How to Write Personal Goals (with Pictures)

2024 Author: Samantha Chapman | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 09:13

A goal is a mental representation of a specific and measurable result that you want to achieve through commitment. At its base there could be a dream or a hope, but unlike the latter, a goal is quantifiable. With a well-written goal, you will know what you want to achieve and how you intend to achieve it. Writing down personal goals can be both incredibly rewarding and hugely helpful. Studies have shown that giving yourself goals can help you feel much more confident and confident, even when it comes to long-term accomplishments. As the Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu said: "A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step". You can start embarking on the journey that will take you to your desired destination by writing down your personal goals.

Steps

Part 1 of 3: Formulating Effective Goals

Step 1. Reflect on what you consider significant

Studies show that when your goals are about something you consider motivating, you are more likely to achieve them. Identify the areas in your life where you would like to make changes. In this initial phase, it is normal for each area to still have quite wide boundaries.

• Generally, people decide to set themselves goals in terms of improving themselves, their relationships and achieving a certain level of success through a work or educational project. Other areas you might consider include spiritual, financial, and your health, for example.
• Consider asking yourself some important questions, such as "How do I intend to grow?" or "What do I want to offer the world?". Doing so can help you determine what your core values are.
• For example, you may want to make significant changes in the areas of health and relationships. Put this information in writing, specifying what you would like to change.
• At this stage you could indicate some goals that are still rather vague, it is normal. In the field of health, for example, you could write "improve physical fitness" or "eat healthy". For interpersonal relationships, you could write "spend more time with family" or "make new friends". Finally, in terms of self-improvement, you could write “learning to cook”.

Step 2. Identify your "best self possible"

Studies suggest that determining which one you think is the best yourself possible can help you feel more positive and satisfied with your life. Last but not least, it is a way to understand what goals you consider really significant. Identifying who is the "best yourself possible" requires two steps: visualizing yourself in the future once you have achieved your goals, and evaluating what qualities you need to get to that point.

• Imagine a time in the future when you will have become the best possible version of yourself. How will you be? What things will you give more importance to? At this point, it is essential to focus on what "you" consider important, ignoring the pressures and wishes of others.
• Imagine the details of this "future you". Think positive. You can think of something that is the "dream of your life", a milestone in your journey or some other significant achievement. For example, your best self might be a baker who owns his own successful shop; if so, imagine what it would look like. Where is your bakery located? Like? How many people work with you? What kind of boss are you? How long do you work?
• Write down the details of your view. Imagine what qualities your "best self" is using to achieve success. For example, assuming you are running your own bakery, you surely know how to make bread, manage money, manage staff, solve problems, be creative, and calculate the demand for the products you sell. Write down all the qualities and skills that come to mind.
• Think about which of these qualities you already possess. Be honest with yourself, not strict. Then reflect on the qualities you can develop.
• Imagine ways to be able to develop the traits and skills you need. For example, if you want to own your own bakery, but don't have any knowledge about running a shop, you can sign up for a training course to learn all the basics you need.

Step 3. Set priorities for different areas

Once you have compiled a list of areas in which you would like to make changes, you need to prioritize them. Trying to improve all aspects of your life in one go is likely to end up feeling exhausted, running the risk of failing to achieve your goals because they seem impossible to you.

• Divide your goals into three distinct sections: general, second level, third level. The former are the most important, because they are the ones that by your nature you consider most significant. The second and third level ones are still relevant, but you don't give them the same value as the general objectives, they also tend to be more specific.
• For example: at the general level you may want to "prioritize health (more important), improve your family relationships (more important), take a trip abroad", at the second level you may want to "be a good friend, keep the house clean, climb Mont Blanc”, while at the third level“learn to knit, become more efficient at work, exercise daily”.

Step 4. Start narrowing down

Once you have established which areas you would like to change and which changes you would like to make in general, you can begin to determine the specifics of what you would like to achieve. Those specifications will be the foundation of your goals. By asking yourself a few questions, you will be able to identify the who, what, when, where and how of the results you want to achieve.

