How To Choose Goals And Ensure Success
So you have your top 10 list of goals you want to achieve this year:
1. Lose 10 pounds
2. Read 20 books
3. Clear out the tool shed
4. Complete a weekend nature hike
5. Learn to play the violin
6. Paint the living room
7. Write a children’s book
8. Run a marathon
9. Eat healthy
10. Start composting
These are all great goals but are they really what you should be focusing on? How do you decide? Are there too many goals here to realistically expect to achieve them all in a year? How do you pick which ones to focus on then?
Prioritizing goals was something I struggled with initially, deciding where to start was tough. If I want to be an amazing athlete then losing weight, eating healthy and running a marathon will certainly help me get there. But what if my real dream is to become a great writer? I would suspect that losing weight, eating healthy and running a marathon won’t directly help me realize that dream. This disconnect between what you really want (your dream) and what you’re actually doing (your goal) is what often leads to procrastination, giving up and unhappiness. Here’s how to decide what goals to set and how to prioritize them to ensure success.
So many goals so little time
1. Begin with the end in mind. This is an important first step, because if you don’t know where you’re going it’s tough to know what path to take. Spend some time and give thought as to where you’d like to be 1 year from now, 5 years from now and even 10 years from now. I always used to say that I don’t know what I’m doing next week let alone 5 years from now but once I sat down and wrote it out it became pretty clear. Start by brainstorming what your dreams are and don’t hold back, just write. Then take a closer look at each item you’ve written down. Do you really want to do this or is it something that would be nice but you don’t really intend to do it? If you don’t have any intention of actually doing it then this isn’t something that should preoccupy your time right now.
2. Visualize. Once you have your dreams listed in front of you visualize what it’s going be like when you actually achieve them. Do this for each dream one at a time. This helps to take the goal that is merely words on a paper and make it feel real. For example, if your goal is to lose 10 pounds (or more) then picture in your head what it will feel like once you achieve this. You feel healthier, lighter and you have a ton of energy, you’re able to walk up a flight of stairs without becoming winded, your clothes fit better, you just feel good! Soak up that feeling and if it feels good, do it!
3. Map it out. You now need to map out each goal that you have decided is worth working on. Take each goal one at a time and focus on them independently (even if there’s a bit of overlap, I’ll get to that in the next point). Think about where you currently are, where you want to be and how you are going to get there. With every goal consider what the next actionable step is and write it down. I find the more detailed you can make this the better. Staying with the weight loss example, your end goal may look something like this:
Goal: Lose 10 pounds
Actionable items:
1. Search through the kitchen and purge all junk food.
2. Buy a pair of runners.
3. Research walking trails in my neighbourhood.
4. Put upbeat songs on my ipod.
5. Make a walking schedule.
6. Find reputable websites on how to read food labels.
7. Learn what all the numbers on food labels actually mean.
8. Research healthy meal and snack options.
9. Create a fresh healthy meal plan.
Each of these items are actionable i.e. you can actually DO them. They are specific and remove some of the friction that comes with abstract or vague “to do” items.
4. Overlap. Where possible overlap your actionable items between goals. If you want to lose weight but also want to eat healthily the two pretty well go hand-in-hand. You may not need to make a walking schedule to eat healthy but purging all junk food from your kitchen will certainly help in getting one step closer to achieving both goals. The closer your goals are aligned with each other the easier it will be to keep moving forward as one thing will effortlessly feed into the next. It’s easier to work towards a goal and succeed if it all makes sense.
5. Get started. Yes this is the part that most of us have the hardest time with. If you enjoy planning, dreaming and visualizing that’s great but you won’t actually get to the place you visualize if you don’t DO. Finding a place to start can be really easy if you have a detailed actionable items list, it gets rid of the question: “now what am I going to do?” ; it’s all there mapped out in front of you. It’s easier to take on multiple goals at the same time when you have the next actionable items set out in front of you. You can see where there is overlap and how you can “kill two birds with one stone”. But the key is to do something, get started!
