Present Moment Goal Setting

We have dreams that will be achieved some day, in the future.  There is nothing wrong with having dreams.  In fact, they are good because they give meaning and focus to your life.

 

However, they are not enough to motivate you on a day to day basis.

 

You may then think the answer is conventional goal setting. This helps - however, the goals are still in time.  Goals can have timetables of 6 months, or a year, or a decade - but they are still not going to happen today.

 

Instead, I have found that a better, more effortless way to achieve success is to have present-moment goals - which are aligned with your longer-term dreams, and achieved in minutes.

 

For example, if you have a desire for financial independence, you can have a present moment goal of not impulse buying.  Any time you then pass a department store, for example, your goal is invoked, and has a lifespan of minutes.  Either it is achieved, or it ends without being achieved.

 

Now, this may sound like semantics.  You may think I am simply taking what would be a step in a long-term goal, and calling it a "present moment goal".  But, it is more than semantics - its a complete mindset shift. 

 

Your mind needs to think of these as separate, independent, and complete goals by themselves.  This way, you will measure progress in the moment.  If you pass by a store twice, and impulse buy once, you are not 50% successful.  These were independent goals.  You should not link them. 

 

Another example is weight-loss.  I lost 30 pounds, and have kept it off for 4 years, because I didn't set a goal of losing 30 pounds.  I set present-moment goals.  For example, at every meal, I set a goal to not overeat.   I will achieve it or I won't.   Either way, I will set the goal again later in the day, and the "score" is 0-0.

 

Another example could be a sport, like football.  If you are a player, you shouldn't care if its practice, or a regular season game, or the super bowl.  Don't care about the score or the standings.  Just set a goal of making the play ahead of you.  If you achieve it, great!  Now, set a new goal of the next play.  As long as your present-moment goal is aligned with your bigger dream, the longer-term things will happen.

 

Golfers who want to sink a putt from 50 feet don't aim at the hole.  They learn to aim at a point on the ground just a few feet ahead of the ball, on the line they want.

 

To sum it up: switch the focus from big dreams to small concrete steps in the right direction.