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Arina Nikitina is the creator of the goal setting tutorial "How To Set And Achieve A Goal" She spends her time teaching people how to overcome procrastination and achieve their goals in life. In this interview she shares her expertise and knowledge on goal setting in detail. I hope you take advantage of her generosity to share her knowledge and put her advice into practice.
Q.: Some people say they don?t need goals. Why do you think people should set goals in their life?
I believe that people who say that they don?t need goals have never tried to set any. Goals give you direction in life, the enthusiasm to wake up every day and the opportunity to experience the joy of achievement.
But the three main benefits of goal setting are:
Laser-like Focus. In our age of fast technology and information, there are always too many things fighting for our attention. Think of all the advertisement messages that you see every day, all the emails marked ?urgent? that you receive, all the tiny problems that require your immediate attention, all the friends wanting to chat to you on Facebook.
Setting clear goals cuts through the noise of these constant distractions and interruptions keeping your mind focused on things that matter most in your life, like health, relationships, career and happiness.
Improved Motivation. Motivation is a drive. And any drive always needs direction. Without a clear destination point in mind, we may soon find ourselves enthusiastically running round in circles. Goals give us direction, help to track our progress and boost our motivation, because they allow us to see the immediate results of our actions.
Increased productivity. Our time, money, energy and attention are all limited resources. Do you know that feeling when you?ve been busy all day and you feel absolutely exhausted, but when you look back, you realize that you haven?t actually done that much? This is the first warning sign that you are not directing your energy in the right place. If we don?t set clear goals and don?t break these goals down into smaller manageable tasks, accomplishing anything becomes very challenging, because we waste a lot of our time doing things that we don?t need to be doing.
Q.: Some people just set goals but don't follow them through. What do you think is the best way to set effective goals that people can actually achieve?
We all have our goal-setting up moments. Especially around the 31st of December, when we stand with a glass of Champaign in one hand and a chocolate candy in another feeling really excited about making New Year resolutions! Unfortunately, statistics shows that most people fail to follow through with their goals. If you want this year to be different, I suggest you set effective goals that meet SMART criteria.
S- Specific Your goal should be as specific and detailed as possible. Being specific helps us to focus our efforts and clearly define our action steps. There is a huge difference between saying, ?I want to lose weight? and ?I will lose 10 pounds in a month by jogging twice a week for a half an hour, going to yoga class every Wednesday and Friday and drinking 8 glasses of water a day?. The first statement is just wishful thinking. The second is a serious commitment that you make to yourself.
M- Measurable If you can?t measure your goal, you won?t be able to manage it. Establish concrete criteria for measuring your progress and staying on track.
A ? Attainable When we choose a goal that is too far out of our reach, we set ourselves up for failure and disappointment from the start. On the other hand, goals that are perceived as too easy are not very satisfying and we quickly lose the motivation to pursue them. Any goal that you set should always be challenging enough to stretch your abilities slightly and help you to grow.
R-Realistic In a heighted state of enthusiasm we tend to overestimate our capacities and underestimate challenges that we might encounter while pursuing our goals. For example, ?I will work out every day? is probably not a very realistic goal for someone who hasn?t been to the gym for ten years. Besides if you skip one day you will feel like a failure, even if you worked out for the rest of the week. It may be more realistic to work out 2 times a week and then gradually increase the amount of exercise.
T- Timely Always set a timeframe for the goal, be it for the next week, in three years or by the end of 2009. If you don't set a time limit, your commitment is too vague. You will most likely start to procrastinate, because without a time limit there's no urgency to start taking action now. Just keep in mind that your deadlines, just as your goals must also be measurable, attainable and realistic.
Q.: Which areas of your life did goal setting significantly impact?
I must say that goal setting has changed my life more than I initially expected. But the biggest results I have seen are in 3 major areas: my finances, health and education. Only 7 years ago I was a waitress working double shifts at Applebee?s so I could pay for my school and my apartment. I can?t say that I disliked my job back then. I enjoyed meeting new people, listening to their stories, and joking around. The problem was that in order to pay for my education I had to work at least 50 hours a week, which left no time for my studies. I felt trapped. And the thought that after 2 years I could still be there, waiting on tables, struggling to make ends meet at the end of the month, without a degree or any hope of getting a better job was devastating. I knew I had to do something, but I didn?t know what I could do. That?s when I first started reading about goal setting, motivation and productivity.
After only 16 months I quit my job, started my own online business, discovered that I love writing and sharing my knowledge and ideas with others. Right now I do something that I am embarrassed to call ?work?, because I love doing it so much! I am no longer worried about making money. Instead I am concentrating on providing value. It is a lot more gratifying! I have wonderful subscribers that give me inspiration, support and help me grow. I travel all over the world and I often have an opportunity to visit my family.
I?m finally feel free. This is such a blessing!
The second big area is health. My biggest accomplishment that I am very proud of is my morning ritual. I wake up at 6:10 a.m. every morning, take a warm shower, meditate, after that I do yoga for an hour, then I eat a bowl of fresh fruits, drink water with honey and lemon and only after that check my emails. :-) It may not sound that impressive for some people, but it is a huge step for me, considering that I always thought of myself as a night ?owl? and the idea of exercising gave me goose bumps. I must admit that I feel a lot more energized and productive than I ever have.
The third big area is education. Two and a half years ago I set a goal of getting a degree. My other dream was to learn the Italian language. I decided to combine the two and major in Psychology in Milan (without knowing a word of Italian). :-) Which I did. Because I left myself with no other choice, I learned Italian with impressive speed. I even graduated a year early and now I am officially a ?Dottoressa di Psicologia?. Believe me, if I can do it, everyone can!
I am naturally lazier than most people are. I don?t like to work hard and I don?t have an iron will- power. I just know how to use my shortcomings to my own good.
