Whether you have small dreams or high expectations, setting goals will allow you to plan your path through life. Achieving some milestones can take a lifetime, while others can be achieved overnight. Whatever your goals, broad and generic or specific and practical, in achieving them you will feel fulfilled and you will see your self-esteem grow. If taking the first necessary steps frightens you, read on and find out how to consolidate even the largest desire.
Steps
Method 1 of 2: Set Achievable Goals
Step 1. Determine your life goals
Ask yourself important questions about what you want to achieve in life. Where do you want to go: today, in a year, in a lifetime? The answers to these questions can also be generic, such as "I want to be happy" or "I want to help others". Estimate what you hope to achieve in 10, 15 or 20 years.
In the workplace you may wish to start your own company. On a physical level, you may want to get back in shape. A personal goal could be to start your own family. The field of each of these goals can be incredibly vast
Step 2. Break the main image into smaller, specific objectives
Analyze the areas where, over time, you would like to make changes or improvements. Include for example: career, finances, family, education or health. Start by asking yourself what you want to achieve in each specific area, and think about what steps you intend to take over the next five years.
- In the case of the "I want to get fit" goal, you could set smaller goals such as "I want to eat healthier" and "I want to run a marathon".
- For the goal "I want to start my own company", the intermediate milestones could be "I want to learn how to manage a company effectively" and "I want to open a small independent bookshop".
Step 3. Write short-term goals
Now that, broadly speaking, you know what you want to achieve over the next few years, you need to start taking the necessary steps to achieve them by setting yourself concrete goals. In doing so, set reasonable deadlines (no more than one year for short-term goals).
- Putting your goals in writing will make it harder to ignore them and make you more accountable as a result.
- If you want to get in shape, your first goal could be to eat more fruit and vegetables and run 10 kilometers.
- If you want to start your own business, your first goals might be to sign up for an accounting course and find the perfect location for your bookstore.
Step 4. Take small steps (minor goals) to help you get closer to your goal (major goals)
In practice, you need to highlight the reasons why you have decided to set such a goal and reflect on what will happen once you have achieved it. To this end, some valid questions to ask may be the following: Do I think it is worth it? Is it the right time to proceed? Is this decision in accordance with my needs?
For example, if referring to a short-term fitness goal you have decided that you want to start practicing a new sport within the next 6 months, it is good to ask yourself if and how your choice will help you reach your main goal, that is to run a marathon. If necessary, consider modifying your short-term goal by replacing it with a practice that allows you to effectively advance towards the final goal
Step 5. Periodically adjust your goals
Rather than just sticking to your starting positions, take time to reevaluate your smaller goals from time to time. Are you respecting the deadlines you set yourself? Are the planned stages still able to lead you to your final goal? Be flexible in modifying and adapting your minor goals.
- To get back in shape, you may have crossed the finish line in several 10-kilometer races. It may be that after you have run a few and are committed to improving your personal times, it is time to change your goal from 10 to 15 kilometers. Over time you can then decide to run a half marathon and then a full marathon.
- To open your company, after having achieved the first objectives, learning how to keep accounts and finding a suitable place, you may decide to commit to obtaining a mortgage and all the municipal licenses necessary to open your business. Then you can finally buy or rent the space you have chosen, get the books you need, contract the staff and open the doors of your new business. Over time, you may even decide that you want to open a second store!
Method 2 of 2: Putting Effective Strategies into Practice
Step 1. Make your goals specific
When setting yourself a goal, you need to make sure it answers very specific questions: who, what, where and why. For each milestone, you should reflect on your reasons and ask yourself how it contributes to achieving what you most want in life.
- To get in shape (very general goal), you have created a more specific goal "run a marathon", which starts with the short term goal "run 10 kilometers". For every goal you set yourself, in this case running 10 kilometers, make an effort to answer the questions. For example: Who? The. Thing? Run for 10 kilometers. Where is it? At the city park. When? Within 6 weeks. Because? To get closer to my goal of running an entire marathon.
- To start your business, you have set yourself a short-term goal of "learning to keep accounts". In this case you can answer the previous questions: Who? The. Thing? Take an accounting course. Where is it? At the local library. When? Every Saturday for 5 weeks. Because? To learn how to manage the financial statements of my company.
