Does it ever feel like you’re drifting through life without direction or any idea of what you want? You might have a vague idea of what you hope to achieve, but no clue how to get there.
That’s when knowing how to set goals comes into play.
Goals are the first steps you take when planning for the future. They offer a fundamental foundation for skill development in various life areas, ranging from the relationships you develop to the career you pursue.
When you understand how important goals are and the techniques used to create them, it’s possible to create a path that leads to your desired outcomes.
The 5 Second Rule
by Mel Robbins
⏱ 11 minutes reading time
🎧 Audio version available
How Can I Create Goals That Help Me?
Goals must be specific to be useful.
When you have a generalized idea of what you want to accomplish, it is much harder to achieve results than if you can follow specific steps that lead to a specific and intended outcome.
Your specific goals can be short- or long-term processes that offer motivation and direction. Common goals include keeping a daily journal, learning something new, or losing weight.
If you transform those thoughts into practical steps to follow, it’s much easier to plan for a brighter future!
These goal-setting examples can motivate us to create the plans we need to reach a positive outcome.
Example #1: Set SMART Goals
SMART is a popular mnemonic that people use to remain on their intended path while striving to be better. It represents goals that are Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-restricted.
Your goals should be specific. It helps to hone in on a specific outcome to find your focus and motivation. Instead of just losing weight, you might say your goal is to lose twenty pounds over the next five months.
A measurable goal provides tangible evidence of your progress. You can set a number, date, or time for this step. Instead of saying that you’ll study for an exam, your plan could be to meet with a tutor every Thursday night until the test.
An achievable goal is realistic. This plan should feel challenging, but not impossible. Here you could break down the 20-pound weight loss goal into losing one pound every week for 20 weeks.
Goals must be relevant to be helpful. If you don’t like finance, it doesn’t make sense to focus on making money through stock trades. You would want to look at something you enjoy!
The final step is to set a deadline for yourself. If you don’t hold yourself accountable for the goals you want to accomplish, you won’t succeed.
When you have written goals using this method, you can have others hold you accountable. It’s sometimes easier to stay productive when you need to report your results to others.
Example #2: Objectives and Key Results (OKRs)
This goal-setting methodology is a collaborative tool that individuals and teams can use for ambitious or challenging projects. The OKRs are the metrics used to create alignment, encourage engagement, and track progress.
The objective component of an OKR is what you want to achieve. It is nothing more or less than that, and it should be action-oriented, concrete, significant, and inspirational. This information should leave no ambiguity for anyone when working toward the desired outcome.
Key Results serve as a benchmark for how to achieve an objective. They also monitor the individual or team’s progress toward the intended outcome.
The most effective Key Results are realistic without losing their aggressiveness. They must be time-bound and specific to be relevant while having measurable and verifiable metrics that are easy to track.
When you set OKRs, you leave no room for doubt. You either achieve the results or you fail.
If the objectives are long-lived, you can keep rolling them over each month or year to evolve the key results with each progression. Once everything is completed, you’ll know for sure the outcome was achieved.
Example #3: One Word Goals
If you use this methodology for setting goals, you’ll select a focus word. When you maintain that effort, you’ll achieve a roundabout goal. It’s a popular choice because it simplifies the experience by eliminating discussion, organization, and processes.
Instead of setting resolutions that have no definition, focusing on the single word creates power, passion, and clarity. Goals often seem overwhelming when something big needs to happen. By taking away the pressure of formulating a structured plan, the idea here is to stay hyper-focused on a single theme until you reach it.
How you choose your focus word will create the direction that your goals take. What single concept has the most meaning for what you hope to accomplish?
Businesses that use this goal-setting method choose terms like loyalty, integrity, or innovation. What you choose should encompass everything you hope to accomplish.
Once you have selected your word, it is essential to turn the term into a recurring theme. When you face a challenge or choice in your personal life, career, or business, consider the path that gets you closer to the structures created within this methodology.
If you find that one word alone isn’t enough, you can create vision boards and other resources to expand on the theme.
What Can Setting Goals Do for Your Life Today?
Setting goals for yourself or your business is the first step toward achievement. It’s the initial step you take on the journey toward success.
Whether you choose from one of these goal-setting examples or select a different methodology, the importance of switching from passive to proactive is crucial. Instead of just letting things happen to you, goals help you create the outcomes you want.
The right goals will also help you achieve the maximum results for each effort. This process delivers a vision that you and everyone else can work toward daily.
When you take the time to set goals today, you’ll start experiencing more growth in the coming days and weeks. It only takes a few minutes to decide what you want to pursue! After applying one of these examples, you’ll have the structure needed to recognize results as they appear.
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