Goal-setting is extremely beneficial in helping us reach new heights. It gives us an objective to work towards and achieve for a better and more successful life. Goals can lead us to fulfill our hidden potentials or change people’s lives. But simply setting goals and not taking action won’t get you anywhere.
Here is a step-by-step guide on how to set goals AND achieve them with the help of purpose, small steps, and deadlines.
1. Set your goal
Before you start your journey, you must first decide on your destination. Spare yourself a few minutes to sit down and set a goal. Ask yourself, what do you want to achieve? It could be a long-term goal or a short-term goal.
Try to come up with more details as you define your goal because the clearer your goal is, the easier it is for you to decide what needs to be done. You can make use of the SMART goals guideline to check if your goal is set in the right direction.
- Specific: What is it that you want to achieve and how?
- Measurable: How will you determine if you have met your goal?
- Achievable: Can your goals be achieved?
- Relevant: Do your goals matter and are they realistic?
- Time-bound: Exactly when do you want to achieve it?
2. Define your purpose
After you’ve set your goal, it’s time to connect with your “why”. Defining your purpose is just as important as setting your goal. This is because your purpose will serve as the fuel to push you forward when you want to give up or when in doubt. The more emotionally connected you are with the purpose, the more motivated you will be to ensure that your goals are met.
Some questions you can ask yourself
- What is your cause?
- What is your belief?
- Why do you want to achieve your goal?
- Who are you doing it for?
For interested readers, feel free to check out Purpose: The Ultimate Bridge between Success and Satisfaction
3. Break your goal into steps
The reason why most of us give up before we even start is that our goal seems too far-fetched or requires too much effort. Take learning a new language as an example. For those who are less talented when it comes to language, this could be an immense task. However, once you break it down into reasonable steps, it’ll only be a matter of time before you reach the end goal.
For example, you want to learn Japanese because you want to watch your favorite Japanese anime without needing any subtitles. The first step could be to learn the Japanese alphabet (i.e. Hiragana) then move on to the phonetic alphabet (i.e. Katakana). Once you’ve got the alphabet down, you could start learning the basics (e.g. greetings, numbers, family) and their Kanji. For anyone interested in learning Japanese, here is a useful site I came across with colorful illustrations. I also use a free app called Duolingo to increase my Japanese vocabulary daily.
If you still feel overwhelmed, you can further break down these steps to a level that you’re comfortable with. Remember, no matter how small each step might seem, it is still one step that will bring you closer to your goal. Even 5 minutes a day counts!
A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step
— Lao Tzu
4. Set your deadlines
Most of us might be familiar with the power of deadline fighting. It’s a sudden boost of ideas and answers but sometimes, it could be completely irrelevant to the topic (aka. bs). The concept of having deadlines is to bring about a sense of urgency for us to complete our tasks on time. This urgency can help prevent you from procrastinating because you have due dates to meet.
For instance, you’re a beginner but you want to run your first half marathon in 3 months. Let’s break this goal into several steps. If running is tough for you, you can always start with a 10-15 minute jog every morning. (Listening to music helps! But be aware of your surrounding if you’re running near the road) Depending on your progress, you can slowly increment your morning jog duration by 5-10 minutes each time. Once you’re used to it, your next step could be to run 5km by the next fortnight. Then steadily increase your target to 10km and 15km until you reach 21km by the third month. Here are some tips on running for beginners.
By setting appropriate time limits, it is easier for you to keep track of your progress. And as you reach each milestone you set for yourself, you can measure your growth and reward yourself for being one step closer to your goal. Consider using a calendar to mark down your deadlines and set reminders for when the due date is near. Here are some templates to plan your deadlines.
5. Visualize your success
Put your imagination to work and try to visualize what life would look like when you’ve achieved your goals. Every morning and night, spend a few minutes to visualize what you really want to achieve. Ask yourself, what would the long-term success look like? What do you need to do to get there? What do you need to sacrifice? Who do you have to become? To reach new heights that we have yet been to, we must do something we haven’t done before. Sometimes, it requires us to change our lifestyles or sacrifice something to gain something new.
Some personal examples include:
- To write the blog, I sacrificed my gaming time
- To wake up early, I sacrificed my late night chat with friends (or at least I had to leave early each time)
- To stay energized even after meals, I sacrificed greasy (yet really tasty) food
Having to give up or cut down on things that I enjoy doing was tough. But when I visualize myself swiftly completing all my tasks by morning and still filled with energy by afternoon, I know that I’m on the right track. It won’t be easy to make such sacrifices but it’ll definitely be worth it!
In Summary
By following these 5 simple steps, you’ll be able to set detailed goals with a strong purpose that will motivate you to achieve them. These goals will be broken down into steps that pave your way to success with the help of deadlines pushing you away from procrastination. Sooner or later, the success you visualize each morning and night will become reality as you continue to progress towards your goals.
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