Setting personal or business goals tends to be something of a chore for most people. When was the last time you set goals? Many of us pass through the financial year in the hope that things will come good. Others react to problems and create goals around those. To help set goals take time out to plan ‘positive outcomes’. Imagine what you really want for the future, as if you have stepped forward in time and grabbed it. Outcomes need to be compelling, so that you find yourself driven towards them.

Most business people find the process of setting goals difficult. Statistics reveal that only six per cent of the population think strategically. This includes the ability to set goals that are compelling enough to work towards.

Many management articles or training programmes will use SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and timely) goals. This process is used throughout business and many feel that it works for them. And that’s okay...

Or is it? Let’s consider a possible health outcome for a patient, such as: ‘I want to stop smoking by 1 March next year’. This is an example of ‘problem-based’ thinking: a desire to move away from what is not wanted – the habit of smoking – based on how things are today and what the person wants to change. Now think of this as a positive outcome: ‘I want to be in good health by 1 March next year’. The person is now imagining what they really want, and can more easily step into the future.

The motivation has changed and they are now moving towards what they really want, to be in good health. The difference lies in the motivation and the drive to make a change. It is the former mindset that is why many people find it difficult to give up smoking.