Buzz
A goal is a way to express a specific achievement you aim to accomplish through your own efforts. A goal may be inspired by a dream or desire, but it stands out because it can be quantified. When a goal is written clearly, you will understand both what you want to achieve and how to achieve it. Writing down personal goals not only gives you a sense of fulfillment but also provides many benefits. Studies have shown that goal-setting boosts your confidence and fills you with hope—even if those goals aren’t immediately attainable. As Lao Tzu once said, 'A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.' You can take the first step toward your victorious journey by setting realistic personal goals.
Steps
Effective Goal Setting
Reflect on what is meaningful to you. Research indicates that when you set goals based on something that truly motivates you, you are more likely to succeed. Start by identifying areas in your life you wish to change. At this stage, these areas can be broad.
- Common goal-setting areas include self-improvement, enhancing relationships, or achieving specific success in work or education. Other areas you could consider include mental well-being, finances, life, and health.
- Ask yourself big questions like 'What kind of person do I want to become?' or 'What can I contribute to the world?' These reflections can help you clarify what matters most to you.
- For instance, you might think about meaningful changes you want to make regarding your health and personal relationships. Write down these areas along with the specific changes you want to implement.
- At this point, it’s okay if the changes are broad. For example, regarding health, you could write 'improve my physical fitness' or 'eat healthier.' For personal relationships, you might write 'spend more time with family' or 'meet new people.' For self-improvement, you could write 'learn how to cook.'
Define your "best possible self". Research suggests that identifying your "best possible self" can boost your optimism and satisfaction with life. It also helps you think about goals that are truly meaningful to you. To find your "best possible self," two steps are needed: envisioning your future self after achieving your goals and considering what you need to do to make it happen.
- Imagine a time in the future when you've become the best version of yourself. What does that look like? What is most meaningful to you? (Focusing on what matters to you, rather than what others pressure you to achieve, is crucial).
- Picture the details of your future self. Think positively. You might envision a "dream life," achieving significant accomplishments, or other major successes. For example, if your best possible self is a baker with a thriving bakery, imagine how it would be. Where is it located? What does it look like? How many employees do you have? What kind of boss are you? What’s your workload like?
- Write down the details of this vision. Think about what traits and skills your "best possible self" uses to achieve success. For example, if you're running your own bakery, you’ll need to know how to bake, manage finances, network, solve problems, be creative, and understand the demand for various baked goods. Write down as many attributes and skills as possible.
- Reflect on the skills you already have. Be honest with yourself, without judgment. Then, consider what skills you can further develop.
- Imagine how you’ll develop these skills. For example, if you want to own a bakery but don’t know much about business, taking a class in business or financial management would be a great way to improve that skill.
Prioritize these areas. Once you have a list of areas you want to change, you'll need to prioritize them. Trying to improve everything at once can overwhelm you, making it seem like your goals are unattainable.
- Break your goals into three categories: the overall goal, secondary goals, and tertiary goals. The overall goal is the most important and comes to you naturally. Secondary and tertiary goals are important but not as crucial, and they tend to be more specific.
- For example, your overall goals could be "prioritize health (most important), improve family relationships (most important), travel abroad," while your secondary goals might be "become a good friend, keep the house clean, conquer Phan-xi-păng," and tertiary goals might include "learn knitting, work more efficiently, exercise daily".
Start narrowing down. Once you've identified the areas you want to change and the changes you want to make, you can begin to break them down into achievable milestones. These will form the foundation of your goals. Ask yourself a few questions related to the subject, theme, time, place, method, and reason behind your achievements.
- Studies have shown that setting specific goals not only increases the likelihood of achieving them but also enhances your happiness.
Define the subject Who. When setting goals, it's essential to know who is responsible for completing each stage of the goal. Since this is a personal goal, you are almost always the sole person responsible. However, some goals—such as "spending more time with family"—may require collaboration with others, so it's important to clarify who will be accountable for each part.
- For example, "learning to cook" is a goal that only involves you. However, if your goal is to "host a dinner party," it will require the involvement of others.
Define the subject What. This question helps clarify the goal, the details, and the outcome you want to achieve. For instance, "learning to cook" is too vague to be actionable; it's lacking focus. Think about the specifics of what you truly want to accomplish. "Learning to cook Italian dinners for your friends" is more specific.
