If you want to live your best life, then learning how to set goals and keep them is going to serve as one of the most powerful ways to do so. Sadly, many people aren’t taking advantage of that tool and honestly, they’re not sure how to. You might understand the importance of setting goals, but it’s the following through bit that you struggle with. It really doesn’t matter how big or small your goal is, you can use these strategies to make sure you keep them.
Setting Goals
- Worthwhile – whether your goal is a small one or a large one, make sure it’s something you really want and that it’s worthwhile.
- Achievable – every goal should be achievable, but you can still stretch yourself. If you have a grand plan, you can set milestone goals that will help keep you motivated to eventually achieve the ultimate goal. Make tiny bite-sized goals that lead up to a larger end-goal.
- Specific – every goal should be specific, otherwise you set yourself up for failure. “I will lose ten pounds” is not a specific enough goal. “I’m going to lose ten pounds this month by doing x, y, and z” is
- Commit – you have your goals, now you need to commit to following through. This would be a good time to create a clear action plan to follow. Remember, this isn’t going to happen overnight.
Keeping Goals
- Publicize – share your goals publicly or at least with a number of your friends. When you tell other people what you plan to do it adds a sense of accountability to the process.
- Prioritize – your goal doesn’t have to be a years-long endeavor. However, it will be demanding and it will require your commitment. It’s something that you have to work on regularly. Don’t make the mistake of setting yourself a list of goals all at once. Instead, prioritize your goals – don’t work on any more than three at any one time. You can choose one of those to be your main priority.
- Deadline – you should always have a timeline you are working to so when you create your action plan don’t forget to include a deadline. As mentioned earlier, if you have an ultimate goal, you can create smaller milestones to help you maintain your motivation. If you want to pay off all your debt in two years, you will need to break that down into smaller steps to keep you on the right track.
Final Thoughts
This is a process and it’s a journey that will take some time. You don’t need to categorize things as bad or good. You need to look at your goal and think about how you have achieved in the past, the steps you followed, and the end result and use that knowledge to help you achieve further goals. Even if you fail to achieve a goal, you will have learned something from the process and you can use that knowledge to do better next time. When you do achieve your goals, you should take the time to celebrate it. Just make sure your reward isn’t something that will undermine your progress.