The Contradiction of Date Setting Goals

[judge45]

Depending on who you read and/or believe setting a date for the attainment of a specific goal is either a must or not necessary.

If you say I will have $5000 in two weeks time that puts the goal outside of the present which is where goals should be visualised.

You see yourself having the $5000 in your bank account but you tell yourself 'in a few weeks' or 'by 1st Feb'

I've read that it's not up to you to define the when or the how. only the 'can' as in,when you have the 'can do' the 'how to' arrives.

So what do you think is it different for everyone?

How do you see your goals? In a certain time frame or as the universe sees fit??

What has worked for you?

I've had both happen, which seems to confuse the issue.

Jeff

[Athena]

I like to have goals per time frame, like per week or month or season, then write it down as is, like a to-do list:

January

$5000 in bank account


for concrete goals, that seems to work well. If it's to be open ended, then can let the universe do the work, otherwise break it down into actionable steps.

For more abstract goals or directions, like 'I am successful, healthy, happy, on path of my purpose' it helps to phrase those as affirmations, since they're not time-based, but general compass directions or states of mind.

If you say I will have $5000 in two weeks time that puts the goal outside of the present which is where goals should be visualised.

I don't like to phrase things like this completely in the present, because I think that confuses the mind. Instead of saying 'I have ... in a few weeks' which is not specific, or 'I have ... already' which sounds completed, I like instead to say 'in January, I have $5000 in my account' or 'I have $5000 in my account by January' it can both let the mind know that you are not there yet and still have work to do, AND phrase it in the present tense for the subconscious to be open to it.

[joshbickford]

Originally Posted by judge45

Depending on who you read and/or believe setting a date for the attainment of a specific goal is either a must or not necessary.

If you say I will have $5000 in two weeks time that puts the goal outside of the present which is where goals should be visualised.

You see yourself having the $5000 in your bank account but you tell yourself 'in a few weeks' or 'by 1st Feb'

I've read that it's not up to you to define the when or the how. only the 'can' as in,when you have the 'can do' the 'how to' arrives.

So what do you think is it different for everyone?

How do you see your goals? In a certain time frame or as the universe sees fit??

What has worked for you?

I've had both happen, which seems to confuse the issue.

Jeff

I get things done way more often when I give myself a date. If I work toward the goal and need to change the date, that's fine too. When I don't set a date things never get done as effectively.

Funny reading this thread, I just made a post about this exact subject on my blog tonight.

[stephencp]

Do not confuse goals and goal statements with the affirmations that support them.
Goals should have time milestones while affirmations are stated in the present tense as if the goal has been achieved. The sub-conscious tension created by the difference in "reality" and what you are telling yourself is true will help you achieve the goal and in the law of attraction sense, will let the Universe help you out too.

Stephen
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