First consider what you want to achieve, and then commit to it. Set
SMART (specific, measureable, attainable, relevant and time-bound) goals
that motivate you and write them down to make them feel tangible. Then
plan the steps you must take to realize your goal, and cross off each
one as you work through them.
Many people feel as if they're adrift in the world. They work hard, but they don't seem to get anywhere worthwhile.
A key reason that they feel this way is that they haven't spent
enough time thinking about what they want from life, and haven't set
themselves formal goals. After all, would you set out on a major journey
with no real idea of your destination? Probably not!
Goal setting is a powerful process for thinking about your ideal
future, and for motivating yourself to turn your vision of this future
into reality.
The process of setting goals helps you choose where you want to go in
life. By knowing precisely what you want to achieve, you know where you
have to concentrate your efforts. You'll also quickly spot the
distractions that can, so easily, lead you astray.
Why Set Goals?
Top-level athletes, successful business-people and achievers in all
fields all set goals. Setting goals gives you long-term vision and
short-term
motivation 
.
It focuses your acquisition of knowledge, and helps you to organize
your time and your resources so that you can make the very most of your
life.
By setting sharp, clearly defined goals, you can measure and take
pride in the achievement of those goals, and you'll see forward progress
in what might previously have seemed a long pointless grind. You will
also raise your self-confidence
, as you recognize your own ability and competence in achieving the goals that you've set.
Starting to Set Personal Goals
You set your goals on a number of levels:
- First you create your "big picture" of what you want to do with
your life (or over, say, the next 10 years), and identify the
large-scale goals that you want to achieve.
- Then, you break these down into the smaller and smaller targets that you must hit to reach your lifetime goals.
- Finally, once you have your plan, you start working on it to achieve these goals.
This is why we start the process of setting goals by looking at your
lifetime goals. Then, we work down to the things that you can do in,
say, the next five years, then next year, next month, next week, and
today, to start moving towards them.
Step 1: Setting Lifetime Goals
The first step in setting personal goals is to consider what you want
to achieve in your lifetime (or at least, by a significant and distant
age in the future). Setting lifetime goals gives you the overall
perspective that shapes all other aspects of your decision making.
To give a broad, balanced coverage of all important areas in your
life, try to set goals in some of the following categories (or in other
categories of your own, where these are important to you):
- Career – What level do you want to reach in your career, or what do you want to achieve?
- Financial – How much do you want to earn, by what stage? How is this related to your career goals?
- Education – Is there any knowledge you want to
acquire in particular? What information and skills will you need to have
in order to achieve other goals?
- Family – Do you want to be a parent? If so, how
are you going to be a good parent? How do you want to be seen by a
partner or by members of your extended family?
- Artistic – Do you want to achieve any artistic goals?
- Attitude – Is any part of your mindset holding you
back? Is there any part of the way that you behave that upsets you? (If
so, set a goal to improve your behavior or find a solution to the
problem.)
- Physical – Are there any athletic goals that you
want to achieve, or do you want good health deep into old age? What
steps are you going to take to achieve this?
- Pleasure – How do you want to enjoy yourself? (You should ensure that some of your life is for you!)
- Public Service – Do you want to make the world a better place? If so, how?
Spend some time brainstorming
these things, and then select one or more goals in each category that
best reflect what you want to do. Then consider trimming again so that
you have a small number of really significant goals that you can focus
on.
As you do this, make sure that the goals that you have set are ones
that you genuinely want to achieve, not ones that your parents, family,
or employers might want. (If you have a partner, you probably want to
consider what he or she wants – however, make sure that you also remain
true to yourself!)
Step 2: Setting Smaller Goals
Once you have set your lifetime goals, set a five-year plan of
smaller goals that you need to complete if you are to reach your
lifetime plan.
Then create a one-year plan, six-month plan, and a one-month plan of
progressively smaller goals that you should reach to achieve your
lifetime goals. Each of these should be based on the previous plan.
Then create a daily
To-Do List of things that you should do today to work towards your lifetime goals.
At an early stage, your smaller goals might be to read books and
gather information on the achievement of your higher level goals. This
will help you to improve the quality and realism of your goal setting.
Finally review your plans, and make sure that they fit the way in which you want to live your life.
