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There is a lot of goalsetting for success guidance being offered on the net today. However, it never cease to amaze me the extent of the over-strenuous emphasis on the term 'failure' or 'failing' by many so-called 'personal development' advocates. I have encountered numerous such dubious approaches, some of which I perceive downright dis-empowering to individuals who are desperate to bring much needed positive change into their lives. Statements often run along the lines of 'Do you want to quit being a loser?', or 'Are you failing...?', or 'Do

x y z or you will continue to fail'.

True commitment to any individual's personal development should not be centred around perceived past or present 'failings' but should instead focus on the positive aspects of the individual's potential, as well as being borne out of a genuine desire to promote his or her personal growth and the positive changes s/he can bring into his or her life.

As I see it, the only 'failing' being done is on the part of some of these irresponsible people, whose only motive would appear to be the promotion of their products and/or services. It sounds harsh but so is preying on someone's vulnerability.

Look at it this way. Whether implicitly or explicitly, if a person is told from the outset that s/he is a failure or is failing, this can only serve to reinforce any negative view s/he already hold about him or herself. That seed is already there but it is now being given further reinforcement to sprout. Don't under-estimate the power of this kind of suggestion.

To give you an example of what I mean, let's say you're walking across a slippery surface; your goal is to successfully make it to the other side. You're confident about achieving this and you're doing just fine until someone point out that you should take care not to fall! What do you suppose happens? You fall of course. In that split second your focus shifted from a pre-determined, positive outcome, to - (for want of a better word), 'failing'. Why? Because a seed of doubt was planted questioning your ability to complete that task successfully. That is the power of negative suggestions or negative thinking.

As you can clearly see from the example above, negative thoughts, ideas or suggestions don't necessarily have to come from you to be detrimental. When you're feeling vulnerable or experiencing a loss of faith or belief in yourself, the last thing you want and need is someone telling you, you have 'failed because....'. So be mindful of what is being suggested to you since you might just internalise it - inadvertently making it your reality.

Regardless of what anyone tells you, there is no magical formula external to your own self when you're goalsetting for success. Your potential for personal growth and your many successes lies within you and no one else. The extent of any appropriate outside guidance you receive is merely to point you in the direction that will help you explore all your available options. You then choose the path that is right for you to successfully achieve your personal goal setting objectives. In a nutshell, goalsetting for success rests with you and you alone in much the same way that non-achievement of your goals will do too. You're in the driving seat, so it's you who decide.

So what is the formula to goalsetting for success? It is really quite simple with the right quality of guidance. Goalsetting for success is a process that involve several stages you must work through to achieve your personal goal objective. I refer to these as the 12 winning goal smart strategies for your personal goal setting success.

Development of your self-awareness and self-knowledge is one of the crucial components underpinning your successful and smart goal-setting and is your passport to achievement. It is therefore imperative that you work through the 12 stages, which are as follows:

1. Assessing your personal values to find what it is you really want
2. Clarifying with yourself that your wants are yours and yours alone
3. Prioritising your wants in order of importance
4. Writing your smart goals
5. Drawing on your personal resources - strengths, past achievements
6. Identifying any challenges, barriers or blocks to you achieving your goal
7. Identifying your development areas - i.e. skills, further learning
8. Writing your personal goal smart action plan
9. Taking action - carrying out tasks to achieve your goal objectives
10. Reviewing and evaluating your progress with your smart goals
11. Rewarding yourself for your personal goals achievement
12. Building further on your achievement by expanding on your goals

Here's an elaboration of point number one above and what it involves.

Stage 1: Establishing What You Want

It's not always easy knowing what it is you want when you're embarking on an activity goal setting process. Yet, if you don't know what you want, it becomes difficult to even begin the task of setting your goals. Here is an exercise to help you with prioritising your personal values.

When you're goalsetting for success, it is crucial that you take time to think about your personal code, since this is what will govern the value you place on very many things in life as well as how you conduct yourself. For instance, your personal code will influence the weight you put on such things as honor, sense of justice, fairness, truth, marriage, family, career, or even your health.

Consider what it is you value the most, or what is important in your life right now. For instance, if the area in which you want to set your goals is your health area you might consider, 'mental well-being, physical fitness, or even stress reduction, weight loss or healthy eating as important personal values for you. Remember, these must be your own. You simply cannot choose values that belong to someone else. By that I mean, if one of your personal values is weight loss, it cannot be dictated by the fact that your partner would prefer you better slim or because you want to lose weight to please him or her. Your value will translate into your goal and it must be 100% yours and what you want! This is one of the key goalsetting for success secrets.

Once you're clear about your important values in your 'health' area and about what it is you want, simply make a list of 10 of the things you want to achieve. To get you started, here is an example list but do compile your own list as it relates to you:

1. Good health
2. Emotional and mental well-being
3. Healthy eating
4. Exercise
5. Inner beauty
6. body image
7. Peace of mind
8. Skin care
9. Rest/Sleep
10. Happiness

Take your time writing and re-writing your list. Once you are satisfied with your top 10 values, rank them in order of importance. Your top 4 values will now form the foundation of your immediate priority goals.

And there you have it,- success! You have now completed stage one of your goalsetting for success activity.

You can access the remainder of this personal goal setting for success guidance plus a free five part course covering all the stages outlined above, as well as the goals forms and worksheets you'll need, here Goal Setting Activity.

Overall, the personal goal setting course contains a great deal of information and is designed to help you throughout the entire activity goal setting process. Do put it to good use by taking decisive steps in setting and achieving your personal and health goals.