Time management helps you reach your goals. But you will spin your wheels if your life plan doesn’t excite you. Don’t let ambivalence drain your time and energy! You can develop a successful approach to goal setting right now.

Start with this quiz: learn whether your current approach to goals utilizes or wastes your time. Then explore how to develop goals that motivate you to develop better time management skills.

Quiz - What motivates your goal setting?

T/F: Effective and successful people always set goals.

T/F: Everyone should set goals.

T/F: Setting goals helps instill self-confidence.

If you’ve answered ‘true’ for all or even some of the above statements, you’ve listened well to advice from many sources. But what if your attempts to set and carry out goals often end in frustration? If so, the problem may not be you at all! All of the statements above are misguiding. They may have doomed your efforts from the start. If you want goals that truly make the best use of your time, try following these guidelines.

1) Forget about setting goals to become successful and effective.

That puts the cart before the horse. Your first visions of success were formed in childhood. They may have been highly symbolic, and unrelated to the person you have grown to be. Are any of those outdated images standing in for what truly excites you now? Start by exploring. What activities are truly rewarding to you personally? What life choices will leave you with no regrets when you look back? This needn’t fit anyone else’s idea of success. What about all those original goals that have haunted you? Let them go. Nothing wastes time more than trying to live someone else’s dream for your life.

2) Only set goals that point you in the direction you want to go.

All too often, goals are attempts to compensate for past actions or inactions. Or they are weighed down with unrealistic expectations. Sometimes they are even bargains to win others’ approval. All these goals are based in distortions. Never let your goals place you in a no-win situation.

Following outmoded goals takes you away from your inner source of power. Bring your dreams into focus and create a realistic action plan that inspires you. Break it down into action steps that can be accomplished in a day. Your revised goals will then be the guideposts for your life journey. And the more congruent your goals are with your deepest intentions, the more naturally you will use your time to realize your dreams.

3) Make goals your servants and not your master.

All too often, people are disheartened because they fail to achieve their goals. Don’t allow any goal to make or break your self-confidence. You are worth much more than that! See goals simply as aids to help you make rewarding choices. When they don’t serve you well, replace them with new goals. The less time you spend attempting to meet an external standard, the more self-referenced you’ll become. And self-reference generates vitality!

What dreams of yours deserve revised goals? What is your next step in creating them and re-energizing your time?

For your free Finding Time Boundary Template and fresh ideas for making strong time choices, visit our blog at
TheTimeFinder

[tags]Finding Time,Paula Eder,Time Finder Expert,time management tips,goal setting,goals[/tags]