5 Words You Should Never Use When Setting New Goals

5 Words You Should Never Use When situation New Goals5 Words You Should Never Use When Setting New Goals Many of us dont achieve ur goals. But thats not because were failures. It could be that we just dont understand how to set goals in the first place . If you want to make your new goals stick, youve got to use the right words to state them.You may have heard of the SMART goal setting system. SMART is an acronym that stands forIf youve struggled to achieve results , it may be because you didnt put enough thought into the goal-setting process. Are your goals SMART?Setting a SMART goal is only part of the puzzle. You can state your goal within the framework of the SMART system and still not find yourself driven to succeed. That could be because you stated your goal with negative language instead of framing it in a positive way.If youd rather reach toward a goal instead of tackle a to-do list, avoid these five demotivational words.Quick Name a time youve felt energized after uttering a phrase that began with I should really ______. Should tends to make us feel guilty, not spurred into action. It brings to mind commitments we havent met, or obligations we havent fulfilled.Instead of I should say I will .Example By the end of the month, I should I will formulate a plan to pay down my credit card debt.Remember what the SMART goal setting guidelines say about making things time-limited? Unless you set yourself a deadline, odds are youll struggle to reach your goals. (Name the belastung time youve actually done that thing youve been saying you were going to do soon or someday .)Instead of saying soon , set a specific timeline.Example I will send out ten resumes and or letters of interest by Friday in search of a new job.Need to and have to are a lot like should . They dont compel us to reach toward our goals so much as shut us down.Instead of need to / have to , say want to .Example I want to lose ten pounds by May 1st.BONUS That goal may be specifi c about what you want to accomplish (lose ten pounds), but it doesnt give you a plan for getting there. Lets get even more detailed.Example I want to plan healthy meals and exercise four times per week in order to lose ten pounds by May 1st.You may have heard the joke, Id give up chocolate, but Im no quitter. (And hey, there are health benefits to eating a bit of chocolate on the regular, so have at it.) Quit is the word we use to suggest that somebody gave up and threw in the towel. Its not exactly the power word of champions. So why do we use it when were setting goals?Example From today on, I will stop smoking.Never sure puts a lot of pressure on us. Its an absolute in a world where there are few absolutes. When you promise yourself youll never do something, you set yourself up for a letdown should you fall short of your goal. Never isnt a forgiving word.Instead of saying never , consider specific actions to prevent you from doing the thing you want to avoid.Example I will set my alarm fifteen minutes earlier so I wont be late for work again.You may have noticed we used the word never in the title of this article. Research shows that negative words dominate our language , and the human negativity bias means these words grab our attention ahead of positive words like always . But negative words dont help with goal setting, so keep your language encouraging in order to keep your motivation high.This article was originally published on Grammarly.com. Reprinted with permission.