Buzz
Whether you have small dreams or grand aspirations, setting goals allows you to plan the path you will take in life. Some achievements may take a lifetime to accomplish, while others can be completed in just a day. Whether you're setting long-term, ambitious goals or specific, achievable ones, you'll feel satisfied and recognize your own worth. The first step might be challenging, but even the greatest dream can be built from there.
Steps
Set Achievable Goals
Identify your life goals. Ask yourself some important questions about what you desire in life. What do you want to achieve: today, in a year, or in your lifetime? The answers to these questions can be as broad as "I want to be happy" or "I want to help others." Consider what you hope to accomplish in 10, 15, or 20 years.
- A lifelong goal might be starting your own business. An aesthetic goal could be getting in shape. A personal goal might be starting a family someday. These goals are often very broad.
Break down the big picture into smaller, more specific goals. Consider areas in your life you wish to change or feel the need to develop over time. These areas might include career, finances, family, education, or health. Start by asking yourself what you want to achieve in each of these areas within the next five years.
- For a life goal like 'I want to get fit,' you could break it down into smaller goals such as 'I want to eat healthier' and 'I want to run long distances.'
- For a life goal like 'I want to start my own business,' smaller goals could be 'I want to learn effective business management' and 'I want to open an independent bookstore.'
Set short-term goals. Now that you have a rough idea of what you want to achieve in the next few years, write down specific goals to start taking action immediately. Set deadlines for yourself within a reasonable timeframe (no longer than a year for short-term goals).
- Writing down your goals makes it harder to ignore them and holds you accountable.
- To get fit, your initial goals might be to eat more vegetables and run 5 kilometers.
- To start your own business, your initial goals might be to take a bookkeeping class and find the perfect location for your bookstore.
Turn your goals into smaller steps that lead to your larger life goals. Essentially, you need to decide why you’ve set this goal for yourself and what it will accomplish. Some helpful questions to ask yourself during this process are: Is this goal worthwhile? Is now the right time? Does it align with your needs?
- For example, while a short-term fitness goal might be to join a new sport within six months, ask yourself if it helps you achieve the higher goal of running a marathon. If not, consider adjusting your short-term goal to one that propels you closer to your life goal.
Adjust your goals periodically. You might feel like you’re only focused on your big life goals, but it’s important to take time to reassess your smaller goals. Are you completing them within the timeframe? Are they still necessary in your journey toward your larger life goals? Allow yourself the flexibility to adjust your goals as needed.
- To get fit, you might aim to master running 5 kilometers. After improving your performance, you could adjust your goal to running 10 kilometers, then a half marathon, and eventually a full marathon.
- To start your own business, after completing initial goals like taking a bookkeeping class and finding a location, you might set new goals to secure funding, purchase or rent the location, obtain the necessary business licenses, hire staff, and start operations. Eventually, you could expand to a second location!
Implement effective goal strategies
Set highly specific goals. When establishing goals, they should answer the very specific questions of who, what, where, when, and why. For each specific goal you set, ask yourself why this is a goal and how it contributes to your larger life objectives.
- For a general goal like 'getting fit,' you might have a specific goal of 'running track,' starting with a short-term goal of 'running 5 kilometers.' When setting this short-term goal, you can answer: Who? Me. What? Running 5 kilometers. Where? The park near my home. When? Within 6 weeks. Why? To progress toward my marathon goal.
- For starting your own business, a short-term goal might be 'taking a bookkeeping class.' This goal answers: Who? Me. What? Attending a bookkeeping class. Where? At the library. When? Every Saturday for 5 weeks. Why? To learn how to manage my business budget.
Set measurable goals. To track progress effectively, goals must be quantifiable. 'I will walk more' is harder to measure than 'I will walk 16 laps around this path every day.' It’s essential to have clear ways to determine whether you’re achieving your goals.
- 'Running 5 kilometers' is a measurable goal. You know exactly when you’ve achieved it. You might even set smaller milestones like 'running at least 4.8 kilometers, three times a week' to build up to your first 5 kilometers. After that, another measurable goal could be 'running an additional 5 kilometers in a month but reducing my time by 4 minutes.'
- Similarly, 'taking a bookkeeping class' is measurable because it’s a specific course you’ll enroll in and attend weekly. A less measurable goal would be 'learning about bookkeeping,' which is vague and hard to define as 'complete.'
Be realistic with your goals. Honestly assess your current situation and determine which goals are achievable and which might be too ambitious. Ask yourself if you have everything you need to accomplish the goal—skills, resources, time, and knowledge.
- To get fit and run a marathon, you’ll need to dedicate significant time to running. If you don’t have the time or interest to commit hours each week to running, this goal might not be realistic. In such cases, adjust your goals; there are other ways to get fit without running for hours.
- If you want to open an independent bookstore but lack business management experience, startup capital, knowledge of how bookstores operate, or even a genuine love for reading, you might struggle to achieve your goals.
Set priorities. At any given time, you’ll have multiple goals in various stages of completion. Deciding which goals are most important and urgent is crucial. Having too many goals can overwhelm you and reduce your chances of success.
- It’s helpful to identify a few top priorities. This way, you can stay focused when goals conflict. If you must choose between completing one or two smaller goals versus a top priority, you’ll know which to prioritize.
- If you’re working toward getting fit and have set smaller goals like 'eating healthier,' 'running 5 kilometers,' and 'swimming 1.6 kilometers three times a week,' you might find yourself short on time or energy. Prioritize; if running a marathon is your ultimate goal, running 5 kilometers might take precedence over swimming. Eating healthier can remain a priority for overall health and supporting your running.
- If you’re trying to open a bookstore, securing a business license and qualifying for a business loan (if needed) might take priority over selecting specific books to stock.
Track your progress. Keeping a journal is an effective way to monitor both personal and professional growth. Regularly reviewing your achievements and noting how far you’ve come toward your goals is key to staying motivated. It can inspire you to work even harder.
- Having a friend hold you accountable can help you stay focused. For example, if you’re training for a big race, having a buddy to meet regularly and share updates with can keep you on track.
- If you’re aiming to get fit by running a marathon, maintain a running log where you record the distance covered, time taken, and how you felt. As you improve, this log becomes a great confidence booster, reminding you of how far you’ve come since you started.
- Tracking progress when starting your own business can be challenging, but writing down all your goals and sub-goals, then checking them off as you complete them, can help you stay organized and motivated.
Evaluate your goals. Acknowledge when you’ve achieved certain milestones and allow yourself to celebrate these accomplishments. Take time to assess the goal-setting process—from start to finish. Reflect on whether you’re satisfied with the timeline and your skills, or if the goal was realistic.
- For example, when you complete your first 5-kilometer run, celebrate this achievement, even if it’s small compared to your ultimate goal of running a marathon.
- Similarly, when you open your independent bookstore and make your first sale, celebrate this milestone, knowing you’ve successfully worked toward your goal!
Keep setting goals. Even after achieving major life goals, you’ll want to continue growing and setting new objectives for yourself.
- After running a marathon, consider what’s next. Do you want to run another marathon and improve your time? Do you want to diversify and try a triathlon? Or do you want to return to shorter distances like 5 or 10 kilometers?
- If you’ve opened your own bookstore, think about hosting community events like book clubs or literacy classes. Do you want to increase revenue? Expand to a second location? Or add a café inside or next to your bookstore?
Tips
- Use the SMART method to set achievable goals. SMART is a mnemonic used by life coaches, motivational speakers, HR professionals, and educators for goal setting and achievement. Each letter in SMART represents a characteristic of effective goal-setting.
