The 4 STAR Rules of Goal Setting: Set Your Own Goals

Unlock Your Potential: The Power of Setting Your Own Goals

In this episode, we explore the transformative power of setting your own goals using the 4 STAR Rules of goal setting.

Unlike goals imposed by others, personal goals resonate deeply with your values and aspirations, driving personal and professional growth. We emphasise the importance of balance in goal-setting across your 7 Life Segments, ensuring a fulfilling life that integrates personal, relational, and financial success.

Discover the effectiveness of writing down goals for 100% Goal Setting and engage in the ‘Daring to Dream’ exercise to clarify what you truly want in life.

It’s your life, your goals, and your choice to shape your journey.

S: Set Own Goals

There are many great books on how to set goals, so without wanting to repeat what’s already available for you, I’m just going to highlight the important elements of goal-setting.

In the game of soccer, scoring an own goal is a severe blunder. It’s hard enough to score a goal for your own team, but to hand the opposition a gift makes winning so much more difficult.

Yet I say,

The best goals are own goals.

The goals that you set for your own personal and professional life, of course: individual goals, relationship goals, career goals.

In your journey through life, some of the most valuable goals you can set are the ones that come from within—your personal and professional aspirations, the dreams you harbour for yourself and the people around you, the objectives that propel your career forward.

These are the goals that resonate at the core of your being. When you set personal goals, you embark on a path of self-discovery and self-fulfillment.

These goals are intrinsically linked to your values, desires, and purpose.

By defining your own goals, you take charge of your destiny, paving the way for personal growth and success on your terms.

Direction & Drive

In regards to your own personal goals, you might set goals related to your health, well-being, personal development, or even your hobbies and interests.

These goals are not imposed upon you; they emerge from your own heart and mind.

Whether it’s a commitment to leading a healthier lifestyle, mastering a new skill, or exploring your creative passions, personal goals have the power to enrich your life in countless ways.

Relationship goals hold immense importance as well. These objectives focus on nurturing and strengthening the bonds you share with your loved ones.

They involve promoting healthier communication, deepening emotional connections, and creating a more harmonious and loving environment for your family and friends.

Relationship goals are deeply personal, reflecting your values and your desire to cultivate meaningful connections with those you care about most.

When it comes to career goals, you are in fact planning a path towards your own professional aspirations.

Whether you’re seeking advancement in your current job, exploring new career opportunities, or even considering entrepreneurship, these goals align with your ambitions and the direction you envision for your career.

These goals empower you to take control of your professional life, giving you the direction and drive to excel and achieve the success you desire.

The Key to Effective Goal Setting

The key to setting goals effectively lies in one word: balance.

It’s essential to set goals that balance the various aspects of your 7 Life Segments, like personal, professional, and financial goals.

While financial success is undoubtedly important, an excessive focus on material gain at the expense of other aspects of your life can lead to disillusionment.

Of course, achieving financial stability and enjoying the fruits of your labour are worthy objectives, but it’s equally crucial to remember that life is multi-dimensional.

The pursuit of personal growth, meaningful relationships, and a fulfilling career should coexist with your financial aspirations.

This balance ensures that you create a well-rounded and meaningful life, where you’re not just accumulating wealth but also experiencing personal and professional fulfillment.

The best reason to set own goals is not as destinations to arrive at, but as the means by which you grow into the person you always wanted to be and always thought you could.

In essence, the best goals are the ones that spring from your own aspirations and values.

These goals provide a sense of purpose, motivation, and direction, each playing a vital role in shaping a rewarding and meaningful life.

So, set your goals with self-awareness, balance, and the understanding that your own goals are the most significant milestones in your life’s wonderful journey.

100% Goal Setting

Now, here’s the crux of the matter:

If you merely hold your goals within your mind’s eye without committing them to paper, you’re effectively limiting yourself to using just one-half of your brain.

If you don’t write down your goals, you’re only engaging your creative right brain while neglecting the left brain’s critical role in planning and execution.

However, when you write down your goals on paper, you activate your entire brain.

This is ‘100% Goal Setting’, which taps into your creative imagination and logical reasoning.

Writing down your goals makes them tangible, creating a bridge between your dreams and the actionable steps needed to realise them.

By doing this, you’re not just visualising your goals, you’re transforming them into a structured plan, making your objectives more concrete and achievable.

100% Goal Setting’ maximises your chances of completing your goals. Your right brain gives birth to the vision, and your left brain formulates the roadmap to that vision.

Goal-setting, therefore, isn’t just a matter of dreaming; it’s about bridging the dream with reality through action.

When you employ your whole brain by writing down your goals, you embrace the full spectrum of your ingenuity.

Daring to Dream… Your Life, Your Choice

Your right brain is your creative brain. So to activate this part of your brain, I would like you to now consider an exercise called, ‘Daring to Dream’.

Think about the things—experiences, states of being, places, relationships, and so forth—you really want in your 7 Life Segments.

Although there are probably a thousand things that you know you don’t want, it’s equally vital that you also know, and have great clarity about, the things you do want in life.

When you do this exercise, remember that the value of your effectiveness is directly proportional to your desire to help other people.

Helping others is the key to success and happiness. The happiest people in life, therefore, are those who set collaborative goals, not competitive goals.

That is, goals that are win-win.

Now make your ‘Daring to Dream’ list here. What do you choose to experience? What do you really choose to be, to have, to do?

Start with 10 to begin with, but go to 20 if you can. So here is the exercise, and all you need to do is… CHOOSE!

I really choose…
I really choose…
I really choose…
I really choose…
I really choose…
I really choose…
I really choose…
I really choose…
I really choose…
I really choose…

The choice to experience this life how you want to experience it is yours. It’s your life, and therefore your choice.

That’s your power.

Main Points:

1. The best reason to set own goals is not as destinations to arrive at, but as the means by which you grow into the person you always wanted to be and always thought you could.
2. There is power in the written word, and the act of writing down your goals serves as a catalyst for your success.
3. ‘100% Goal Setting’ maximises your chances of completing your goals. Your right brain gives birth to the vision, and your left brain formulates the roadmap to that vision.
4. Do you dare to dream?