- The more specific you are, the clearer the steps you need to take will become.
Set a timeline When. It’s crucial to break down your goals into distinct phases. Knowing when a specific part of your plan needs to be completed will keep you on track and aware of your progress.
- Keep your phases realistic. "Lose 4.5 kg" is often unrealistic in just a few weeks. Think about a practical timeframe for completing each step of your plan.
- For example, "learn to cook spicy cheese chicken for my friend by tomorrow" would be quite unrealistic. This goal may overwhelm you, as you’re trying to achieve something without allowing enough time to learn (and make inevitable mistakes).
- "Learn to cook spicy cheese chicken for my friend by the end of the month" allows you enough time to learn and practice. Still, you need to break it down into smaller steps for a higher chance of success.
- For example, this goal can be broken down into manageable phases: "Learn to cook spicy cheese chicken for my friend by the end of the month. By the weekend, find a recipe. Practice at least three different cooking methods. Once I’ve found the recipe I like, practice it one more time before inviting my friend over for dinner."
Define the location Where. Identifying the specific place where you will work on your goal can be helpful. For instance, if your goal is to exercise three times a week, you might decide whether you’ll go to the gym, work out at home, or run in the park.
- As mentioned in the previous example, you may choose to take a cooking class or simply work from your own kitchen.
Define the method How. This step encourages you to visualize how you’ll achieve each stage of your goal. It helps you map out the framework of your goal and understand the actions needed at each phase.
- For the spicy cheese chicken example, you’ll need to find a recipe, gather ingredients, buy the necessary equipment, and allocate time for practice.
Define the reason Why. As mentioned earlier, you’re more likely to achieve your goal if it’s meaningful to you and you’re motivated to strive for it. This question helps clarify your motivation for achieving your goal. What will accomplishing it bring you?
- For example, you might want to learn to cook spicy cheese chicken for your friend so you can invite them over for dinner. This would strengthen your friendship and show them that you care.
- Remembering the "why" behind your goal as you work toward it is incredibly important. Setting clear and detailed goals is useful, but it’s also essential to keep your "big picture" goal in mind.
Write your goals in positive terms. Research shows that you’re more likely to achieve your goals if they’re framed positively. In other words, build your goals as something you’re striving toward, not something you want to avoid.
- For example, if one of your goals is to eat healthier, don’t write "Stop eating junk food." This phrasing makes it feel like something is being taken away, which no one enjoys.
- Instead, try writing your goal as something you will achieve or learn: "Eat at least 3 servings of fruit and vegetables each day."
Ensure your goal aligns with your abilities. Achieving a goal requires dedication and hard work, but it’s also important to ensure that the goal you set is within your capabilities. You can only control your own actions, not the results (or the actions of others).
- Keeping your goal focused on actions within your control, rather than specific outcomes, will help when facing challenges. By viewing success as a process of effort, you’ll feel you’ve accomplished your goal even if the result doesn’t meet your expectations.
- For example, "Becoming the President of the United States" is a goal based on the actions of others (in this case, voters). You cannot control their actions, so this goal is extremely difficult. However, "Running for office" is entirely achievable, as it depends on your own efforts. Even if you don’t win, you can still consider it a success.
Develop a Plan
Define your striving goals. A striving goal is the action or method you use to reach the goal you want. Breaking it down into specific tasks makes it easier to complete and track your progress. Use the answers to questions you've already asked yourself—what, where, when, etc.—to help define your striving goals.
- For example, consider this goal: "I want to study Law to help minorities in the community through civil law." This is a clear but complex goal. You’ll need to identify many specific goals to achieve this.
- Specific goals for this objective might include:
- Achieving excellence in high school
- Joining the debate team
- Identifying organizations for underprivileged students
- Applying for positions at organizations for underprivileged students
Set a timeline. Some goals will be achievable more quickly than others. For example, "Walk in the park for one hour, three times a week" is something you can start doing right away. Other goals may require longer stages.
- For the law school goal, it will take several years to achieve. It requires multiple phases, each represented by a specific goal and tasks within it.
- Make sure you consider deadlines and other conditions. For instance, "Identify organizations for underprivileged students" must be done before you start university. This will take some time, and many organizations have application deadlines. Therefore, it’s important to set the right timeline for this goal.
