Consistent Goal Setting is to Your Life, as Consistent Fertilizing is to a Garden
You have heard many times that we should set goals. It can make the difference in your success like fertilizer does on a garden. Plants will grow differently based on the amount and consistent application. Like a garden, your success and the consistency of your growth can be impacted by the method of and frequency that you set goals.
Maybe one year you decide to plant a garden. Because you are good gardener, you plan to apply fertilizer. You have a choice; apply it only once at the beginning, apply it when you feel it’s needed, or apply it on a consistent schedule. Goal setting is fertilizer to our lives. How can both be impacted?
Apply fertilizer all at once – Goal setting once a year ~ Applying fertilizer once and all at once is definitely better than not doing it at all, such is setting goals once a year is far better than never setting them at all. It propels you forward for a period of time and it jump starts and creates greater growth in a plant.
When a seed or a seedling gets a large dose of fertilizer at the beginning and never again, you can end up with a very large plant that doesn’t produce much fruit. The reason is, without additional fertilizer, any nutrients that the plant can get out of the soil will only be enough to keep the plant strong, but not always enough create a bountiful harvest of your favorite vegetable.
Setting goals on an average of only yearly can do the same thing. You may create one new habit or accomplish one item on your list. You’ll often see your focus and motivation dwindle and the things you wanted to accomplish the most don’t transpire.
Apply fertilizer only when it seems necessary – Set goals when we are feeling down ~ When we notice a plant starting to slow in growth, the buds not coming on quickly, or the fruit not growing very large, we often will add an extra dose of fertilizer. It always helps. But sometimes our fruit will end up oddly shaped because the nutrients haven’t been applied on a consistent basis. We’ll have a larger crop than applying it only once, but they won’t be winning any blue ribbons at the county fair because of the irregular sizes and shapes.
Setting goals when we get frustrated or discouraged is a fantastic method for recharging our mental batteries. I highly recommend it. But like the fruit, we will often see our sales, production, or relationships grow inconsistently. We’ll laugh at ourselves and what we learn from the experience, like the funny shaped fruit, but we’ll usually wish that we had a little more persistence.
Apply fertilized on a schedule – Set goals on a consistent basis ~ Fertilizer applied consistently grows the blue ribbon winning garden that you dreamed of when you originally planted the first seeds. As you tilled, hoed, and weeded your garden, you created a garden that flourished and produced more than you could ever eat yourself.
Apply this same principle to goal setting. I’ve found that setting goals on a monthly basis provides several valuable benefits.
- Your overall work habits are more consistent.
- You tweak your goals and redefine them with life changes, thus keeping them current.
- New goals that are even more meaningful are uncovered.
- You have a more positive and hopeful attitude towards life.
- You stay more balanced as you set goals in all areas of your life.
- You will be more willing to set bigger goals as you see the original desires achieved.
Reap the Harvest
At the end of your growing season, you can apply the exact same amount of fertilizer but end up with very different qualities and quantities of produce. It’s all in the timing of the application that makes the difference. Any goal you have, whether it is in your personal life, or business, is much the same way. Keep your goals as your focus by writing them down monthly. If you are a visual person, create a new visual aid monthly and put it in a variety of places. Schedule in this activity on a monthly basis and create a reminder so that it becomes a habit.
You’ll find that you can do the same amount of work, give the same amount of effort and time to your goals in the long run, and like your harvest, have the possibility of a greater abundance than you expected. Plan to do this in 2015 and experience a more successful year than you’ve ever experienced!