Most of us will have heard of SMART goal setting, but this method of goal setting ignores a very importance aspect of successful goal; setting which is that a goal has to FEEL right to you in order for your to get your subconscious mind on board and not sabotage your efforts at achieving your goal with doubts and counter-arguments.

In SAFE goal setting it is vital that you see yourself achieving your goal and that you accept your goal is good and healthy for you. You should feel some emotional investment in achieving your goal (i.e. you should WANT it rather than simply rationally thinking it the right thing to do). Lastly, you should be able to express what you want in terms of your goal.

We do not live life in a vacuum so even with personal goals we need to think about how our goals will affect others. Your unconscious mind will be doing that anyway, so you should embrace that and make it a positive part of your personal goal setting process. If you can see how achieving a goal will improve your life and the lives of those around you in a practical way, your motivation to overcome the inevitable problems along the way will be increased.

In order to get your subconscious mind on board with your goal setting so that you are open to any and all opportunities to achieve your goals, you should first of all make sure that your goal is realistic. For example, say you have always wanted to learn ballet. If you are overweight, unfit and aged forty, you are never going to make it as a prima ballerina so there is no point setting your sights on so high a goal. Your subconscious mind just won’t buy into it. However, there may well be nothing stopping you taking a ballet class once a week. That would probably be a much more realistic goal.

However, in making your personal goal you should always be careful to make your goal a bit of a challenge. That way you will be more likely to remain motivated to work toward your goal, making you much more likely to achieve it. On the other hand, if a goal is perceived as too easy or too difficult, your motivation will wane and you will put less effort into achieving your goals, making you less likely to achieve them.

Once you have set yourself a realistic goal, take it one step at a time. Each thing that you do toward your goal will make other things possible, and so your goals can be built upon and further things achieved. You just have to start of on the right foot, seeing yourself achieving the goal and being able to work out the steps toward that goal.