Break your goal into smaller tasks. Once you’ve defined your striving goals and timeline, break the goal into smaller, more specific tasks. These are the actions you need to take to move toward completing the goal. Set deadlines for each task to ensure you stay on track.
- For example, for the first specific goal in the law school objective, "Achieve excellence in high school," you might break it down into more specific goals like "Attend political science and history classes" and "Join study groups with classmates."
- Some of these tasks will have deadlines set by others, such as "Attend classes." For tasks without deadlines, make sure you set your own to hold yourself accountable.
Break tasks down into specific actions. By now, you’ve likely realized that the tasks you need to complete will become progressively smaller. There’s a reason for this. Research shows that having clear, specific goals makes it easier to achieve results, even if those goals are challenging. This is because you can’t fully unlock your potential without knowing exactly what you're working toward.
- For example, you could break the task "Attend political science and history classes" into smaller activities. Each of these mini-tasks would have its own deadline. Some examples for this task could include "Review the schedules of open courses," "Plan a meeting with an academic advisor," and "Decide to enroll by [date]."
Create a list of tasks you're already working on. For many goals, you may have already started some of the actions necessary to achieve them. For example, if your ultimate goal is to attend law school, staying updated on legal news is something that’s useful and you’ll want to maintain.
- Write this list out in detail. You may even find that you've already completed some of these tasks without realizing it. This helps you see your progress more clearly.
Identify what you need to learn and develop. In some cases, you might not yet have the skills or habits necessary to reach your goal. Reflect on the strengths, skills, and habits you already have – the "Best I Can Be" exercise will assist you – and link them to each specific goal.
- If you find areas that need improvement, treat them as a new goal and follow the same process to develop them.
- For instance, if you want to become a lawyer, you’ll need to be comfortable speaking in public and interacting with others. If you're shy, you’ll need to work on your communication skills in various ways to enhance your ability and achieve your ultimate goal.
Plan for today. One of the common reasons people don’t reach their goals is because they think they’ll start trying tomorrow. Whether it’s a small task, think of something you can do today to begin working on your plan. This helps you feel a sense of progress because you’ve acted right away.
- The action you take today might be preparing for other tasks or duties. For example, you might need to gather information before scheduling a meeting with your advisor. Or, if your goal is to walk three times a week, perhaps you’ll need to buy a pair of comfortable shoes for walking. Even the smallest achievements can give you motivation to continue.
Identify potential obstacles. No one really enjoys thinking about the obstacles on the path to success, but identifying potential challenges is crucial when developing your plan. This allows you to be prepared if things don’t go according to plan. Identify the challenges you might face and actions you can take to overcome them.
- Obstacles you face may be external factors such as a lack of finances or time to complete your goal. For example, if you want to open a bakery, a major hurdle will be securing enough funds to register the business, rent a location, purchase equipment, etc.
- Actions you can take to overcome this challenge include learning how to write a business plan to attract investors, talking to friends and family about contributing funds, or starting on a smaller scale (like baking from home first).
- The obstacles you encounter might also be internal. A common challenge is lacking information, which can arise at any stage of pursuing a goal. For example, if your goal is to own a bakery, you might find that the market demands a specific type of baked goods that you don’t know how to make.
- To overcome this, you could find someone who knows how to make those items, attend a class, or learn on your own.
- Fear is also a typical obstacle. Fear of not reaching your goal can prevent you from taking the necessary steps to achieve it. The section on overcoming personal fear below will teach you some strategies to address this challenge.
Overcoming Personal Fears
Visualization. Research shows that visualization can significantly impact your work performance. Athletes often attribute their success to this method. There are two types of visualization techniques: result visualization and process visualization, and to maximize your chances of success, you should combine both.
- Result visualization means imagining yourself having achieved your goal. Much like the 'Best Possible Self' exercise, this mental image should be as specific and detailed as possible. Engage all your senses: imagine the people around you, the smells and tastes in the air, the sounds you hear, your clothing, and the place you're standing. A vision board could be helpful in this process.
- Process visualization involves picturing the steps you need to take to reach your goal. Think through each action you must take. For example, if your goal is to become a lawyer, you might visualize passing the bar exam. Then, use result visualization to picture everything you did to reach that success.