Studies suggest that formulating a specific goal not only increases the chances of achieving it, but also helps you feel happier overall

Step 5. Determine the who

When formulating a goal, it is important to determine who is responsible for achieving each stage. Since we are talking about personal goals, it is very likely that the most responsible is you. Nonetheless, some goals (such as spending more time with the family) require cooperation from others, so it is helpful to identify who will be responsible for those parts.

For example, “learning to cook” is a personal goal that probably involves only you. Otherwise, if your goal is to “organize a dinner”, it will be necessary to consider the responsibility of other people as well

Step 6. Determine the what

Asking this question helps you define the goal, details and results you want to achieve. For example, “learning to cook” is too broad a goal to be manageable, it lacks precision. Think about the details of what you want to learn how to actually do. “Learning to cook an Indian dinner for my friends” is more specific; “Learning how to make chicken curry for my friends” is even more so.

The more details you can add to this element, the clearer the steps you need to take to achieve your goal

Step 7. Determine when

One of the key factors in formulating your goals correctly is breaking them down into different stages. Knowing when you need to reach each specific stage can help you stay on the right path while giving you a clear sense that you are progressing.

• Be realistic in setting the different stages you want to achieve. "Losing five kilos" is not something that can happen from one week to the next. Think about how long it really takes to reach each stage of your plan.
• For example, "learning how to cook chicken curry for my friends by tomorrow" is probably not a realistic result. Formulating such a goal can be very stressful, as you will try to achieve something without giving yourself the time to learn (and to make the inevitable mistakes).
• “Learning to cook chicken curry for my friends by the end of the month” is a way to give yourself enough time to practice and learn. Again, however, it will be better to divide your goal into several stages to increase your chances of success.
• For example, try breaking down the process of achieving this into several stages: “Learn how to cook chicken curry for my friends by the end of the month. Find some recipes later this week. Practice preparing at least three distinct recipes. After identifying the one I like best, try to cook it once before inviting my friends to dinner”.

Step 8. Determine the where

In many cases, it may be helpful to identify a certain place where you will strive to achieve your goal. For example, if what you are pursuing is exercising three times a week, decide whether you intend to go to the gym, work out at home, or run in the park.

In the previous example, you might decide to sign up for an Indian cooking class or to carry out the whole process within the walls of your kitchen

Step 9. Determine the how

This step urges you to imagine how you intend to reach each stage of the process towards your goal. In this way you will define its structure more precisely and you will have a clear idea of what actions you need to take to complete each phase.

Going back to the example of chicken curry, you will need to choose a recipe, get the ingredients, have the necessary tools and find time to practice in the kitchen

Step 10. Determine why

As mentioned earlier, the odds of being able to achieve your goal increase in proportion to how significant and motivating you find it. Asking this question helps you understand what is driving you to reach a certain milestone. Think about what it would mean to be able to achieve this.

• In our example, you might want to learn how to cook chicken curry for your friends so you can invite them to share a special meal with you. Doing so will help strengthen your bond and give you a chance to show them how much they mean to you.
• It is important to keep this “why” in mind as you take the actions necessary to achieve your goals. Giving you highly concrete and specific goals is useful, but you also need to always have a clear "overview".

Step 11. Formulate your goals in positive terms

Research shows that you are more likely to be able to reach them if you have expressed them in positive terms. In other words, formulate them as something you are moving towards, not something you want to avoid.

• For example, if one of your goals is to eat healthier foods, a convenient way to put it would be "stop eating junk food". In this way, however, you will feel like you have to deprive yourself of something, a feeling very unwelcome by human beings.
• Instead, try to formulate your purpose as something you are getting or learning: "Eat at least three servings of fruit and vegetables a day."

Step 12. Make sure your goals are performance based

Succeeding certainly requires hard work and strong motivation, but you also need to make sure you set yourself goals that the your commitment allows you to achieve. The only thing you can control is your actions, not those of others and not the results.

