The Golden Rules of Goal Setting
Almost every successful person starts with a dream and a list of goals. Those goals helped motivate them to continue even when the going became tough, and they allowed that person to see their progress. Setting goals seems like it should be simple, and it is in reality, but so many people set incorrect goals and challenges, and that can hinder rather than help them.
Set Goals That Motivate You
Setting goals that motivate you is essential because achieving your dreams can be challenging at times. You are more likely to succeed if your goals keep you motivated and you want to realize those dreams. The best goals relate to matters you value highly in your life.
For example, you may want to start a business that helps homeless people, or it may be something like furthering your education and earning a degree. Write down why your goals are important and valuable to you. Could you convince someone your goals are worthwhile if you shared your plan with them? If not, you may need a different target.
Set Challenging Yet Attainable Goals
Although it is important to set the bar high and be ambitious with your goal setting, it is equally as important to ensure your goals are attainable; otherwise, they will eventually demotivate you. For example, you may have aspirations of running a marathon, but setting yourself the goal of running 26 miles within two weeks of your training beginning and then competing at the Olympics within a year is not going to happen.
Likewise, you may believe you can build a website that attracts thousands of readers daily and think you can get 1 million hits within a month of launching, but those things take time and effort. Sites such as sportsbettingsites.com did not just magic traffic out of thin air; dozens of people worked tirelessly to create content consumers want to digest. Hardly anyone enjoys instant success.
You may have heard about the concept of SMART goals. SMART is an apronym of Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Time Bound, and it perfectly describes your goals.
Goals must be precise because they ultimately guide you. They need to be measurable; otherwise, how do you know if you are progressing toward achieving them? We already touched on why goals need to be attainable; they are pointless if they are impossible!
Relevant goals keep you on track because they mean something to you and are vital to your ultimate end goals. Lastly, plans must have deadlines attached. Otherwise, they can drag on for weeks, months, years, or forever. Having a deadline gives you something to work towards.
Create an Action Plan and Stick to It
An action plan is arguably the most important aspect of goal setting because it gives you guidance on how to achieve those goals. Start with a brainstorming session that lists all of the possible and potential tasks requiring completion to accomplish your goals. Highlight any of these tasks that need prioritizing. Also, make notes of any functions that may require outside help or that you can delegate to someone else and free up your time to work on other areas.
It helps if you break down some tasks into smaller sub-tasks if required. For example, one job needed to achieve your goals may be to purchase a new, more powerful computer. That would only need one task. However, when building a website, you can break it down into sub-sections, such as research hosting companies, research potential themes and templates for your site, look into the security you require, learn about the different privacy rules, etc.
Setting goals is important in life, and the above tips will help you achieve them. Be SMART with your goals, create a clear and detailed action plan, and eventually, your dreams will become a reality.
