有效设定目标（英语美文）

 　　The purpose of effective goal setting is to achieve what you want in life in a successful, focused and decisive manner by taking the right actions in a lesser¹ time frame.

　　Who doesn't want to achieve more in less time, yet many  of us abandon our goals before we accomplish them?

　　Why is that?

　　Some of the reasons include: lack of confidence, not having a workable plan for achieving them, being unrealistic by expecting too much too soon, fear of failure and lastly by putting too much pressure on ourselves to accomplish them.

　　Luckily there are strategies and behaviors that can help us overcome the obstacles that get in the way of our setting goals and achieving them.

　　How do you start?

　　Know that you deserve success and achievement.

　　Before you can start setting goals, you must know that you deserve success and that it is achievable (through goal setting) for anyone who puts their mind to it. You must believe that you can do what you set out to do, as well as in your talents and abilities. If you do not start with this crucial premise² your efforts will be thwarted³ and you will fall short of accomplishing what you want.

　　Determine what you want.  

One of the biggest problems people have in trying to effectively set goals is not knowing what they really want. If you are not clear about what you want in life, it's very difficult to get started. The one thing all successful people have in common is that they are intensely goal oriented and extremely focused. They know what they want and they understand that it takes setting goals to achieve it. To get yourself going, a good idea would be to take the time to write down which goals are meaningful to you and what you would need to do accomplish them. To help you figure this out, you can start by looking at the 'big picture' of your life. Start a journal or workbook and write down the answers to some important questions by asking yourself things like:

　　Do I want to be in the best of health and what will it take to get there?

　　What do I want to achieve in my career?

　　What kind of family life do I want?

　　What kind of lifestyle do I want today and in the future?

　　How do I see myself in 5, 10 or 20 years from now?

　　For example, under a goal of maintaining good health, you might make a list that includes: exercising 3-4 times a week, eating a balanced diet of protein, fruits and vegetables, getting 7-8 hours of sleep etc.

　　Under where you want to be in 5 years you might include: finish college degree; be earning an income of x amount of dollars; have a serious personal relationship (or avoid having a serious relationship until career is established).

　　Plan, organize and prioritize your goals in smaller, manageable chunks⁴.

　　If you look at everything you want to achieve all at once, you might find it daunting⁵ and overwhelming so it's best to organize and prioritize your goals. To do so, you must devise a workable plan for each thing you want to accomplish. For instance, you know that your health goals need to be ongoing⁶ ones, so you could establish a daily routine or agenda that you'd want to keep up on a regular basis. For a career goal, you could categorize it in monthly, quarterly or yearly chunks. You could lists points, or plan the actions you must take in order to get to a particular point in your career. This may include taking the odd supplemental course, doing extra reading or volunteering in the community to give exposure and experience in a certain field. Since careers take time and effort to build, planning and organizing your moves makes good sense.

　　Review, update and revise.    更多信息请访问：http://www.24en.com/Review and update your goals on a regular basis to make sure they are still relevant to you. It's also important to make sure you are still on track and taking  the appropriate steps and actions to get to where you need to be. If some of your actions aren't working, fine tune⁷ them or devise new ones. Likewise, figure out which obstacles and distractions⁸ are getting in your way and determine what you need to do to overcome them. We all know there are setbacks and bumps in the road along the way to achieving goals, but we need not let them stop us or take us off course. Revise and adjust the game plan where and when you need to.

　　Stay focused and motivated.

　　Probably one of the hardest things to do in the process of effectively attaining⁹ your goals is to stay focused and motivated. It's common to fall off the wagon¹⁰ every now then, however, it's essential to get back on as soon as possible.

　　One of the tools that can keep you focused is the journal or workbook you've been keeping. Go over it regularly as a reference point and to remind yourself what you want to accomplish. Set up routines or habits that will ensure you stay on track, e.g. do your exercises at the same time each day; drink your protein shake first thing in the morning.

　　Other helpful techniques to help you stay motivated include the use of relevant affirmations and visualization¹¹. Many successful people, especially athletes, swear by both techniques. You have to be able to see yourself as having achieved a goal before you actually do so. Likewise, positive affirmations help implant¹² positive thoughts into your subconscious¹³ which prompt you to take the right actions to achieve your goals.

