New Path Addictions & General Counseling

Goal setting, or ‘Goaling’ as I may call it from time to time, is important because the absence of goals leads to the absence of direction. With no focus or direction in life we can often feel like we are wandering around aimlessly with no purpose. ‘Goaling’ gives us something to aim for, to strive for, and to focus on. If we don’t have focus, because we have no goals, then we will often tend to focus on our problems. In addition, goals are future oriented, so by that alone they bring us to move forward with our lives when we work towards them.

There are several components goals should be made up of; they are:

• Specific

• Measureable

• Attainable

• Realistic

• Timely

An acronym for the above is SMART Goals…

Why are Specific Goals Important?

Specific goals are important because they are more defined. Often when asked what people want they answer by saying something like, “I want to be happy.” Now of course there is nothing wrong with that, however, it is too general or broad of a statement. It could mean anything; it can mean different things to different people. What does happiness look like to you?

Why are Measureable Goals important?

Measureable goals are important because we need to be able to gauge if we have made progress towards meeting our goals.

Why are Attainable Goals Important?

Attainable goals are something that is possible for us to achieve. We need to either have the skills or resources to be able to achieve our goal, or we need to be able to access the skills and resources necessary to reach our goal.

Why are Realistic Goals important?

Even in cases where the goal is attainable, it may not be realistic; for though we may be able to reach it, the cost and effort may be far too high.

Why are Timely Goals Important?

Timely goals are essential. If we do not have a measureable time frame for our goals we may procrastinate setting forth to achieving them. We could end up taking way too much time and slowly forget about achieving our goals in the first place. We could lose our motivation.

Most of us we are quite sure of what it is we don’t want in our lives, what isn’t working, or what we hate and dislike, but often we struggle when asked what it is we do want in our lives, what is working, or what we love and really do like. It just seems to be that for us humans it is easier to focus on our problems and perceived faults than it is to focus on our solutions and our goals.

Think of it like you are the writer and director of a movie, you choose the setting, the actors you wish to be in the movie, what roles they will play, what role you will play, the location, your hobbies, your friends, the goal, and the direction you want this movie to go. Then you step out of the director role and step into the screen and become part of the movie. First you envision, then you create, then you take part….

So here are some of the questions we must ask ourselves:

1) What would I like to see changed in my life?

2) What will my life look like when my problems are solved?

3) How will I be feeling?

4) What will I doing differently?

5) What will be different in my life when my problems will be solved?

Once we know how we would like our future to look like, and what we would like to be doing in our future, we need to ask ourselves what is it that we have to do to make it happen?

• What do we need to start our journey towards bringing our goals to life and achieving them?

• Do we have the resources in place to start our journey towards our goals, and if not, where can we get them; or how can we graft resources into the existing ones we already have?

• Are there any barriers to our goals that need to be assessed and addressed? How do we remove these barriers or obstacles?

• Are our goals realistic?

• A very important question to ask ourselves is: “Do we currently have any goals and do we know what we want?”

If you don’t know what it is you want in life or what your goals are, then your first goal may be to think about things you may like to do? Or how you might like to envision your life? If you can’t think of anything then think about things you used to enjoy doing in life? How can you do those things again? In addition, you may wish to think about things that you may enjoy doing but have not yet done. Where can you find out more information about these activities? Are there local course calendars at schools? Are there general interest courses you may like to try?

Lastly, we need to ask ourselves is our current thinking, behavior, and lifestyle choices in line with our goals? If not, what choices do we need to make? What lifestyle modifications do we need to make? Is our living environment healthy and in line with our goals? If not, what changes can we make?

Now we can take our first steps in creating our new future lives….