Everyone knows goals are important, but let’s talk about why they’re important.
Maybe you’re a spontaneous person and you like to set out on a journey with no particular destination in mind, but you wouldn’t set off without a vehicle to take you there or a dead cell phone in your pocket, would you?
The thing is, if you don’t plan for where you’re going (or how you’re going) you’re never going to get there. You won’t get anywhere. And that’s why goals are critical to our well-being. Goals force us to make plans, control our time, and organize our lives so we can do the things we want to do. They’re fundamental to success in school, at work, and just life in general.
Goals don’t have to be like your New Year’s resolution (according to one study 92% of people never even achieve their New Year’s goal). Goals can be tiny tasks that you set for yourself everyday which lead to bigger aims. In fact, results from the above study also found that the more specific people were about their goals, the higher their chances were of success.
That means it’s okay to have big dreams, but in order to hit the mark you should really define exactly what it is you want to achieve, then break it down into smaller items that you can action every day.
If you want to be an opera singer for example, you’re not just going to waltz up to the stage at La Scala and start belting Puccini for all to hear. You’re going to start by singing scales, every day, for months alone in your bedroom.
That’s why whenever we talk about goals we talk about “SMART” goals. SMART is just an acronym for specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time sensitive.
S - mart
M - easurable
A - chieveable
R - elevant
T - ime
Use SMART to help you pick smaller daily goals, as well as big long-term ones. Write your goals down, check on them daily, and re-assess and adjust them if you need to, making sure that they fit within the SMART parameters.
You can set a goal for every little thing you do. And while looking at a “to-do” list isn’t exactly as inspiring as looking at a “goals” list, the to-do list you complete today is what will make your goals possible tomorrow.
“The to-do list you complete today is what will make your goals possible tomorrow.”
So break your goals down, turn them into bite-sized chunks, make a daily task list, and you’ll be on the right track to achieving what you set out to do.
Goals that matter are goals that mean something to you. Don’t set goals just for the sake of having something on the calendar, but think about how each one contributes to your personal and professional development.
For example: work might just seem like something you have to do, but do you want to get promoted someday? Or do you want to eventually be an expert in your field?
In the first instance, start by setting a goal for yourself to get all of your work done on time. In the second, start with the goal of spending some of your off hours learning more about your profession. Now you’ve got a larger goal that matters, and smaller goals that’ll help you get there!
Goals are always a little intimidating; by setting one, you’re aiming for something you either want to achieve or improve at, and knowing deep down that you might not get there scares you. That’s okay though, because never improving your life for fear of failure is not an exciting alternative.
So how do you get over the intimidation that comes with trying to achieve a goal? Well remember that micro-task list we talked about earlier? The best way to get over the hump is to plan the first step to your goal, and think about completing that step, rather than completing the entire goal at once.
Now that you’ve got your first step mapped out, make completing it your chief aim. For example: cleaning an entire house before the weekend? Intimidating. Cleaning your room before tomorrow? Doable. Go clean your room and look back at how you’ve already succeeded. Not so bad right? What’s the next step going to be? And so on.
Every day, habits guide our life. Good habits take us forward, and bad habits do the opposite. If you can build habits that point you in the direction of your goal, you’re much more likely to succeed. For example, if your goal is to lose weight, make a habit of exercising. If your goal is to run faster, make a habit of running, if your goal is to learn guitar, make a habit of practicing!
You’re going to hit roadblocks when it comes to achieving your goals, but don’t stop when you hit your first one. Instead, build achieving your goals into your daily life by making habits out of the activities that contribute to your success.
Everyone needs to have goals. The SMART framework can help you create goals that make sense, then, you can break your goals down, plan out your first step, and build habits that will help you stick to your goals. By doing these four things, you can overcome a lot of obstacles that typically prevent goals from being achieved.
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Everyone knows goals are important, but let’s talk about why they’re important.
Maybe you’re a spontaneous person and you like to set out on a journey with no particular destination in mind, but you wouldn’t set off without a vehicle to take you there or a dead cell phone in your pocket, would you?
The thing is, if you don’t plan for where you’re going (or how you’re going) you’re never going to get there. You won’t get anywhere. And that’s why goals are critical to our well-being. Goals force us to make plans, control our time, and organize our lives so we can do the things we want to do. They’re fundamental to success in school, at work, and just life in general.
Goals don’t have to be like your New Year’s resolution (according to one study 92% of people never even achieve their New Year’s goal). Goals can be tiny tasks that you set for yourself everyday which lead to bigger aims. In fact, results from the above study also found that the more specific people were about their goals, the higher their chances were of success.
That means it’s okay to have big dreams, but in order to hit the mark you should really define exactly what it is you want to achieve, then break it down into smaller items that you can action every day.
If you want to be an opera singer for example, you’re not just going to waltz up to the stage at La Scala and start belting Puccini for all to hear. You’re going to start by singing scales, every day, for months alone in your bedroom.
That’s why whenever we talk about goals we talk about “SMART” goals. SMART is just an acronym for specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time sensitive.
S - mart
M - easurable
A - chieveable
R - elevant
T - ime
Use SMART to help you pick smaller daily goals, as well as big long-term ones. Write your goals down, check on them daily, and re-assess and adjust them if you need to, making sure that they fit within the SMART parameters.
You can set a goal for every little thing you do. And while looking at a “to-do” list isn’t exactly as inspiring as looking at a “goals” list, the to-do list you complete today is what will make your goals possible tomorrow.
“The to-do list you complete today is what will make your goals possible tomorrow.”
So break your goals down, turn them into bite-sized chunks, make a daily task list, and you’ll be on the right track to achieving what you set out to do.
Goals that matter are goals that mean something to you. Don’t set goals just for the sake of having something on the calendar, but think about how each one contributes to your personal and professional development.
For example: work might just seem like something you have to do, but do you want to get promoted someday? Or do you want to eventually be an expert in your field?
In the first instance, start by setting a goal for yourself to get all of your work done on time. In the second, start with the goal of spending some of your off hours learning more about your profession. Now you’ve got a larger goal that matters, and smaller goals that’ll help you get there!
Goals are always a little intimidating; by setting one, you’re aiming for something you either want to achieve or improve at, and knowing deep down that you might not get there scares you. That’s okay though, because never improving your life for fear of failure is not an exciting alternative.
So how do you get over the intimidation that comes with trying to achieve a goal? Well remember that micro-task list we talked about earlier? The best way to get over the hump is to plan the first step to your goal, and think about completing that step, rather than completing the entire goal at once.
Now that you’ve got your first step mapped out, make completing it your chief aim. For example: cleaning an entire house before the weekend? Intimidating. Cleaning your room before tomorrow? Doable. Go clean your room and look back at how you’ve already succeeded. Not so bad right? What’s the next step going to be? And so on.
Every day, habits guide our life. Good habits take us forward, and bad habits do the opposite. If you can build habits that point you in the direction of your goal, you’re much more likely to succeed. For example, if your goal is to lose weight, make a habit of exercising. If your goal is to run faster, make a habit of running, if your goal is to learn guitar, make a habit of practicing!
You’re going to hit roadblocks when it comes to achieving your goals, but don’t stop when you hit your first one. Instead, build achieving your goals into your daily life by making habits out of the activities that contribute to your success.
Everyone needs to have goals. The SMART framework can help you create goals that make sense, then, you can break your goals down, plan out your first step, and build habits that will help you stick to your goals. By doing these four things, you can overcome a lot of obstacles that typically prevent goals from being achieved.
