Buzz
"What am I doing with my life? What do I want to achieve? Where am I headed?" These are common questions many ask themselves. Usually, such unclear thoughts begin the process of setting and writing goals. While some people remain vague and give general answers to these questions, others use similar questions to set clear, actionable goals. Taking the time to clearly define these goals increases your chances of success. Achieving these goals is strongly connected to your happiness and health.
Steps
Define Your Personal Goals
Identify what you want. If you already have a good idea of what you like or what you want to achieve, working toward it will be straightforward. But if you don’t have a specific goal, you may eventually realize you’re striving toward a vague or shifting target. Defining a goal will prevent you from wasting time and energy. It will truly motivate you to accomplish your objective.
- For example: an employee wouldn’t want to start a task without structure or clear instructions. However, employees are more motivated when they are assigned clear goals and expected results.
- Examples of vague or general goals might be: “I want to be happy,” “I want to be successful,” or “I want to become a better person.”
Be specific when defining your conditions. This is essential to understand exactly what you are trying to achieve. Avoid vague or general conditions. For instance, if you claim you want to be successful, you need to define what success means to you. For some, it could mean making a lot of money, while for others, it could be raising healthy, confident children.
- Defining your conditions and goals will help you start seeing yourself in the way you intend to become. For example, if you define success as a stable career, you might set goals to pursue training or start a business.
Consider whether you truly want these things. It’s perfectly normal to think you want something without asking yourself why. However, there are times when you will need to realize that these goals don’t truly align with your dreams and desires in life. A typical example stems from societal beliefs. Many children say they want to be doctors or firefighters when they grow up, but they don’t really understand the meaning behind it or later realize their goals have changed.
- Ask yourself if your goals are influenced by others, such as parental expectations, or social pressures from friends and the media.
- Your goals should be something you want to achieve for yourself, not for anyone else.
Consider your motivation. Are you trying to achieve something to prove someone wrong? While everyone has their own "valid" reasons, you need to ask yourself if your goals truly resonate with you. If not, you might feel unfulfilled or burned out.
- For example: If you want to become a doctor, is it because you want to help people, or because it’s a career that brings in a lot of money? If your motivation is misaligned, it could be difficult for you to achieve your goal or feel satisfied with it.
Set realistic goals. It’s easy to get overly excited when thinking about your goals. However, some things may be beyond your control. Depending on the goal you set, this could become an issue. Your goal needs to be realistic and achievable.
- For example: If someone wants to be the best basketball player in the world, but their age and height are limiting factors, these might become significant obstacles they cannot control. Setting unrealistic goals can lead to frustration and a loss of motivation to keep trying.
Write down your goals
Envision your future. Spend 15 minutes jotting down your vision, goals, and dreams. Don't worry about making them perfectly clear or in any specific order. Simply ensure these goals and dreams align with your values and principles. If you're feeling stuck, try a free-writing exercise. You can describe:
- The future you envision
- The qualities you admire in others
- The things you can do better
- The things you'd like to learn more about
- The habits you want to improve
Break your goals into specific steps. Once you've identified your dreams and ideals, select a few specific goals to pursue them. Try to describe these goals clearly and in detail. If your goal is large and long-term, break it down into smaller, more manageable steps. You can view these actions or goals as a strategy to achieve your dreams and ideals.
- For example: “I want to become a talented runner by my 50th birthday” is a big, long-term goal (depending on your current age). A better goal would be, “I want to join a 21km half-marathon training program. I plan to train for that within a year and run a 43km full marathon within 5 years.”
Prioritize your goals based on impact. Take a step back and decide which of your goals are most important to you. Consider each goal based on its feasibility, the time it will take to complete, and the impact the process of achieving it will have on your life. Also, ask yourself why you prioritize one goal over another. Ensure the goals on your list don't conflict with each other.
- Prioritizing your goals based on their level of impact will give you extra motivation to achieve them. It will also help you visualize the benefits and rewards of accomplishing those goals.
Set standards and deadlines. Track your progress by setting standards and deadlines for your goals and action steps. Achieving these milestones will give you a sense of accomplishment, boost your motivation, and provide feedback on what is working well and what isn’t.
- For example: If your goal is to participate in a half-marathon within a year, set a deadline for joining the training program within the next 6 months. Once you achieve that goal, remind yourself to continue training for the half-marathon in the next 6 months. If you realize you need more time, adjust your standards accordingly.
- You could try using a calendar or reminder cards to stay motivated and committed to the time frame you've set. Also, crossing off completed goals will give you a sense of satisfaction.
Try the S.M.A.R.T. goal-setting model. Look back at your written goals and assess whether they are specific (S-Specific), measurable (M-Measurable), achievable (A-Attainable), realistic (R-Relevant or realistic), and time-bound (T-Time-bound). For example: You might have a vague goal like “I want to be healthier,” but you can make it more specific using S.M.A.R.T.:
- Specific: “I want to improve my health by losing weight.”
- Measurable: “I want to improve my health by losing 9kg.”
- Achievable: You might not be able to lose 45kg, but losing 9kg is an achievable goal.
- Relevant/Realistic: Remind yourself that losing 9kg will boost your energy and happiness. Remember, you’re doing this for yourself, not for anyone else.
- Time-bound: “I want to improve my health by losing 9kg within the next year, averaging 0.75kg per month.”
Advice
- It has been proven that writing down goals can increase the likelihood of achieving them. A study conducted by clinical psychologist Dr. Gail Matthews with 149 participants showed that those who wrote down their goals were more successful in accomplishing them compared to those who did not write their goals down.
