Goals, goals, goals

As our sessions have continued, the workload has increased. This week Dan asked me to snatch a pebble from his hand. Not really. But we are biting off bigger chunks of the material between each session.
The reading and discussion centered around goals, planning them, aligning them, achieving them. If you're like me, you've had a great deal of experience with the goal-setting process, both professionally and personally. I allow for the reality of accidental achievement, but for the most part I don't think people really get anywhere without setting goals. The difference is in how specific your goal-setting process is and where you ultimately end up.
As noted in an earlier post, I don't make much progress unless I have a clear vision of where I'm going. I relate this to goal-setting, except I haven't always been formal about the process. I haven't, for instance, spent a lot of time writing goals down. There were several references to the power of this simple action in the chapters I read, as well as several references to the fact that people overlook that step because they believe it's too obvious. Check.
The next section of my reading dealt with turning goals into action. I thought this was a valuable area and I made a lot of notes in the margins. I never do this. The concept of S.M.A.R.T. goals was covered, as well as how fear (of failure, of criticism, of the unknown) can derail the effort. The piece I found most interesting was on affirmations. Admittedly, it took me a reading or two to get over the Stuart Smalley "Daily Affirmations skit on SNL. But once I did, I really liked the idea of making a goal a constant part of your daily life, surrounding yourself with images and positive self-talk, as a way of moving in that direction.
So now I'm going to give this concept a try. Because I'm good enough, I'm smart enough and, doggone it, people like me!