My 5 Steps To Setting Goals And Achieving Them Successfully.
Think goals should be an
integral part of everyone’s lives no matter how small or large. But so often
people I talk to, say they have no goals in life and I ask; how can that be?
Setting goals and achieving them is one of life’s biggest pleasures.
Is it that people think that a goal has to be something huge like being a millionaire? Or
you need to have more this or that to get where you want to be? For me having
goals is what keeps me motivated,
hungry and interesting.
I try to look at goal
setting like this;
“Most people shrink their dreams
to accommodate their income, when you should be trying to increase your income
to accommodate crazier dreams”
A goal does not have to be a year long pursuit. A goal can be as
simple as you wanting to make the 6
kilometre mark today at the gym or it can be as big
as wanting to start a business and be able to live off it within a year.
No matter how big or small
your goal, there is something that never changes; the process in which you plan
it, attack it and execute it. There is always a process of events and mind
changes that you need to take on board and really focus on to succeed.
So here’s my way to setting
goals and achieving them in 5 steps. Follow these and you will have a much
better chance at succeeding at whatever you put your mind to.
SET A VERY SPECIFIC GOAL
This
must be so specific that you can imagine and feel what it will be like when you
reach this benchmark. You need to give yourself a time limit first, then a very
niched down idea of what you want. If this is wanting to own your first home in 12 months then list down
where you want the house to be, how big, how many bedrooms, how much you will
pay etc etc.
“Make sure you leave nothing out.
Make it so that you can actually imagine owning it.”
Write all this information
down and make it very visible every day that you get up. Inside your wardrobe,
in the kitchen, bathroom and at your desk. Make so that you are always reminded
and so is everyone else.
Put it up on Facebook or
whatever social media you use and tell people that you ARE going to achieve
this goal! Telling everyone your goal will now make you feel much more inclined
to do everything possible to reach it. You won’t want to let everyone down now
do you?
BREAK IT DOWN
You have got your goal all
sorted out now and imprinted on your mind. Now this is where I break the whole
goal down into smaller, not so intimidating pieces.
Just one day at a time
remember. Dreams and goals are not achieved in one giant step but in small
steps taken consistently everyday. So figure out every step that you are going
to have to take to get there. Write them down into a daily task manager and
without fail, make sure you do those tasks!
JUST DO IT
This step is just about
taking action, we all have so many ideas but they never come to fruition
because we fail to take action. I cannot repeat how important this step is, in order
for you to get something done you have to complete the relevant steps.
Since you’ve broken
everything down into smaller chunks in the previous step, for each day you need
to achieve this broken down task as early in the day as you can. This may mean
foregoing some other things but you need to keep the bigger picture in mind.
THINK
OF THE JOY, THINK OF THE PAIN
This is a great step to
take on board for your mindset. For whatever you goal is I want you to go into
a state of mind where you think about what your life is going to look like when
you are in possession of that goal.
In the instance of owning your
first home, think of the satisfaction, something to call your own or being able
to go out on your own patio and have a coffee.
Gets you excited right? Now
the next is to think of the pain there is in not having that house, having to
keep renting, putting up with room mates, dirty bathrooms, etc. Is the hard
work going forwards to reach your goal worth the effort, or is the pain of
staying where you are not going to make you work for it?
Use this mindset whenever
things are getting hard and beating you down. Think of the pleasure, happiness
and all the great things of reaching your dream successfully to keep you going.
And use the pain of where you already are to keep you away from the perils of
no-action.
REACH
YOUR GOAL AND REWARD
Sounds easier said than
done of course, this could take you weeks or years and you may not have got
quite as close as you’d hoped. But guess what? Look at where you are. Without
doing any of the previous steps you would be exactly where you started, back at
square one.
And if you did achieve your goal
then high five! Well done. Just think of where you were X weeks/months ago and
how far you’ve come, even if it wasn’t as far as you would have liked. The
point is you now what works for you.
Here comes the best part;
the reward. For every goal, especially bigger goals I like to have a reward for
myself. It could be to buy something small I’ve wanted, a weekend traveling or
just to take some time out to socialise.
Having a reward in mind at
the start of this process can help a lot too, if you want it bad enough and
stick to the rules then you’ll do everything possible to achieve success so you
can have your reward.
Setting goals and achieving
them is hard, no two ways about it but if you have a process and take action
(the most important step of all) then you are well on your way to success.
Think of everyday as an opportunity to take another step closer to your goal
and keep chipping away until, before you know it you’re already making plans
for the next one 
Post a Comment