Step 2. Set yourself measurable goals
In order to be able to track your progress, your goals should be quantifiable. "I intend to walk more" is a difficult goal to quantify and track than "Every day I will complete 16 laps of the course". Basically, you need to be able to determine if you have achieved your goal.
- "Running 10 kilometers" is a measurable goal. There will be no doubt, you will have crossed the finish line or not. To achieve this you may need to set intermediate goals, for example "Run at least 5 kilometers 3 times a week". When you have managed to run 10 kilometers for the first time, the next measurable goal will be "Improve my time by 4 minutes in a month".
- "Taking an accounting course" is also a measurable goal because it forces you to sign up for specific classes that you will need to attend each week. A less measurable version of it would be "Learning to keep accounts", which is vague because it would be difficult to determine when you have "finished" learning.
Step 3. Be realistic when setting your goals
It is important to evaluate your situation honestly and to distinguish between realistic and unlikely goals. Ask yourself if you have all the tools you need to reach your goal (skills, resources, time, knowledge).
- To get fit and run a marathon, you will need to spend a lot of time running. If you don't have the time or interest to spend many hours running each week, this goal isn't for you. If this were the case for you, then it will be necessary to choose an alternative route - there are many ways, in fact, to be able to keep fit without having to run for hours and hours.
- If you want to open your own independent bookstore, but have no experience running a business, don't have the necessary capital, don't know anything about how a bookstore works, or aren't really interested in reading, achieving your goal could be hard.
Step 4. Prioritize yourself
At any given moment you will have numerous objectives in progress and at different stages of completion; deciding which are the most important or urgent will therefore be crucial. Being committed to achieving too many goals at the same time will make you feel overwhelmed and reduce your chances of success.
- It may be helpful to set some main priorities. That way, when two goals conflict, you'll know what to do. Whether the choice falls between completing one or two minority objectives or a priority one, you will have no doubts.
- If you want to get in shape and have set yourself the following minor goals: "Eat healthier", "Run 10 kilometers" and "Swim 1.5 kilometers 3 times a week", you may soon find that you don't have the time or energy to do it all. The solution will be to prioritize yourself. If you want to run a marathon, being able to run 10 kilometers will be more important than going swimming every week. Continuing to feed yourself correctly will be essential because it will allow you to improve your general health and will support you in the race.
- If you want to open your own bookstore, before you start selecting books for sale, it is likely that you need to obtain specific permits and meet the requirements to apply for a mortgage.
Step 5. Track your progress
Journaling allows you to keep track of your progress, both personal and professional, and when you're headed for a goal, doing a step analysis is a great way to keep yourself motivated. Analyzing your achievements will inspire you to do better and better.
- Ask a friend to help you stay focused by tracking your progress himself. For example, if you're training for a running event, find a friend to train with regularly and keep progressing.
- If you are getting into shape by training for a marathon, create a "running diary" in which to record your times, distances, successes and feelings. As you improve, you will be able to draw new stimuli in re-reading it and noticing the enormous progress made.
- When you want to start your own business, tracking your progress can be a little more difficult. Nevertheless, writing down all your goals, major and minor, and then crossing them out or indicating the completion date can help you realize what has been done and what is still to be done.
Step 6. Value the achievement of your goals
Every time you cross a milestone, recognize and celebrate your success as it deserves. Reflect on the path that led you to your goal, from start to finish. Evaluate if the timing has satisfied you, estimate your skills and your knowledge and note if the goal respected the correct canons of reasonableness.
- For example, after running 3 miles for the first time, be satisfied with completing that goal, even if it seems small compared to the main goal of running a full marathon.
- Of course, when you open the doors of your independent bookstore and sell your first book, you will celebrate, knowing that you have successfully taken the necessary steps to reach your goal!
Step 7. Keep setting goals
Once you have achieved your goals, even those related to important life choices, it will be important to continue to grow and establish new ones.
- After running the marathon, you will need to consider which new direction to move in. Do you want to run another but improve your time? Or do you want to diversify and try participating in a triathlon or an ironman? Some may even decide to go back and walk shorter distances, for example 10 or 20 kilometers.
- If you have opened your own independent bookshop, you can decide to dedicate yourself to organizing events, courses or clubs that help you expand your clientele - and consequently your income. Or you can choose to open a second store or to insert a small coffee shop inside the shop.
