Goals are everything. Goals give us a chance to work towards something, to achieve something that we didn't once think we could achieve. Without a goal we limit our focus and therefore limit our ability to achieve outstanding things.
How to Set Effective Goals ✨
Goals help you take control of your life, they help you push forward and set a direction towards your vision. It creates intense focus whilst making us feel accountable for our life. It helps you get motivated and raises the standard of your life by giving you targets which dictate how you want to live and spend your time.
This is your chance to ask yourself 'What are my goals for the upcoming week, month, year, 3 years, 5 years, or even 10 years?'
Its important when making goals to not lose sight of what’s important to you. I can’t stress this enough. This is where imbalance stems from. If you only make goals for your professional life what happens to your personal life? You end up sacrificing things that are important to you. You may end up feeling incredibly lonely if you just concentrate on wealth whilst neglecting your relationships.
THE MOST IMPORTANT THING ABOUT GOAL SETTING IS TO SET GOALS THAT MOTIVATE YOU.
When you set goals for yourself, it is important that they motivate you: this means making sure that they are important to you, and that there is value in achieving them. If you have little interest in the goal, or it is are irrelevant to your life’s vision then you will have less enthusiasm to pursue the actions towards the goal. Therefore the probability of you attaining the goal is low. Whereas if you choose goals that you are passionate about you spend more energy on your goals.
“If you want to be happy, set a goal that commands your thoughts, liberates your energy and inspires your hopes.” —Andrew Carnegie
“The trouble with not having a goal is that you can spend your life running up and down the field and never score.” —Bill Copeland
NEXT REMEMBER TO SET GOALS IN WRITING
The physical act of writing down a goal makes it feel more real and tangible.
By writing the goal down, you take the goal in on multiple levels and it makes it feel more real to you you begin to realise you can achieve it.
Write your goals in a way that shows passion and inspires action.
For example:
I will work hard and achieve a first degree at University
ALL GOALS SHOULD BE POSITIVE
The most important part of goal setting is to frame your goal in a positive way.
Frame your goal statement positively or in a way that suggests it is already attained, for example. If you want to get a first degree at University say
'I will get a 1st Degree at Univerity' or 'I have got a first degree at University'
SET SMART GOALS
You have probably heard of SMART goals, but a majority of the time people fail to follow the rule due to being lazy. By creating a goal that follows this method you ensure that the goal is strong and 'smart'. There are many variations of what SMART stands for but for this guide we will be defining it as:
• Specific. • Measurable. • Attainable. • Relevant. • Time Bound. • Set Specific Goals
SPECIFIC
Your goal must be clear and well defined.Unfocused and vague goals will hold no value to you. By setting specific goals you make them seem more realistic and obtainable. Goals help to lay out specific ideas.
Remember, you need goals to set a path for your life. Writing specific goals, Make it as easier for you to get where you want to go by defining precisely where you want to end up.
SET MEASUREABLE GOALS
Including precise dates and metrics is vital in goal setting. By describing how and when your milestones need to be achieved, you can measure your degree of success and progress towards that goal!
If your goal is simply defined as "To do well at University' you haven't got a metric to measure whether you have obtained that goal at all. Therefore you are unfocused. By saying 'A First at University' you include a metric to measure how you will know when you have been successful.
SET ATTAINABLE GOALS
Make sure that it's possible to achieve the goals you set. If you set a goal that you have no hope of achieving, you will only demoralize yourself and erode your confidence.
However, resist the urge to set goals that are too easy. Accomplishing a goal that you didn't have to work hard for can be wasteful and unproductive. This can also make you fear setting future goals that carry a risk of non-achievement. These are the types of goals that require you to "raise the bar" and they challenge you to grow and work hard.
You may also need to set other goals to hold up your bigger goals. For example if you want to get fit and healthy not only do you need to set a goal measuring the amount you want to lose, but how much time you will work out at the gym a week and how much calory deficit you aim to be in. You need to research what each goal will take to achieve, we will cover this in the next few Chapters.
SET RELEVANT GOALS
Goals should be relevant to the direction you want your life and career to take. By keeping goals aligned with this, you'll develop the focus you need to get ahead and do what you want.
If you set too many goals that aren't closely related and actually have conflicts of interest and uneven distriubutions of how you spend your time, how do you ever expect to achieve at least one of those goals?
SET TIME-BOUND GOALS
Your goals must have a deadline. This is defined as a timeline between your present moment and when you want your goal to be attained to take action. It gives you the foundation to create an action plan with for the goal. When you are working on a deadline, your sense of urgency increases, and achievement will come much quicker.
By setting an effective and realistic deadline, it makes it easier for you to make an action plan that is aligned with a timeframe.
YOUR TASK
I want you to list at least two current goals for each of the category’s below for example your goal in the next month, 3 months, 6 months, 1 year, 3 years, 5 years and 10 years. It doesn’t just have to be goals, it can be where you want to be in that area of your life. It can be an on-going goal that won’t be completed until 5 years later.
Don’t be afraid to set crazy scary goals, be honest with yourself and what you truly want. The most difficult thing about setting goals is getting started and cultivating the energy to get started.