Q.: What were your biggest mistakes that you think people should avoid when it comes to setting personal goals?
The first big mistake most of us make is setting too many goals at the same time. We do it, because we believe that we will get everything we want faster that way. Unfortunately, it does not work that way. All we do is spread our time, energy and effort too thinly and as a result end up doing triple the amount of work without achieving any results.
The second big mistake is inconsistency. The first day we spend 5 hours working towards accomplishing our goals, the second day we can spare only two hours, the third day we don?t do anything at all. Two months later after hearing Tony Robbins?s speech, we get our dose of motivation and take massive action again. But this initial excitement quickly dies down and we go back to where we started. The belief that if you skip a day, you will always be able to make up for it later is a story most people tell themselves so they feel better.
If you want to achieve your goals faster and with less effort, you need to learn to motivate yourself on a daily basis.
The third big mistake, in my opinion, is the lack of fun. But it is not our fault. For the most part Goal Setting is presented as a serious process that one must follow to the letter. You are told what you need to do, and you have to do it too. No ?but?s ? and ?what if?s?. For most of us the process of achieving our goals, which is supposed to be fun and exciting, turns into a second job that we must do after we get home from work. No wonder we procrastinate and have a hard time forcing ourselves into doing anything!
Q.: I have personally reviewed your goal setting tutorial and you certainly get straight to the point by providing practical information, which people can apply immediately in their lives. Even with the material you provide, I?m sure some of your clients have struggled with some aspects of goal setting, what do you think is the biggest problem they have faced?
Thank you for your compliment. One of the biggest problems people who have bought my book seem to face is setting too many goals. Learning goal setting is just like learning to drive a car.
First you learn all the theory, then you get a little bit of practice, and then you may get an illusory feeling that you know everything about driving and start speeding or cutting in front of other cars. The same thing happens when people get ?a hook? out of goal setting and see the first results. Suddenly they want to run a marathon, lose 20 pounds, learn Chinese, move to a bigger house, increase their income by 50%, write a book and take tango lessons all at the same time! At this point it is easy to feel overwhelmed, lose control and go off track.
Q.: Do you have any tips on how they can deal with this problem?
Sure. Set priorities! As much as you might want to pursue two goals at the same time ? don?t! There are only a few people I know who can work towards several goals simultaneously. If you are one of them ? good for you! 98% of people, myself included, can?t do it! If you want to see quick positive changes in your life, pick one goal that will have the greatest positive impact on your life and concentrate 100% of your efforts on achieving it. After you succeed, move to the next one!
Q.: What is the most common trait you see among your clients who succeed in achieving their goals?
That is a really good question. I guess positive attitude. There are people, who view every little obstacle in their way as an excuse to stop trying and give up immediately. I?m sure that you have met people like that. They get some kind of twisted pleasure out of complaining about how unfair life is and recalling every bad thing that has ever happened to them. Successful people never do that. It doesn?t mean that they never fail, they just don?t stop there. Learning from your mistakes and failures is the number one quality all successful people have in common.
Q.: What is your goal setting tutorial about?
It is about how to know what it is that you really want, develop and keep a positive attitude, eliminate fears and doubts? It?s about how to develop the intense desire to reach your goal and develop an unstoppable belief in yourself. And more than anything, it is about how to make goal setting fun and overcome inertia!
Q.: What can people achieve after going through your goal setting tutorial?
The beauty of goal setting is it?s applicability to all areas of life, starting from weight loss to finances, from relationship problems to improved health.
Q.: Is your goal setting tutorial for everyone? Who do you suggest should join your goal setting tutorial?
I have to be honest with you? This tutorial is not for everyone. Anyone who is thinking about getting this tutorial should be ready to take responsibility for their life and actions. They should also understand that there is more to achieving goals than visualization.
The Law of Attraction is a beautiful concept, because it promises all the riches in the world by just thinking the right thoughts. Right now there are already too many people who sit at home, visualize their goals for hours and nothing happens? simply because they don?t take action to make them happen! Don?t get me wrong, positive attitude is crucial for success (as I have mentioned earlier), but you must be willing to do something, besides ?thinking? to make your dreams come true.
This tutorial is also not for pessimistic people, who already ?have it all figured out? and buy any self-help book or program only to prove to themselves that it doesn?t work. I learned from psychology that it is the hardest task on the planet to motivate someone, who doesn?t want to be motivated.
If you are one of these people, please, don?t join my program! Go torture Jack Canfield or Tony Robbins. They have a huge customer support department exactly for this purpose!
Q.: Thanks for your time Arina, do you have any final comments?
I have a quote on my desktop that I look at every time I feel down or have one of my lazy moments, ?Do it now! You become successful the moment you start moving toward a worthwhile goal.? And it keeps me going, because I want to be successful? I hope you do too? :-)
Here's just a small sample of what you'll receive:
=> 3 powerful techniques to help you get rid of negative emotions and stress that are holding you back and prevent you from being successful.
=> Top 3 techniques on how to develop a positive attitude... no matter what happens with you.
=> How to figure out what you really want and what is your most important goal at this moment.
=> How to develop the intense desire to reach your goal so you knew with absolute certainty that you would absolutely, positively never ever give up.
=> How to develop unstoppable belief in yourself and eliminate fear and doubt forever.
=> The secret of the first step how to overcome the law of inertia.
=> Top 7 leading motivation techniques that will put you on the fast track to your goal.
=> How to overcome any obstacle standing in your way in 4 easy steps.
=> How to resist any temptation that stands in your way with one simple question.
=> How to stop putting things off and start to complete all the tasks in time.
=> How to find time on working on your goal even if you're thebusiest person on earth.
=> And a lot more!
To find out more. visit:
=> "How to Set and Achieve a Goal"
To your success,
Gerard
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