Sunday, January 20, 2013

Why You Should Use Goal Setting Software

By Marinthe Sijstermans


There are a number of goal setting software programs available in the market today and below are 5 reasons I believe you should seriously consider looking into them:Clarity Is Power,To paraphrase personal development guru Brian Tracy "Clarity accounts for 80% of success and happiness". The number one reason most people don't achieve their goals is that they are not clear on what they want.They think they know what they want,But it's not until they go through the rigorous questions built into a decent goal setting software program will they really get clear on their outcome. And it is with this clarity that comes the power to achieve goals. Knowing exactly what you want, what it will look like and making sure its your goal and not someone else's is half the battle.

There are several current offerings for personal goal setting software. Some are nothing more than day timers with a lot of functions. For instance, my preferred daytimer, Time & Chaos, has a lot of functions that will allow you to setup and track your goals. However, like Outlook and other similar software products, these are not true goal setting software tools.Personal goal setting software needs to have several functions to be truly useful in moving you forward.First, you need to have a way of setting and easily reviewing your goals, as well as a way to generate an action plan to move you toward achievement of the goals. In truth, the best software is really about goal achievement.Second, the software should enable you to list and track your to dos, so that in a sense it functions as a bit of a day timer. It should also allow you to track your time and jot down additional thoughts related to your progress on your goals and the discoveries and lessons you make along the way.

Reliable.The SMART goal setting software is also very reliable. You are guaranteed of accurate results since it ensures you make simple, measurable, attainable, realistic, and timely goals for yourself. It guides you in forming the best set of goals that assure you of a successful future. It helps you right from the very beginning so that you will not make any mistakes and disappoint yourself.

Accessible.The best thing about this software is that it is very accessible. Anyone who has a computer and internet connection can avail of this very helpful software. You no longer have to research hard and long since you can use this software in a few clicks from your computer. You can find this software easily whenever and wherever you are.

Make It Easy.We all lead busy lives. And even though the importance of goals is known to everyone - most of us never get round to it.Because, most of the goal setting worksheets out there are way too complicated. And take days if not weeks to complete.And that is why the right goal setting software will not only cover off on the above 4 points but will make it easy to define, track and achieve your goals.

All types of software if used correctly should make life easier for the user. After all the very purpose of creating the software in the first place is (hopefully) to help you achieve an objective quicker and more consistently than you would have otherwise done manually.Goal setting software offers goal setters a central location on which to record all goal setting tasks, whilst at the same time delivering an accurate feedback and monitoring process. For instance most goal setting software will help guide the user step by step through the goal setting process and will more than likely include a system which prohibits the user from skipping necessary exercises or activities.

In recent years the popularity of software for goal setting purposes has been on the increase. As a result of this there are numerous different programs available, some of which are available for free. However it is important to remember as with anything else you get what you pay for, a lesson I learnt the hard way. In many cases the free programs are one that are very basic and only allow you to carry out a limited number of functions.

In my opinion the key advantage to using goal software is the fact that you can keep everything in the one place, where it is organised and categorised correctly at all times.Most goal setting software is extremely intuitive to use and if you are familiar with using modern software packages such as Microsoft word and excel, you will have no problem quickly becoming proficient in using it.

For it to be effective it has to be reachable and be an improvement over what it was before. So if you plan to eat sugar all day Saturday then this is only a substitution for what you were consuming during the week and it is not a valid goal. Simply shifting the activity around is not setting a goal and achieving it. So in the case of reducing sugar consumption you would also need something to reach like to reduce your dress size by 1 size or to have a better body fat ratio. It has to be something that you can reach by taking the action.

This is as preposterous as a wannabe artist throwing away a particular brush as it didn't make him a better artist, or a wannabe chef complaining that his pots and pans hadn't helped him become a world class chef.Goal software can be a remarkable tool and a tremendously powerful one, however only if used in conjunction with self discipline and will power.You MUST however develop the habits, actions, behaviour and mindset of a successful person first. If you don't do this, you will find that no goal setting software on the planet will help you.So before you run to order your software, sit down and establish if you are taking action on the basics, if not then you should delay your purchase until you feel you have the relevant mindset and success habits




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