How to Set Goals for Success

“Keep aiming high and set challenging goals. “

Why set goals?

There are a lot of benefits to setting goals. Goals help keep you focused. They help you progress and sustain momentum in your life. More importantly, data reflects that goal-setting improves mental health, triggers new behaviors, and helps you achieve success. With all those benefits, why wouldn’t you want goals for yourself?

Be committed to sticking with your goals.

At the end of every year, thousands of people come up with New Year Resolutions. They say to themselves, “This is going to be the year that I [insert whatever you like],” only to forget about them a month later.

January is one of the busiest months for gyms and then attendance slowly dwindles. People forget about their weight loss efforts. They become busy with their lives, never make going to the gym a habit, and give up after a few weeks.

Don’t even bother setting goals if you aren’t going to be committed to achieving them.

Are you ready to commit?

You have decided that this is the time that you are going to set goals and stick with them. That’s great! How do you go about doing that exactly?

Here is a list of steps to help you set goals:

Brainstorm

Think about what type of goals you want to have. Are these personal or professional goals? Maybe you have a few goals for both. Not sure. Ask yourself, “If failure was not an option, what would my goals be?” We often hold ourselves back out of fear of failure. When setting goals, you need to be honest with yourself about what you want to achieve and not let insecurities get in the way.

Make Sure They are Attainable

My motto is “go big or go home.” This is not always the best thinking when it comes to goals. Yes, you should aim high with your goals, but be realistic, too.

If you’re an entrepreneur in your first year generating a million dollars’ worth of business could be an attainable goal. I personally know people who have done it. But if you are in your first year of business and want to make 50 million dollars this year then that is most likely not an attainable goal for the timeline that you have set.

It should be challenging, yet attainable.

Not Sure What Goals to Choose

Find someone who inspires you and has done something similar to what you are trying to do. What did they do to get to where they are? Model your goals after them.

Write Your Goals Down

Now that you have brainstormed your goals, write them down. You need to see your goals in front of you. They need to be a daily reminder of what you are working towards. Put them somewhere you can see them often. I keep a copy in my planner.

Create a Plan

Take your yearlong goal and break it down into monthly, weekly, and daily goals. These will become your long- and short-term goals.

It can also be beneficial to create long term goals further than a year away. This will give you a better plan for the future. It’s the whole “where do you see yourself in 5 years?” concept. For the purposes of this article, I have focused on year-long goals.

When people only set yearlong goals, they tend to procrastinate thinking they have 365 days to complete it and they will put it off until tomorrow. As time progresses the goal seems unattainable because time is running out and there is still a lot left to do.

When you create a plan of attack and know exactly how you are going to accomplish the goal then it becomes a lot easier to follow. Working towards a goal on a daily, weekly, and monthly basis makes it easier to achieve.

For example, if my goal is to lose 30 lbs. by the end of the year, my monthly goal should be to lose 2.5 lbs. each month. A better goal would be I will lose 30 lbs. by the end of the year by working out 3x times a week first thing in the morning for 30 minutes and eating 3 healthy meals a day.

My weekly goal would be to go to the gym 3x a week. My daily goal would be to eat healthily. Instead of saying to myself that I should lose weight and not know how to accomplish my goal, the plan gives me an outline of exactly how I am going to get there.

After creating a goal, ask yourself what I can do monthly, weekly, and daily to work towards that goal.

Get Specific

Make sure your goal is specific. You need to know what the goal is, when you are working towards the goal, how you will accomplish it, and the why/reason for the goal.

Saying that you will save money by the end of the year is too vague.  Get specific. Instead, say I will save $5,000 by the end of the year by saving $210 from every paycheck to create a rainy-day fund. Now the goal tells all these details:

What: Save $5000

When: By the end of the year

How: By saving $210 from each paycheck

Why: To establish a rainy-day fund

It also helps to assign a time when you will be working towards the goal. In this case, it is after every paycheck. In the example from the previous paragraph, I will be working out as soon as I wake up. To be successful with your goal it helps to have a set time that works for your schedule.

Relevant

If the goal isn’t important to you then you won’t stay committed to it. Make sure you are choosing a goal that you have your heart set on achieving.

Set a Deadline

Robert Herjavec said, “A goal without a timeline is just a dream.” This couldn’t truer. If you have don’t have a deadline for your goal, then you will never achieve it.

I’ve been saying for several years that I am going to start a business. Guess what? I never set a deadline and here I am finally getting around to it.

Set a deadline and hold yourself accountable to it. Take it seriously!

Is it Measurable?

Whatever goal you have for yourself make sure it is measurable. If you can’t measure your progress then how will you know if you going to be able to attain the goal?

Having a measurable goal also allows you to celebrate milestones along the way. This will help keep you motivated and working towards a larger goal.

It can be something simple like getting 1,000 followers, or losing 5 lbs., or saving $500. So, go ahead and celebrate!

It will give you a positive reason to get up in the morning and keep chipping away at those goals.

Review Your Progress

Make sure you are checking in with the progress that you are making on your goals. If you are not on track to meet your goal by the end of the year, then what do you need to do to correct that so you will meet your goal?

Change the Goal

There is no sense in working towards a goal that is no longer relevant. If you choose a goal and have now changed your mind, then switch gears and work on a different goal.

Or maybe you set your sights too high and realize that there is no way to achieve your goal within the original timeline. That’s ok. It happens. Just readjust as needed.

Maybe you thought you were going to be able to generate $1 million in sales this year but realize in September that there is no way that will become a reality.  Try your best and maybe shoot for $800,000 instead. Set your $1 million dollars for a longer-term goal that you can accomplish by the end of next year.

Keep aiming high and set challenging goals. You want to keep pushing yourself and being the best you can be but know that if you bite off more than you can chew it is ok to realign your goals.

Get Accountable

It is easy to say to yourself that you are going to do this or that. It is another when you start broadcasting it to friends and family. Now the goal has accountability.

Join an online group that will provide inspiration, encouragement, and tough love to help you achieve your goals.

People are going to be asking about your progress and celebrating your triumphs with you.

Ask for Help

If you have a big goal that you aren’t sure how to tackle, then you should ask for help. Let a professional guide get you on the right track to smash your goal.

If it is a personal goal then find someone who can help like a personal trainer, a counselor, or taking lessons from a professional.

If it is a business goal then contact the Small Business Association in your area and locate resources, services, and advisors that can help.

Don’t Compare Yourself

And whatever you do, do not compare yourself to others! This is the quickest way to feeling deflated. Whatever your goal is there is already someone who has achieved it. You should not compare yourself to someone who has been working on the same goal for longer than you.

You can’t start a rainy-day fund and get discouraged because you aren’t as rich as Warren Buffett.

You can’t go to the gym for a month and be mad that you don’t look like a Cindy Crawford.

You can’t launch a soda company and be upset that your sales don’t match Coca-Cola.

I think you get the point. You are starting where you are. Don’t worry about where everyone else is.

If you follow these steps and don’t give up, then you will be crushing your goals in no time!

Best of luck.

Comment below or on any of my social media and let me know how you are progressing on your goals.

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