How to find and set your goal - The goal model with the good mood loop

Tips for Achieving Goals Blog by Susanne Nickel No. 7 How to Find and Set Your Goal - The Goal Model with the Good Mood Loop The best goal is useless if it is not achievable. In order to have a very good chance of actually achieving your goals, they must meet certain criteria and pass a few tests. With the following models or methods, you can take a closer look at your goal and evaluate it. The GOAL model developed by me with the "Good Mood Loop" is well suited to challenge your goal and yourself, in other words, to challenge yourself. GOAL is an acronym, with the letters standing for Goal, Objective, Achievement, and Likeness. Goal definition: What purpose do you want to fulfill with your goal? Why is achieving your goal important to you? It is best to make notes about it. When you look at your notes: Are you satisfied with them? Does it bring you joy? It should, because it will also be challenging when you set out on your journey. Knowing the purpose and goal is helpful in implementation. Objective setting: What exactly are you going to do and when? What does your specific plan look like? How will you proceed? What needs to be considered? Look at your notes and set objectives in a way that is achievable for you without overexerting yourself or taking on too much. The principle of one step at a time applies. Achievement: Having the end in mind: What does your achievement look like specifically? What is at the end of your path to the goal? What result will make you satisfied? What must be achieved without fail? What is the minimum and what is the maximum? The more precisely you define everything about the result, the better you can later orient yourself and measure progress. Likeness: Maintain good mood and perseverance: What helps you to maintain your good mood even when it gets tough? What or who can support you when difficult stages arise that require perseverance? Your Good Mood Loop On the way to your goal, not everything is always easy. We have to leave our comfort zone and venture into uncertain terrain. There are hurdles and challenges that we must overcome. This usually happens suddenly and unexpectedly. In such situations, the following mechanism takes place within you: a negative stimulus comes towards you and you react, usually unconsciously, to this stimulus often with a negative reaction. We react with anger, frustration, despair, sadness, frustration, etc. Unfortunately, negative emotions tend to bring us down and prevent us from focusing on our goal and staying on track. Therefore, it is important to stop or positively influence this unconscious reaction. This can be achieved by consciously creating a loop for yourself that helps you maintain your mood and not allow negative emotions. Example: Your goal is to give an excellent presentation. You start working on it, but time is unfortunately a bit tight. The next day, you are supposed to present it to colleagues and clients, but a thousand other things come up and hinder your preparation. The phone keeps ringing. Colleagues and clients keep calling, wanting something from you. Various stimuli bombard you: Colleagues stress you out, clients make you nervous, and pressure builds up because you can't focus on what you actually want to do. The worst reaction to these stimuli would be to despair and lose your good mood. But how can you influence the situation positively for yourself? To create a solution for such situations, I have developed the Good Mood Loop. It helps you to positively influence negative stimuli. A Good Mood Loop always consists of three steps. Step 1: Focus and Mindfulness on the Stimulus Pay attention to the stimulus and acknowledge it first. Often, we do not even notice the stressors and they overwhelm us. We can only react well and correctly if we first consciously acknowledge the stimulus. Step 2: Influence the Stimulus Here comes your personal loop to address the negative stimulus and take a positive influence: In the example above: Hit the stop button. Take a deep breath. Mentally transport yourself to a place that gives you strength, for example, your favorite place in the mountains or by the sea, or wherever you can mentally recharge for a moment. In the example above, with the necessary calmness, politely but firmly tell your colleagues to stop bothering you for an hour. Explain that you do not want to be disturbed. Turn off your emails. Finish the presentation calmly. Then reward yourself with something nice. Step 3: Return to the Task Now you are stabilized and can focus on other things. Continue with your tasks. Collect your Good Mood Loops!