How to Set Cool Goals!

    What are your goals like? Kind of ho-hum and boring? Well, it being January, this is the perfect time to change that! It's time to set some goals. And no, I don't mean "Lose 5 pounds by March, blah, blah, blah". I mean cool goals, stuff that gets you excited about life and makes you look forward to the adventures you will have in 2012! What have you always wanted to do? Well, now is the time to do it! And setting goals is an important step in the process of doing what you want. My father likes to say "If you fail to plan, you plan to fail." which is a harsher version of my own favorite quote, "If you don't know where you're going, you will never get there.". Bottom line is, goals can help you define what you want and plan it out. With these tips, you'll be setting your own cool goals in no time! 

1. Devote a lot of time to brainstorming. I will usually pretty use up all of January as well as some of December to plan my goals. You don't have to be quite so meticulous, but you should put aside at least an afternoon to figure it all out. Write down the craziest ideas you have. Bungee jumping in Nepal? Why not, if you want to! Just make sure to take note of every lurking impulse so you can plan it and do it! 

2. Organize your goals.  I use a few categories to organize my goals, and they typically are: Money/Business, Fitness and Health, Relationships, and Fun Stuff. But you can definitely make other categories too, such as Travel, Business, Family, Creativity, or whatever floats your boat. 

   You should also try to make a goal concrete and understandable, with a definite end point. So instead of "Become famous on YouTube" write "Have 2,000,000 video views by the end of the year". This way, you absolutely know when you have achieved your goal so you can cross it off your list. 

   Finally, for each goal, try adding a list of mini goals that outline your plan of how to achieve your big goal. If your big goal is "Have 2,000,000 video views by the end of the year", then your mini goals could look something like this: "1. Make a new video every week 2. Read up on networking 3. Put networking knowledge into practice 5. Generate good content for every video 6. Tell my friends etc.". Just make a plan for every goal you have and make each step of that plan a goal in itself. Voila! Mini goals!

 3. Consider this: "If you have had a goal for a long time and haven't done it yet, it may not be what you really want."Before I heard this wisdom, there were about ten goals that I kept pulling in each year which I really wasn't enthusiastic about anymore. For the longest time, I had a goal to learn to crochet, but I kept putting it off and not doing. After hearing this, I finally realized I didn't really want to learn how to crochet, and I was able to take that goal off my list. Goals should be things that excite you, things that you actually want to do. So if you write down "Play the accordion" but you find that you are not excited about it, cross it off your list. Your goals are whatever you want.

 4. Set a few goals that scare you. Now I don't mean "Face my arachnophobia" or anything. This  is not Fear Factor. I mean things that scare you but make you excited too. If you have always wanted to try karate but are a little afraid or embarrassed about doing it, then write down "Try Karate"! In each list of goals you make, mix in a few that make you a bit frightened, because when you do achieve them, you will feel awesomely invincible!

5. The sky is the limit. When it comes down to it, you can do whatever you want. All you have to do is believe and, and it will be true. Happy Goal Setting!