Steps to Setting Personal Goals That Actually Work
Posted on July 16, 2022 by Tony Watts, One of Thousands of Life Coaches on Noomii.
One reason goals fail is because there is no incentive or seen value behind the goal. Also, people tend to work towards vague or overly broad goals.
It’s important to set personal goals for yourself for many reasons. Setting goals for yourself gives you something to work towards, something to look forward to. Something to look back and say, “This is what I have achieved.” They are the cure for the mundane, repetitive days where you may feel like life is standing still and is unfulfilling. As a life coach, helping my clients to create realistic sustainable goals is a crucial element in helping them to move forward and live purposefully.
We all know to some degree how important it is to set goals, but why do so many of our goals fall through? Why does it feel that we begin looking to achieve a particular goal and at some point we either lose momentum or are just no longer interested and are ready to consider something else? Many people for example, start the New Year with resolutions. “This is the year I’m going to lose weight and get back in the gym.” “I’ve always wanted to learn Spanish and this is the year that I’m committing to it.” These are a few things you often hear people say yet they often stop trying after a couple of months and the goals are long forgotten. Until maybe next year.
When Setting Goals Does Not Work
There’s nothing more frustrating than having a set goal that you want to achieve falling through the cracks and never happening. We tend to blame ourselves or our circumstances for goals that never happen. We try and try only to continually be discouraged to the point where we give up setting goals and creating expectations and instead we decide to “go with the flow.” One reason goals fail is because there is no incentive or seen value behind the goal.
Another reason goals are never met is because people tend to work towards somewhat vague, undefined or overly broad goals. For example, having a goal of starting a business can be an enjoyable and fulfilling venture. However, without a realistic plan with actionable steps in place more often than not, the desire and excitement behind it begins to fade.
You may begin to doubt it will work and consider all the setbacks you might encounter. Or you may have a few plans laid out but they may not be realistic and you begin to doubt it can be done. The first step in creating a goal is to ask yourself if it’s realistic, do you truly have a desire for it and what will it take to achieve the goal. Here are the steps to make your goals a reality.Step 1 Look at Broad Lifetime Goals
It’s time to start asking yourself some questions. What are some things that you’ve always wanted to achieve but never really put the thought or consideration into it? Are they goals that YOU personally want to achieve or are they influenced by family members, friends or society?
This is an important question to ask yourself because if it’s not something you personally want to achieve, more than likely you will not enjoy the journey, might have feelings of resentment or obligation and ultimately may not see the goal through. Clients have discovered on many occasions that they find themselves pursuing something they really have no desire or interest in. Really take the time and begin to visualize and look at the big picture as to what you want to achieve in your life.
There are many different areas of life where we try to set lifetime goals. Here are a few categories to get you thinking. It’s a matter of finding a starting point and going from there.
· Education – Is there knowledge you want to acquire that can be used to achieve a specific goal?
· Health – Do you feel you need to exercise more and start a diet? What are your real motives or desires behind seeking better health?
· Mindset – Do you feel that your way of thinking may be getting in the way of you making things happen for yourself?
· Family – Do you want to start a family? How can you ensure that you can provide for your family and what kind of parent do you want to be?
· Career – Are you looking into starting a new career? What level do you want to reach? Why do you want to start a new career?
· Financial – How much money would you like to earn and why? How does it relate to your overall goals? Do you need to save towards something?
Desire and motivating factors are important when creating goals.
Step 2 Set Bite Size Manageable Goals
The small wins in between help to keep you motivated and striving towards the ultimate goals. This is very important. After setting major lifetime goals, start with a one year plan. Then create a six month plan and finally, create a one month plan of progressively smaller goals that you need to meet in order to achieve a lifetime goal.
Create a daily to do list. In the beginning it may seem like small, insignificant goals such as reading a book or taking a daily course but don’t discredit them! They are all necessary to reach your ultimate goal. I often recommend that clients take the time to write down and check off each goal or task completed for the day. Having an actual visual of things being completed is a great morale booster and encourages you to keep moving forward.
Keep in mind: Plans do change and its okay! Things happen along the way where you may need to make adjustments or alter your plans. Just periodically review and modify your plans as needed to reflect your current circumstances or priorities. Just don’t give up on them and stay the course!
Coaches often use the S.M.A.R.T goal process for helping a client to create realistic goals and it works! A S.M.A.R.T goal is Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Reasonable, and Time-Oriented.
A Quick Guide for Refining Your Goals
Use the definitions below as a guide for refining your goal
Specific: A goal is specific when you can describe it concretely to others.
Example: “I want to be wealthy” is not a specific goal—how much money is
wealthy? “I want to be a millionaire by the time I’m 40,” or “I want to be
able to retire at my current income when I’m 60” is specific.
Measurable: You need to be able to recognize when you’ve accomplished it.
Example: “I want to be a better leader” is not a measurable goal—how do
I know when I’m “better”? “I want to improve my leadership skills by
completing a coaching certification this year” is a measurable goal.
Attainable: It can’t be a pipe dream or something unable to be realized.
Example: “I want to take a second honeymoon on our anniversary this year” is
probably unattainable if you are seven months into a pregnancy and your
anniversary is in two months.
Relevant: A goal is relevant when it’s important to you—when it references your values.
Example: “I want to be making all our payments on time by December” is
a relevant goal for someone whose core personal financial value includes
being debt free.
Time-specific: Goals are not open ended—they have dates attached.
Example: “I want to start a home for unwed mothers” is not time-specific;
while “I want to get the training I need to start a home for unwed mothers
and launch it in the next five years” is specific.
Setting goals not only helps you in deciding what you want to achieve in life but also boosts your self-confidence, helps you stay motivated, gives you something to look forward to and keeps life interesting.
Just remember these two things:
1. Understand why you want to achieve something and what has influenced you. Hold on to that desire, visualize it and use it as fuel to keep going.
2. Enjoy the small wins in between. Take the time to enjoy the satisfaction of achieving a goal no matter how small you think it may be. This is very important. The goals in between are all part of the journey and if you can’t learn to enjoy the achievements in between, chances are you might not enjoy the endgame.
Now go out there and make it happen!