• Focusing your goals on actions you can take yourself, rather than specific goals, will help you even if and when you face obstacles. By conceiving success as a performance process, you will be able to feel that you have remained faithful to the commitment made even on occasions when the result is not what you hoped for.
• For example, "becoming the mayor of my city" is a goal that depends on the actions of others (in this case the voters). You cannot control these actions, so this is a problematic result. However, “running for mayor” is a doable thing because it depends on your job and your motivation. Even if you do not win the election, you will have managed to compete with the other candidates, so you can consider it a successful achievement.

Part 2 of 3: Develop a Plan

Step 1. Define your strategy

These are the actions and tactics you intend to use to achieve your goals. Breaking down the strategy into individual concrete tasks makes it even easier to put into practice; Plus, it helps you track your progress. Use the answers you gave to the previous questions (what, where, when, etc.) to help determine what your strategy is.

• Take for example this goal: "I want to graduate and then graduate in law to help underrepresented members of my community extricate themselves from the tangle of existing laws." Although it is a specific goal, it is something very complex. You will have to define several strategies to be able to achieve it.

• Examples of potential strategies for this goal could be:

  • Excelling in some subjects in high school.
  • Participate in school debates.
  • Find out about the faculties of law.
  • Enroll in a law school.

  

  Step 2. Determine the time frame

  Some goals can be achieved more quickly than others. For example, "going for a walk in the park for an hour three days a week" is something you can start doing immediately. For other objectives, however, you will have to distribute the tasks over a longer period.

  • In the example of a law degree, it will take many years to achieve the goal. The stages of the process will be numerous, each of which can be characterized by a different strategy and tasks.
  • Make sure you also consider external deadlines and any other potential conditions. For example, the task of "learning about law school" will be completed while you are still in high school. It will take time, and many institutions impose strict deadlines. For these reasons you will need to be sure to respect the correct time frame to implement your strategy.

  

  Step 3. Break your plan down into individual tasks

  Once you have determined what is the goal you need to achieve, and in what time frame you need to do it, you can break down your strategy into smaller, more concrete tasks. Basically you can determine what individual actions you need to take to reach that goal. Give yourself a deadline for each to always know if you are sticking to your plans.

  • For example, with regard to the first strategy relating to the goal of graduating in law, "excelling in certain subjects at high school", it is easy to break it down into several concrete and specific tasks. Among the various hypotheses there may be “actively participating in law and history lessons” and “organizing study groups with peers”.
  • Some of these tasks will have deadlines dictated from the outside, for example by class schedules. For everyone else, you will need to make sure you set your own deadlines so that you feel compelled to answer yourself.

  

  Step 4. Divide tasks into duties

  By now, you have probably noticed the tendency to break each plan down into smaller and smaller stocks. There is a good reason for doing this: research has in fact consistently shown that specific objectives are more likely to generate valid performances, even when they are complex. The reason is that it can be difficult to do your best when you're not sure what to do.

  Consider the task of “actively participating in law and history lessons”; it is certainly possible to divide it into individual duties, each of which will have its own time span. For example, you may decide to "review the notes of the previous lesson before each new lesson", "make an appointment with the professors to ask for any clarification" or "further investigate the topics by researching the web"

  

  Step 5. List the specific tasks you are already doing

  Regarding many goals, chances are you are already behaving or acting in the right direction. For example, if you want to become a lawyer, reading major news or politics in the newspaper is something productive that you probably do on a regular basis.

  Try to be as specific as possible when creating this list as well. You may find that you have already completed tasks or duties without even realizing it. This is a very useful exercise that can give you the feeling that you are actually progressing towards the goal

  

  Step 6. Identify what you need to learn and develop

  Regarding many goals, chances are you haven't yet developed all the qualities or habits that are needed to achieve them. Reflect on what characteristics, skills and habits you can already rely on, then associate them with your goals. The exercise of the "best yourself possible" can also be useful in this case.

  • If you find that you should improve in some area, aim for the target by setting a new strategy. Follow the process just seen to divide it in turn into concrete and specific tasks.
  • For example, returning to the previous example, to be a good lawyer you will need to be able to speak confidently in front of others and interact easily with people. If you are very shy, you need to develop your communication skills in several ways.

