7 Simple Steps to Set Goals and Crush Them
There’s nothing better than that feeling of establishing a goal and achieving what you set out to accomplish. But how do you set the right goals and set yourself up for success to achieve them? This post is going to outline the right way to set goals and crush them.
These simple steps to establish and reach your goals are applicable for all areas of your life whether it’s a professional career goal, a personal goal, an exercise goal, etc.
What are the benefits of setting goals?
Reflect and identify priorities
Setting goals helps you reflect and identify what is most important to you right now. You can use these goals to establish priorities and a clear direction in life. Setting a goal also gives you something to work towards and something productive to focus on.
Motivation to succeed
Setting a goal for yourself will help you stay motivated to succeed. Goals will give you a vision for your future as motivation. As you make progress towards your goal, you’ll also be able to use that as added motivation to reach the long-term goal.
Self-satisfaction
Setting a goal gives you something to celebrate when you find success! You will feel more satisfied with your accomplishment if you have been working towards a specific goal.
So let’s talk about how to set goals and crush them.
1. Set S.M.A.R.T. goals
The first step to set goals and crush them is to decide what you want your goal to be. Reflect on what is most important to you. Perhaps you want to focus on your health, work, building relationships, etc.
Whatever you want to achieve, set your goal around that.
When you set a goal, you want to make it a S.M.A.R.T. goal, or specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-based.
If you’re unfamiliar with S.M.A.R.T. goals, I have outlined in detail what each letter means below:
S – Specific: You want to decide what exactly you want to do. Make your goals particular, not vague. For example, don’t set a goal “to run more”, set a goal to run 5 miles instead.
M – Measurable: Make goals easy to measure success and track progress. So in the previous example, a goal to run 5 miles is measurable because you can measure how long you run. You can also track your progress as you work towards your goal. For example, you may determine at some point that you are now able to run 2.5 miles so you’re halfway there!
A – Attainable: You also want to make sure the goal you set is realistic for you to achieve. This is so important because if it starts to feel like your goal is impossible then you will be much more likely to give up. For example, if you set a goal to lose 20 pounds, it is not realistic for anyone to lose that much weight in two weeks.
You also will want to consider what else is currently going on in your life. With the previous running example, it may not attainable for you if you’re also recovering from a knee injury.
R – Relevant: It is also important to set goals that are relevant to your life, values, and lifestyle. When you set relevant goals, you will feel more motivated to work towards them and achieve them.
T- Time-bound: Lastly, you want to set goals that are time-bound. This last item means that you set a time frame for when you want to achieve the goal. So closing out the running example, you may set your goal to run 5 miles by the end of the year.
Setting time-bound goals allows you to track progress against when you want to achieve the goal. It will also help to keep you motivated. If you don’t give yourself a time-based goal, it can be easy to skip your training days because “you’ll eventually run 5 miles”.
Be sure to remember that your goal needs to be realistic, so when making your goals time-based, don’t choose a time frame that is unrealistic or will set yourself up to fail.
2. Find your motivation behind the goal
After setting a S.M.A.R.T. goal, be sure to reflect on why you’re setting this goal.
This is the motivator that will keep you going and help you succeed, even when things get tough.
For example, if you set a goal to save money, that may not be too motivating on its own. But if you decide to save money so you can go on an awesome vacation, that will be so much more motivating.
Keep this motivation top of mind and remember it even during times of set backs.
3. Plan your path to success
Now that you’ve set your S.M.A.R.T. goal and identified your motivation, your next step is to plan your path to success.
Plan out how you will achieve your goal. Work backwards and determine what actions you have to take in order to see success.
Set smaller, incremental goals. For example, if you set a goal to achieve a month from now, identify where you want to be at one week, two weeks, and three weeks to keep yourself on track.
Put your action items into your schedule so you’ll block out time for them and to keep yourself accountable.
4. Prioritize
Now that you have a plan, you’ll need to prioritize your goal. Keep your goal in the front of your mind as you make decisions.
Prioritization also means that it’s important to not set too many goals at once. Just as its important to set realistic goals, you should only focus on one or two at a time in order for them to be realistic to achieve.
Set yourself up for success at the start!
5. Give yourself helpful reminders
As you work towards your goal, set reminders to keep yourself motivated.
Create a vision board for inspiration to crush your goals or recite a daily affirmation related to your goal in the morning.
You can also set an alarm to go off on your phone each day with a reminder about your goal or write an inspiring quote on a sticky note and pin it to your bathroom mirror.
These consistent reminders will keep you on track.
For tips to create a vision board that will help you reach success, read more here.
6. Check in on your progress
As you work on your goal, assess your progress along the way. Do this on a regular basis such as weekly or monthly depending on the time frame of your goal.
If needed, reassess your time frame and adjust as needed once you’ve been working towards your goal for awhile.
7. Crush your goal and reward yourself
Now that you’ve set a goal and worked towards it in the previous steps, you are now ready to crush your goal!
Be sure to reward yourself when you achieve the goal you set for yourself. You deserve it after all of that hard work!
Additionally, when you celebrate your achievements and let yourself feel successful, you will be more motivated to go after your next goals because you know how great it feels to achieve something.
That’s how you set goals and crush them!
Remember to be forgiving with yourself as you work towards achieving your goals. There will be days when its tough or sometimes you might miss the mark…That’s okay!
Do your best and reevaluate where you need to. You’ve got this.
Comment below with the goals you’re setting this month.
6 Comments