6 Essential Keys to Setting Goals You Can Achieve
For most people, setting goals is just a natural part of life. We’ve been told throughout our lives that we should set goals, and we assume that we will be able to achieve them. However, most of us have never been taught how to set goals so that they are realistic and achievable. If you want to start setting realistic goals that you will be able to achieve, it is essential to follow these fundamental keys.
1. Write Your Goals Down
You are far more likely to achieve your goals if you write them down. Writing your goals down makes them physically real, and makes it more difficult to change your mind. Having them written down where you can see them will give you something to visualize and reflect on.
2. Set Short-Term Milestones
When your goals seem too far away, you tend to procrastinate completing the steps to reach your goals and quickly lose motivation. Long-term goals are great to have, but to continue moving toward achieving them you have to create smaller, short-term milestones as well.
3. Measure Actions as Well as Progress
It's great to have aggressive goals, but it is crucial for you to be able to measure the actions you take rather than the progress you've made. When you only measure the progress you're making, it can become frustrating if you don't get as far as you'd hoped. Measuring your actions instead can keep you motivated and help you to reach your goals faster.
4. Start with Just One Goal
Don't be too overzealous when it comes to setting goals. If you try to change too many things at one time, you'll likely fail to achieve any of your goals. Trying to improve too many aspects of your life at once requires an overwhelming amount of willpower and can end up being unrealistic and difficult to achieve.
5. Schedule Time for Your Goals
You will never accomplish your goals if you don’t make time for working toward reaching them. Schedule a specific time every day to work toward your goals. The more time you allocate every day to working toward your goals, the faster you’ll reach them.
6. Set Goals You Actually Want to Achieve
Never set a goal because you think you should or because they sound good. Doing this is the quickest way of failing to reach them. Take some time to look at your life and the direction you want to head and set goals that you can realistically achieve, and more importantly that you want to achieve.
Never again will you fail to reach the goals that you've set out to achieve. These key essentials of goal setting will help you set realistic goals that you want to achieve and put you on the path to achieving them.