  

  Step 7. Make a plan for today

  One of the main reasons people fail to achieve their goals is that they think they need to start pursuing them tomorrow. Think of something you can do today to start putting part of your plans into practice, no matter if it's a very small assignment. Acting immediately will give you the pleasant feeling that you are moving towards the goal.

  The action you will perform today can be of a preparatory type for those you will have to do in the following days. For example, you may find that you need to gather information before making an appointment with a school tutor. Or, if your goal is to go walking three times a week, you may need to buy a pair of comfortable, sturdy trainers. Even a small achievement will provide you with a healthy dose of the motivation you need to continue

  

  Step 8. Identify the obstacles

  Nobody likes to think about the obstacles that can keep them from succeeding, but it is crucial to identify the difficulties you may face when developing your plan to achieve it. This step is helpful in getting you ready in case something goes differently than you planned. Identify potential obstacles and the actions you will need to take to overcome them.

  • The obstacles may be external, such as not having enough time or money to achieve your goal. Returning to the example above, if you want to open a bakery, significant obstacles could be having to find the finances necessary to create your company, rent a place, buy machinery, etc.
  • Actions you can take to overcome them could include learning how to write a business plan that will allow you to attract investors, talk to friends and family to find out if they would like to invest money or start from a smaller business (for example, using your current business). kitchen).
  • In some cases the obstacles can be internal. Lack of information is one of the most common obstacles; you may find yourself in this situation at any stage of the process. For example, if your goal is to open a bakery, you may find that customers prefer a type of product that you are currently unable to make.
  • Actions you could take to overcome this obstacle include talking to other bakers who know how to make that product, attending courses, or learning on their own by trial and error.
  • Fear is one of the main internal obstacles. The fear of not being able to get what you want can prevent you from taking productive actions that would allow you to achieve success. The next section of the article will teach you how to fight your fears using some specific techniques.

  Part 3 of 3: Fighting the Fears

  

  Step 1. Use the visualization

  Research has shown that it can have significant effects on improving your performance. Often, athletes claim that visualization is the technique behind their successes. There are two forms: “result visualization” and “process visualization”; if you want to have the highest chance of succeeding, you should combine both.

  • Visualizing the result means imagining that you are achieving your goal. As with the "best yourself" exercise, the image displayed should be as specific and detailed as possible. Use all your senses to create this mental photograph: imagine who is there with you, what smells you perceive, what sounds you hear, how you are dressed, where you are. At this stage of the process, it may be helpful to build a vision board.
  • Visualizing the process means imagining the steps you need to take to be able to achieve your goal. Think about all the actions you have taken. For example, if your intent is to become a lawyer, use the result visualization to imagine yourself successfully passing the State Exam. Now use the visualization process to imagine all the things you've done to guarantee that success.
  • Psychologists call it "prospective memory". This process can help you believe that the tasks you face are doable. In some cases you will even have the feeling that you have already completed them with good results.

  

  Step 2. Use positive thinking

  Studies have shown that instead of focusing on flaws and mistakes, thinking positively can help you adapt better to situations, learn more easily and change. It doesn't matter what your goal is: positive thinking is as effective for top-level athletes as it is for students, artists, business people, etc.

  • Some studies have even shown that positive and negative feedback affect different areas of the brain. Positive thinking stimulates areas of the brain associated with visual processing, imagination, the ability to have an overview, empathy and motivation.
  • For example, remind yourself that your goals are positive growth experiences rather than something that forces you to give up or give up on your habits.
  • If you are having a hard time achieving your goals, ask for support from friends and family.
  • Thinking positive is not enough. You have to put into practice your duties, your tasks, your strategies and act in a way that helps to make you cross the final line. Relying solely on positive thinking you won't get far.

  

  Step 3. Recognize the "false hope syndrome"

  It is an expression with which psychologists describe a cycle that is probably not foreign to you, if you have sometimes compiled a list of good resolutions for the new year. This cycle consists of three parts: 1) set the goal, 2) surprise yourself in discovering how difficult it is to achieve that goal, 3) abandon the goal.

