10 Jan If happiness comes atleast partly from achieving goals then these tips should help…
Check out this article and these tips from this morning’s eNewsletter…
Firstly, we published an article from Lou Tice titled “What We Expect to See”
Do you know what a self-fulfilling prophecy is? If you do, do you know how it works?
Most people know that a self-fulfilling prophecy is an event, which, because it is predicted and expected, is therefore more likely to happen, and even be caused to happen.
Here’s one of my favorite examples. According to “Success Magazine,” two different groups of psychologists were asked to observe the same child at play. One group was told beforehand that the child was emotionally disturbed. The other group was told that the child was a genius. When the psychologists were asked to report on their observations, each group had found evidence to support their preconceived ideas.
Now, it is important to realize that self-fulfilling prophecies are everyday experiences – not just laboratory experiments. What do you expect your day to be like when you get up in the morning? How do you expect your kids to behave? How much success do you expect for yourself?
If you predict failure, failure is generally what you’ll find, and if you expect excellence, excellence is very likely what you’ll see. How we think about a situation determines how we behave, and how we behave, more than anything else, determines the results we get.
That’s how self-fulfilling prophecies work – there is nothing magical about it. What you get in life is pretty much what you think and believe coming back at you. So, what do you expect for tomorrow?
Lou Tice – The Pacific Institute (www.thepacificinstitute.com)
PS: Now it should be noted that I (Dr. Happy) don’t believe in this 100% in that there’s a risk this might be interpreted as meaning that bad things only happen to people who deserve it. That’s definitely not true but at the same time, there’s no doubt that what happens to us is in some ways not as important as how we interpret what happens to us and that what we expect does influence how we interpret what happens to us so with that in mind…
…what are you expecting for this year and in what ways will that help you achieve your goals?
And then following on from this I posted a few practical, goal setting tips that should boost your chances of getting started and actually achieving what you want to achieve and then ultimately, experiencing one or more of the many forms of happiness…
Every year, around this time, all around the world, millions of people make some sort of New Year’s Resolution. This is a great thing to do, although here at The Happiness Institute we believe it’s something that should be done more often than once every 12 months, but we can’t help but wonder why so few succeed in their efforts and why so many find their motivation and determination sagging by, well to be perfectly frank often by February!
So we thought we’d help you out a bit with a few simple tips for effective goal setting…
(1) Think about your life and what you would like to be different. Specify exactly what you would like to change. If you are feeling happier in 6-12 months time, what will you be doing then that is different to what you are doing now?
(2) Write down exactly what you would like to achieve. Be as specific as possible. People who set specific goals are much more likely to succeed than those who set vague goals.
(3) Record your goals in positive terms. Instead of stating your goal as _ã–To stop sleeping in_ã, rephrase it by saying: _ã–My goal is to get up by 8.00 am every morning_ã.
(4) Make sure your goals are realistic and achievable. If you set goals that are unrealistic then you might just find you_ã_re more likely to fail and to be disappointed. To ensure you_ã_re realistic you may need to consider your financial situation, time availability, emotional resources or other circumstances in life.
(5) Divide you goal list up into _ã–short-term_ã goals and _ã–long-term_ã goals. Be realistic about how long it might take to achieve your goals. Often, a number of short-term goals need to be completed in order to achieve longer term goals. You can think of these as the rungs you need to climb to reach the top of a ladder. Where possible, set specific dates for completion of each goal.
(6) Break down each goal into steps. For example, if the goal is to find a new job, consider what steps you would have to take to achieve this. You might have to prepare a resume (or update an old one), speak with an employment consultant, look in the newspaper, and so on. Once again, set a date for the completion of each step.
(7) When you achieve each step or the goal itself, acknowledge it by rewarding yourself. It is important to recognise your achievements. Each step you take is an achievement, and indicates that you are on your way to achieving your goals.
I hope this helps and I wish you every luck in your progress towards your goals.