LivMor Diva's Lounge: Day Twenty Two and Twenty Three... Setting Effective Goals to Put You On a Path to Success

Dr. Steven Covey says that "Effective goal setting, and poor goal setting are the two biggest determining factor of success and failure in life." Think about that statement and ask yourself two simple, yet very thought provoking questions.

Am I happy with my level of success in life?
Have I been successful in accomplishing my goals in life?

Chances are that, after you ask these questions, if the answer to the first one is 'NO', then the answer to the second questions will be 'NO' also. Today, we're going to go over some basic pointers that will assist you in setting more effective goals and creating a level of success for yourself that you never imagined or dreamed possible. These tips can and should be applied to your personal, financial and professional life.
When you set goals for your life, you should look at the big picture and ask yourself what you'd like to achieve in life. By thinking about what you'd like to accomplish with your life in the big picture, you can then hone in on what's important to you and make sure you're walking with a purpose. Take time to brainstorm and really ponder over these things. MindTools.com gives some areas to think about to effectively cover all of the areas in your life. Make sure the answers you give do not reflect the opinions of others, but your own true feelings.

Career - What level do you want to reach in your career, or what do you want to achieve.
Financial - How much do you want to earn, by what stage? How is this related to your career goals?
Education - Is there any knowledge you want to acquire in particular? What information and skills will you need to have in order to achieve other goals?
Family - Do you want to be a parent? If so, how are you going to be a good parent? How do you want to be seen by a partner or by members of your extended family?
Artistic - Do you want to achieve any artistic goals?
Attitude - Is any part of your mindset holding you back? Is there any part of the way that you behave that upsets you? (If so, set a goal to improve your behavior or find a solution to the problem.)
Physical - Are there any athletic goals that you want to achieve, or do you want good health deep into old age? What steps are you going to take to achieve this?
Pleasure - How do you want to enjoy yourself? (You should ensure that some of your life is for you!)
Public Service - Do you want to make the world a better place? If so, how?

After you've had an opportunity to scribble down a few responses to each of the areas above, break it down into more realistic, bearable goals. I don't know about you, but my definition of success, greatness, and DIVAism is a hefty, multi-year process with many goals to be tackled along the way. For some, that can be a very difficult reality to face because they want more instant gratification. But it doesn't have to be so daunting if you accomplish smaller goals along the way. If you work on accomplishing smaller goals, you won't get discouraged and will stay motivated.

The last tip for today on effective goal setting for success is to use the Yale University "S.M.A.R.T." acronym when setting your goals. SMART stands for specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time framed. Make sure all of your goals meet those standards.

I know this was a lot of information to take in right now, but it's all to get you closer to your dreams. I know we all want to be successful DIVAs and there's nothing like good, strong goals to to show yourself how much you love yourself! After all, DIVAs like to stay on TOP of the world, so get to work on setting those goals to get you where you want to be, not keep you where you are! Make sure the goals you've set for your life keep pushing you higher and higher into DIVA status.