In this week’s post Hypnotherapist Malminder Gill and Personal Trainer Marc Dressen discuss the fundamental prerequisites for successful personal goal setting. By Malminder Gill and Marc Dressen, published online by Hypnosis In London blog and Marc Dressen’s blog on 1st January 2015. 

Do you have a new year’s resolution, or have you had one before and just gave up after a few weeks? We’ve all been there – super excited and full of energy in the first few days, hoping that our determination alone will bring success. Sometimes it does, and at other times we fail to reach our goals.  Do you ever wonder why goals are not achieved?  Is it because of laziness?  Or is it that life takes over?

Whatever your goal is for 2015, you will stand a much better chance at achieving this goal if you dissect it into pieces and thoroughly give thought to each of the points below.  And no, this is not the traditional SMART model we have all grown accustomed to at work, this is NLP at it’s finest.

6 Step Personal Goal Setting Protocol

1. Positively stated goals

Clearly state your goal in the positive. What do you want? What will that do for you?

2. Evidence of achievement

How will you know you got what you wanted? This might sound obvious at first, but this is a very important piece to acknowledge in order to avoid ‘the mouse trapped in the eternal wheel’ syndrome.  Additionally:

What will you be seeing once you got it?
What will you be hearing once you got it?
What will you be saying once you got it?
What will others around you be saying once you got it?

3. Locus of Control

Can you start and realistically maintain this outcome?

4. Context-Driven

When do you want it?
Where do you want it?
With whom do you want it?
How long do you want it for?

5. Positive by-intention

At some level what you are currently doing is serving a purpose for you although it may not always seem obvious at first. For example, somebody who wants to quit smoking might not immediately see the positive by-intention but after some careful thought, it may become apparent that smoking is the only time they have to think. Time to think is the positive by-intention, something still worth holding on to – but without the smoking. So the question here for you is:

What do you get out of your current behavior that you wish to preserve?  How can you maintain the new goal and still preserve this positive by-intention?

6. Sanity check!

Ask yourself:

Is it worth the cost?
Is it worth the time?
Is the outcome really in keeping with my sense of self?
How will achieving this outcome effect the wider situation or the people involved?

Through the process of asking these questions you may notice that your initial goal has changed slightly or even a lot, and that is okay. These questions were designed for your success, and that starts with reaching for the right goal for you. If you would like to further explore your goals, please contact Malminder Gill at her Harley Street Hypnotherapy Practice, or Marc Dressen at his Personal Training studio. Thank you and we wish you all the best for this coming 2015!

Malminder is a Clinical Hypnotherapist in London’s Harley Street, helping people to overcome and manage personal challenges.  Read more about Malminder’s London Hypnotherapy Practice and how she can help you here.

Marc Dressen is a leading Personal Trainer and Sports Scientist based in London’s Baker Street, helping people to stay in shape, lose weight and keep it off.  Marc is also one of a very few Personal Trainer’s who is qualified in Exercise programs for lower back pain. Find out how he can help you reach your goals by clicking here.

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