What is Goal?
A goal is specific, it’s measurable. Goal setting is everywhere in our world. We set goals for our careers, our health, and our lives in general. A goal can be a lot of different things. But what a goal is not is a dream, or a hope. I dream of owning my own home. I hope to take better care of my health. Those are great and admirable dreams. But they are not goals. Here are a few Goal Setting Tips:
Choose goals that are worthwhile
Goal competition says that one of the greatest barriers to achieving your goals is the other goals you have. In other words, your goals are competing with one another for your time and attention. Whenever you chase a new goal, you have to pull focus and energy from your other pursuits. You would think it would go without saying but lots of people set meaningless goals – and then wonder why they don’t feel any sense of achievement. Remember that the purpose of goal setting is to move us forward and spur positive change. If a goal doesn’t have this motivating, transformational quality, don’t bother with it. You’ll just be disappointed.
Schedule the Time to Do All the Tasks
Scheduling each step toward your goal is critical to achieving them successfully. And after all that analysis, the actual method of reaching your goal could come down to one, small change in your habits.
Choose goals that are achievable stretches
The fact that goals have to be achievable is standard advice on the topic of how to set goals. Pretty well everyone knows that there’s no point in setting a goal that you will never be able to accomplish. All you’ll do is get frustrated and abandon it. Less well known is the fact that goals need to stretch you in some fashion. If a goal isn’t engaging, you’ll get bored and abandon it.
Set an Upper Bound
Whenever we set goals, we almost always focus on the lower bound. That is, we think about the minimum threshold we want to hit. The implicit assumption is, “Hey, if you can do more than the minimum, go for it.”
Commit to your goals
You need to dedicate yourself to accomplish the goal you have chosen. That’s why writing your goals down is a common goal setting tip; it’s the first step to committing to achieving your goals. Develop an action plan that clearly outlines your goals and how you intend to achieve them.
Prioritize your goals
Goals don’t have to be huge projects that take months or even years to attain, but because they require commitment and need to be worked on regularly, every single goal that you set will be demanding. So don’t sabotage yourself by taking on a bunch of goals at a time.
Set deadlines to accomplish your goals
A goal without a deadline is a goal that you have not fully committed to and a goal you will not achieve. For one thing, if working on achieving a goal is something you can do whenever, you won’t. For another, having a deadline will shape your plan of action.
How to Achieve Your Goals Consistently
Effective goal setting requires consideration of the system that surrounds you. Too often, we set the right goals inside the wrong system. If you’re fighting your system each day to make progress, then it’s going to be really hard to make consistent progress.
There are all kinds of hidden forces that make our goals easier or harder to achieve. You need to align your environment with your ambitions if you wish to make progress for the long-run.
How to Measure Your Goals
Another key to making long-term progress on your goals is measurement. The human mind loves to receive feedback. One of the most motivating things we can experience is evidence of our progress. This is why measurement is so critical for effective goal setting. By measuring your results, you get insight on whether or not you are making progress. The things we measure are the things we improve. It is only through numbers and clear tracking that we have any idea if we are getting better or worse.
The trick is to realize that counting, measuring, and tracking is not about the result. Measure to discover, to find out, to understand. Measure to see if you are showing up. Measure to see if you’re actually spending time on the things that are important to you.
Final Thoughts
So don’t defeat your efforts before you even start to work on accomplishing your desired goals. Set yourself up for success rather than failure by applying these goal setting tips and start achieving what you want to achieve.