Power of a Vision: Setting Effective Goals
By Joyce Li, Ph.D.
Think about those family or personal projects
that you want to start … Or, the 2008
new-year resolutions that you promised yourself
a few months ago. How many of them are considered
"smooth sailing" and in good progress,
if not already accomplished?
Developing a concrete vision of success by
setting achievable goals is a powerful catalyst
to success. We set goals to focus our energy
to work on something that is interesting,
important or worthwhile doing. For example,
during a therapy session, the therapist and
client very often discuss the issues at hand,
explore the plausible factors or causes for
the issues and come up with goals that the
client will work towards in order to achieve
results that are favorable to the client.
For instance, a client who suffered from
anxiety comes for therapy and complained about
fatigue, nervousness, loss of appetite, inability
to concentrate and general apathy. She had
noticed these symptoms for almost half a year
and they were getting progressively worse.
The client also mentioned that she was very
concerned about her financial situation since
she had missed a few days of work in the last
couple of weeks because getting up in the
morning was just too hard for her. She feared
her boss may find a reason to fire her due
to poor attendance. After the initial assessment,
the therapist asked the client some specific
questions:
"What prompted you to seek professional
counseling at this time?"
"What would be a small, concrete sign
that would tell you that your anxiety level
has improved and that you are heading in the
right direction towards your normal healthy
outlook?
The client had some more discussions with
the therapist and gave the answer to the second
question after much thought. She slowly expressed
that getting back her energy level, keeping
at her job, preparing healthy meals for the
family and being able to spend time with her
husband are all very important to her.
She was very doubtful that this would happen
right away since she has tried taking all
kinds of vitamins, trying meditation routines
and other suggestions from her friends before
going for counseling. However, if she were
to see herself getting up at 7 a.m. Monday
to Friday and be in a good enough shape to
get to work five days in a row, she would
definitely consider this a huge step towards
the right direction.
In this case, the client has just established
her initial goal of therapy. The therapist's
next step is to help the client to reach that
goal.
As therapists, our job is to support our
clients in their journey of change. Sometimes,
underlying issues need to be uncovered in
order to shed light on the root causes for
the proper corrective actions to be taken.
Other times, we need to facilitate our clients
to set the appropriate goals as part of the
corrective actions.
Vision is powerful. When clients can develop
a concrete vision of what success looks like,
they can then focus their energy towards the
future reality. A vision also provides context
and meaning to their hard work. Goal setting
helps paint the vision of success. It is a
critical and worthwhile task. This technique
to goal-setting also applies to our personal
lives. Following are characteristics of effective
goals, which I call the "T-I-F-F-S"
technique.
Strategies for Effective Goal Setting: the
T-I-F-F-S Technique
We engage in self-talk all the time. When
we set a goal, it is important that we can
rehearse the goal in our minds when we need
to be reminded. You may find it helpful to
put sticky notes on your fridge or in the
bathroom mirror to remind you of your goal
of getting from size 12 to size 10 pants in
three months.
May your performance exceeds your goals as
your apply the "T-I-F-F-S" technique
in your goal-setting!!
About Joyce Li
As a mother of four children, wife, career
woman and church volunteer, Joyce understands
about the rewards, demands and stress of everyday
living. Joyce is a certified psychotherapist
and workshop facilitator who specializes in
helping her clients find light in tough situations.
Visit Joyce at www.fullnessoflife.com
or email her at joyce@fullnessoflife.ca