　　The Benefits of Setting Goals Gives you the 'big picture' direction you want your life to take Helps keep you organized and focused Builds self-confidence and a sense of accomplishment¹⁴ Helps you achieve success more efficiently¹⁵ and in less time Makes the small day to day tasks more meaningful and purposeful Goal setting, and certainly effective goal setting, has been a tried and true method for achieving success and accomplishing what we want in life. Without it we would drift aimlessly and waste valuable time and effort in pursuits that lead us nowhere.  So start now and decide which goals are most meaningful to you and devise a plan to achieving them!

1 lesser   

adj.次要的，较小的；adv.较小地，较少地

参考例句：

• Kept some of the lesser players out.不让那些次要的球员参加联赛。
• She has also been affected,but to a lesser degree.她也受到波及，但程度较轻。

2 premise   

n.前提；v.提论，预述

参考例句：

• Let me premise my argument with a bit of history.让我引述一些史实作为我立论的前提。
• We can deduce a conclusion from the premise.我们可以从这个前提推出结论。

3 thwarted   

阻挠( thwart的过去式和过去分词 )； 使受挫折； 挫败； 横过

参考例句：

• The guards thwarted his attempt to escape from prison. 警卫阻扰了他越狱的企图。
• Our plans for a picnic were thwarted by the rain. 我们的野餐计划因雨受挫。

4 chunks   

厚厚的一块( chunk的名词复数 )； （某物）相当大的数量或部分

参考例句：

• a tin of pineapple chunks 一罐菠萝块
• Those chunks of meat are rather large—could you chop them up a bIt'smaller? 这些肉块相当大，还能再切小一点吗？

5 daunting   

adj.使人畏缩的

参考例句：

• They were faced with the daunting task of restoring the house.他们面临着修复房子的艰巨任务。
• Starting a new job can be a daunting prospect.开始一项新工作有时会让人望而却步。

6 ongoing   

adj.进行中的，前进的

参考例句：

• The problem is ongoing.这个问题尚未解决。
• The issues raised in the report relate directly to Age Concern's ongoing work in this area.报告中提出的问题与“关心老人”组织在这方面正在做的工作有直接的关系。

7 tune   

n.调子；和谐，协调；v.调音，调节，调整

参考例句：

• He'd written a tune,and played it to us on the piano.他写了一段曲子，并在钢琴上弹给我们听。
• The boy beat out a tune on a tin can.那男孩在易拉罐上敲出一首曲子。

8 distractions   

n.使人分心的事[人]( distraction的名词复数 )；娱乐，消遣；心烦意乱；精神错乱

参考例句：

• I find it hard to work at home because there are too many distractions. 我发觉在家里工作很难，因为使人分心的事太多。
• There are too many distractions here to work properly. 这里叫人分心的事太多，使人无法好好工作。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 attaining   

（通常经过努力）实现( attain的现在分词 )； 达到； 获得； 达到（某年龄、水平、状况）

参考例句：

• Jim is halfway to attaining his pilot's licence. 吉姆就快要拿到飞行员执照了。
• By that time she was attaining to fifty. 那时她已快到五十岁了。

10 wagon   

n.四轮马车，手推车，面包车；无盖运货列车

参考例句：

• We have to fork the hay into the wagon.我们得把干草用叉子挑进马车里去。
• The muddy road bemired the wagon.马车陷入了泥泞的道路。

11 visualization   

n.想像，设想

参考例句：

• In 2D visualization and drawing applications, vertical and horizontal scrolling are common. 在二维的可视化及绘图应用中，垂直和水平滚动非常普遍。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓
• Ophthalmoscopy affords the only opportunity for direct visualization of blood vessels. 检眼镜检查法提供直接观察血管的唯一机会。

12 implant   

vt.注入，植入，灌输

参考例句：

• A good teacher should implant high ideals in children.好教师应该把高尚理想灌输给孩子们。
• The operation to implant the artificial heart took two hours.人工心脏植入手术花费了两小时。

13 subconscious   

n./adj.潜意识(的)，下意识(的)

参考例句：

• Nail biting is often a subconscious reaction to tension.咬指甲通常是紧张时的下意识反映。
• My answer seemed to come from the subconscious.我的回答似乎出自下意识。

14 accomplishment   

n.完成，成就，（pl.）造诣，技能

参考例句：

• The series of paintings is quite an accomplishment.这一系列的绘画真是了不起的成就。
• Money will be crucial to the accomplishment of our objectives.要实现我们的目标，钱是至关重要的。

15 efficiently   

adv.高效率地，有能力地

参考例句：

• The worker oils the machine to operate it more efficiently.工人给机器上油以使机器运转更有效。
• Local authorities have to learn to allocate resources efficiently.地方政府必须学会有效地分配资源。