it is also stated in the negative. Research shows that the sub-conscious brain does not like to give up things. Think about when you decide to go on a diet. What does a diet mean? Going without something. Of course if you're told you can't have something what happens - you want to do it more than ever. If you decide you can't eat chocolate you will want it more.

So don't set yourself up to fail with your goals in 2009, set positive goals. Another thing about the second goal is it has a time frame - June 2009. Now you have a deadline that you need to accomplish your goal by.

Richard Butler is a successful online business coach and runs a number of sites including:

http://itsonlyjob.com
http://richardbutlerthesuccesscoach.com