  • The same cycle can intervene when you expect to obtain immediate results (which often happens with good resolutions for the new year). Setting specific strategies and deadlines will help you fight these unrealistic expectations.
  • The same can happen when the initial enthusiasm, which arises when you set your goals, vanishes and the only thing that remains is the work you have to do to achieve them. Formulating strategies and breaking them down into narrow tasks can help you maintain the momentum you need. Every time you complete an assignment, even the smallest one, you can (and must) celebrate your success.

  

  Step 4. See missteps as opportunities to learn

  Studies show that people who know how to learn from their mistakes have a more positive outlook on the possibility of achieving their goals. Optimism is a vital component of success; when you are confident you are more likely to be able to look forward rather than backward.

  Research has also shown that the number of missteps committed by those who achieve success is neither lower nor higher than that of those who give up. The only difference is how people choose to consider their mistakes

  

  Step 5. Stop seeking perfection

  Often, the pursuit of perfectionism stems from the fear of being vulnerable. In many cases we have the desire to "be perfect" to avoid having to face a defeat or a "failure", but the truth is that perfectionism cannot protect us from these experiences, which are completely natural for the human being. The only result you would get would be to impose standards that are impossible to achieve both on yourself and on others. Several studies have confirmed that there is a very strong link between perfectionism and unhappiness.

  • Often, "perfectionism" is confused with "working hard to be successful". However, many studies have shown that perfectionists are likely to be less likely to succeed than those who do not try to conform to unrealistic standards. The pursuit of perfection can induce feelings of anxiety, fear and cause you to procrastinate.
  • Instead of aiming for unattainable results, accept the natural uncertainty that accompanies efforts towards true excellence. For example, inventor Myshkin Ingawale wanted to invent a technology capable of diagnosing anemia in pregnant women to lower the maternal mortality rate in India. He often reports that the first 32 attempts to create this tool were unsuccessful. Instead of being dominated by perfectionism, Ingawale continued to try, experimenting with new strategies, and the 33rd attempt was a success.
  • Learning to be compassionate towards yourself can help you fight perfectionism. Do not forget that you are a human being and that, like everyone, you naturally encounter obstacles and make mistakes. Be understanding with yourself when you are in trouble.

  

  Step 6. Be grateful

  Research has shown that there is a remarkable link between the active practice of gratitude and the ability to achieve one's goals. Keeping a gratitude journal is one of the simplest and most effective ways to learn how to feel grateful in daily life.

  • It is not necessary to write a lot. Even a sentence or two about a person or experience for which you feel grateful will have the desired effect.
  • Believe in the power of gratitude. The idea of keeping such a diary may seem silly or childish, but the truth is that the more you believe in it, the more you will be able to feel grateful and happy. Leave skeptical thoughts outside the door.
  • Savor specific moments, even the seemingly less relevant ones. Don't be in a hurry to write them down in your diary. Take all the time you need to enjoy the experience, reflecting deeply on its meaning and on the reasons that make you feel grateful.
  • Journal once or twice a week. Studies conducted on the subject have shown that writing every day is less effective than doing it only a few times a week. The reason could be that we tend to quickly lose sensitivity to positive things.

  Advice

  • If it is necessary to be able to reach your goals, you can bring forward or postpone some deadlines. Nevertheless, if things go too long or if the set time is really excessive, it is better to re-evaluate the goal because you may have misjudged the degree of difficulty.
  • Writing personal goals can be a rewarding experience, but achieving them will be much more so. Remember to reward yourself for each new success! Succeeding is the best way to find the motivation needed to achieve the next goal.

  Warnings

  • Writing personal goals without then doing anything to really achieve them is all too simple (think about good resolutions for the new year). You have to stay motivated and focused on the end result to be able to truly achieve it.
  • Do not give yourself too many goals all at once, otherwise you will end up feeling overwhelmed by duties and running the risk of not achieving any concrete results.