How to Develop Multifaceted Goals to Fall in Love with 2017

​Hey my Dear, are you working on designing the year that lays ahead of you? I hope so! Creating goals for yourself allows you to find a different experience in life. 

Rather than letting your days unfold in front of you and reacting to whatever fire flares up, I am encouraging you this month to designing your life.  When you create a plan with goals, your life will be a more enjoyable one; I promise you that! 

Two Types of Goals
​As you refine your goals for the coming year, I want you to consider two different types of goals.

External Goals
First are the goals that most people set. I call them external goals because they are outside of you. What I mean by that is there is something that happens in the outside world that you can often see or touch when you reach your goal. When you achieve external goals, you can point to them and say I did that!

Examples 

• secure the manager’s position you are applying on
• acquire your degree
• lose weight
• complete a triathlon

Internal Goals
The other kind of goals is what I call internal goals. I say they are internal because when you accomplish these goals, there is a shift that happens inside of you. It is connected to your thoughts, emotions and often includes a degree of inner discipline. 

Examples

• learn to say no more often
• cultivate an attitude of gratitude
• show compassion more often
• develop a stronger relationship with your spouse

Why does it matter?
​The reason it is important to make the distinction is it helps you when you decide what you will need to do to realize your goals. It can be a bit confusing, though. Let me help to clear it up.

THE GRATITUDE EXAMPLE
If you are cultivating gratitude, you may think the goal is to write in a gratitude journal daily. That will help, but it is not the only thing to do. Many people simply write down a list of things they are grateful for and wonder why it doesn’t change their life. 

• The inner gratitude shift - To truly cultivate an attitude of gratitude, you need to slow the process down and connect emotionally with the thing you are recording. You also need to practice being grateful for challenging times and find the gifts within those moments. Gratitude is more than a 3-minute daily recording exercise. It is an internal emotional shift that needs to happen. 

THE BOUNDARY SETTING EXAMPLE
Learning to say no more often may appear to be setting boundaries with those around you about what you will and will not do.  Often just setting limits creates more stress in a person’s life.

• The inner boundary shift - A true shift in setting limits is to gain an understanding of why you have the urge to say yes in the first place. Boundary setting is extreme self-discipline. You need to resist that urge to please everyone around you. To feel good about the boundaries you set requires you to change the inner dialogue that insists you “must” respond or they won’t like you, you won’t get the promotion, or they won’t give your daughter the lead part, etc., etc., etc.

The point in considering internal or external?
The point in looking at the difference is to consider both what you really are looking for and how to accomplish it. When you feel the inner shift you need to make to obtain the visible results that you desire; you often find that you are more successful at goal attainment.

Is it a goal or is it a habit
The second consideration if questioning whether it is a goal that you are trying to achieve or a habit you are establishing. The difference between these two is when you reach a goal you are done. You don't have to do the same goal again. Conversely, a habit is something you continue with, often forever. 

• Goal – finish kitchen renovations
• Habit – build a regular habit of saving money to support ongoing home renovations

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• Goal – lose weight
• Habit – build the habit of recording food daily

 

• Goal – finish course
• Habit – build the habit of continually investing in my personal development

The point with considering the difference between a goal and a habit is to look at the change you desire. Frequently it is the habit that allows you to achieve the goal. It was when I created two habits of both taking10,000 steps daily and recorded my food daily, that I was able to reach my weight loss goal. 
The habit of sitting down and writing first thing each morning allowed me to reach the goal of publishing my book last year.

Homework:
Continue to refine your goals for the coming year. You may want to break them down into external goals as well as internal goals. Then, consider what habit you need to cultivate that will allow you to reach that goal.

• External Goal – Leave the office at 5 pm daily
• Internal Goal - Increased feeling of work-life balance
• Habit to cultivate – Block of last 30 minutes of my day for tidying up. Ensure that I don’t schedule any meetings past 4:30 pm.

 

• External Goal – Change jobs
• Internal Goal – Find meaning in my work
• Habit to cultivate – Journal daily about what I found meaningful in my day

Goals setting isn't complicated. It is multifaceted
It is when you look at goals you want to achieve as more than a statement that you will find success. You are a multifaceted lady, my dear.....as such, your goals need to be multifaceted. Look at what you want to happen outside of you and the internal shifts you also need to make. Then, install habits to assist you to do that. When you create goals in this manner, you’ll find much more triumph this year.

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Kathy is a leadership coach for women who want to strengthen their leadership & find balance in life. 
She mentors women as they rediscover their purpose, passion, and persistence for life while dealing with office politics, jerk bosses and the challenges of family life. Kathy gives her ladies the hope and inspiration they need along with a kick in the pants to make positive changes in their lives. ​​​​​​​

Discover more in Kathy’s book Mastering Confidence: Discover Your Leadership Potential by Awakening Your Inner Guidance System ​​​​​​