- This process is called "future memory" by psychologists. It helps you realize that your goals are achievable and gives you a sense of small successes along the way.
Positive Thinking. Studies suggest that positive thinking helps us learn, adapt, and change more effectively than focusing on flaws or mistakes. Whether you're an elite athlete, a graduate student, an artist, or an entrepreneur, the impact of positive thinking is universal.
- Research has shown that positive and negative feedback affect different areas of the brain. Positive thinking stimulates the regions associated with vision, imagination, holistic thinking, empathy, and motivation.
- For instance, remind yourself that your goals are about positive growth experiences, not things you're leaving behind or giving up.
- If you encounter difficulties with your goals, seek encouragement from friends or family.
- Just thinking positively isn't enough. You must also have a clear set of specific goals, tasks, and responsibilities, as well as actions that will help you achieve your final objectives. Positive thinking alone won't take you to your destination.
Recognizing the "Failure Expectation Syndrome". This term refers to a cycle that may seem familiar, especially if you've ever set a New Year's resolution. The cycle consists of three stages: 1) setting a goal, 2) being surprised by how difficult it is to achieve, 3) abandoning the goal.
- This cycle can occur when you expect instant results (like with New Year's resolutions). Setting clear goals and timeframes can help combat these unrealistic expectations.
- It can also happen when the initial excitement of goal-setting fades, leaving only the hard work ahead. Breaking your goals into smaller tasks can help maintain your motivation. Celebrate every small success along the way.
Using Failure as a Learning Tool. Research shows that people who learn from their failures tend to have a more optimistic outlook on their ability to reach their goals. Hope is crucial for success—focus on hopeful thoughts about the future, not on past setbacks.
- Studies also reveal that the successful don't experience fewer failures than those who give up. The difference lies in how people perceive those failures.
Challenge the Perfectionism Trend. Perfectionism often stems from a fear of flaws; we may crave "perfection" so that we don't have to face loss, fear, or "failure." However, perfectionism won't shield you from these experiences. It will only push you and others towards unattainable standards. Many studies have shown a strong connection between perfectionism and feelings of unhappiness.
- "Perfectionism" is often confused with "striving for success." However, studies have indicated that perfectionists tend to be less successful than those who don't chase unrealistic standards. Perfectionism can lead to anxiety, fear, and procrastination.
- Instead of striving for an unattainable ideal, embrace the challenges you face on your way to success. For instance, inventor Myshkin Ingawale aimed to develop technology for anemia testing in pregnant women to reduce maternal mortality rates in India. He often recounts how he failed 32 times before succeeding on his 33rd attempt, showing that perfectionism did not hold him back, and his perseverance paid off.
- Developing self-love can help counteract perfectionism. Remind yourself that you are human, and everyone faces struggles and setbacks. Be kind to yourself when confronting these obstacles.
Practice Gratitude. Research shows a strong link between practicing gratitude and achieving personal goals. Keeping a gratitude journal is one of the simplest and most effective ways to express gratitude in your daily life.
- Your gratitude journal doesn’t need to resemble a novel. Even writing one or two sentences about a person or experience you are thankful for can have the desired effect.
- Believe that it will work. Though it may sound cliché, your gratitude journal will be more effective if you tell yourself that it will make you happier and more at ease. Avoid doubting its impact.
- Preserve the special moments, even the small ones. Don’t rush. Take your time to really reflect on the experiences or moments that are meaningful to you and why you’re thankful for them.
- Write once or twice a week. Research suggests that daily journaling is less effective than writing a few times a week. This may be because we can quickly become desensitized to positivity.
Advice
- You can adjust your deadline if you feel you might not meet it. However, if you are taking too long or don’t have enough time to achieve a goal, consider reassessing the goal you’ve set—it may be too difficult or too easy.
- Writing down personal goals can be a helpful exercise, and achieving them is rewarding. Once you’ve accomplished a goal, reward yourself! No one else can provide as much motivation for your next goal as you can.
Warning
- Writing down personal goals without following through is incredibly easy (just like New Year’s resolutions). You must continuously motivate yourself and stay focused on the end result to truly achieve them.
- Avoid setting too many goals as it can lead to feeling overwhelmed, ultimately preventing you from accomplishing any of them.