6. Re-evaluate. After you’ve been working at a goal for a while it’s great to revisit and re-evaluate. Working on a goal can be like climbing a mountain you think if you just keep your head down and go you’ll get to the top quicker. It’s a good idea to lift your head and take a look around every now and again. Not only do you get to enjoy the view but it helps to ensure you’re still heading in the right direction and let’s you see if you even want to be on this path anymore. Taking time to re-evaluate lets you see how far you’ve come, how much you’ve accomplished and how far you still have to go. It can be really inspiring.
You should be excited about your goals and the best way to do that is to align your goals with your life and passions. If you are working towards someone else’s dream, desire or idea of what is right you likely won’t feel very enthused to get it done and will run out of steam very quickly. It’s okay to set goals and upon re-evaluating to either drop them or alter the direction. Life changes, circumstances change and with that your goals will naturally change as well. Get excited, get a plan and get going!!
See also:
Getting Things Done – Keeping It Short And Sweet
How To Be The Person You Want To Be
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19 Responses to “How To Choose Goals And Ensure Success”
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Sherri,
Great advice!
“This disconnect between what you really want (your dream) and what you’re actually doing (your goal) is what often leads to procrastination, giving up and unhappiness.”
I agree. Sometimes I pursue goals that I think I should want rather than what I really want. And then I never seem to get around to working on those goals.
I also think that your visualize idea is an excellent source of motivation and helps you figure out whether you really desire the goal.
Roger – A Content Life’s last blog post..Meditation for Beginners (Week 4) – Loving-Kindness Meditation
I am a new reader of yours and I love your blog! This hits home with me. I just wrote a post last week about having to many goals and having trouble keeping up with them! Thanks for this, it helps!! Have a great Wednesday!!
Chele’s last blog post..The Devil thought he got me!!
Hi, Sherri! Great post! I think number 1 is so important because many of us don’t really focus on what our end goal is… we just start heading in a direction, any direction, hoping to get someplace better. I believe there is great value in taking some time to figure out and truly envision what it is you wish to achieve.
Having said that, I’m guilty of messing up step number 5. I love the planning phase, but I tend to shy away from the implementation. Sometimes the hardest part is just getting started.
Thanks!!!
Lisis | Quest For Balance’s last blog post..Follow Me Over To Urban Monk
Hey Sherri! There is so much online about how to achieve goals, but very few of those articles are this straightforward and practical. Most of them seem to depend solely on getting excited emotionally about the goal, but they neglect the actionable planning aspect.
Enthusiasm is easy to work up, but it cannot be counted on to be there a few weeks later. Re-evaluating is the step I’ve consistently left out in most of my attempts; I’m finally getting the hang of it.
Thanks a lot, I have this bookmarked and will share it with others.
David Cain’s last blog post..The Year With Two Summers
This is great! I really think the “actionable items” is the key. You have to take each goal and break it into things you can physically do. “Lose 10 pounds” is so much harder to achieve than “go to the gym every morning” and “eat 5 veggies a day.” Really great post. I’m very inspired to work on my own goals right now!
Positively Present’s last blog post..living my happily ever after now
Great post, Sherri! I agree with Positively Present that “actionable” is the key thing. If I don’t require a specific action from myself, it’s too easy for me to let it slide.
Number 2 is huge for me. I find by visualizing the end helps me not only in long term goals, but also in daily goals. I think about how good it’s going to feel to get to the end and that helps me stay motivated. Thanks for the great article!
Amanda @ Mommy’s Idea Book’s last blog post..Ahhh…Weekend Getaway at the Lake
This helps me put into perspective so many things regarding my own goals. Yes, they should be our goals; not someone else’s goals for us.
Thank you.
Karen
Karen Chaffee’s last blog post..My Greatest Inspiration
@ Roger – Visualizing helps me a lot. It makes the goals less abstract and when I can feel or see what the end result will be I’m a whole lot more motivated to keep with it and get it done. Picking goals that you *really* want and make sense for you helps a ton as well!
@ Chele – Welcome and thanks so much for the kind words. It makes me happy to hear you found this post helpful. Being overwhelmed by the goals you’ve set certainly isn’t the best way to accomplish them. If I feel overwhelmed I tend to freeze and do nothing…highly unproductive. Thanks for your comment!
@ Lisis – Beginning with the end in mind can be applied to so many things and I think it’s especially important in goal setting. Everything you do should be to some sort of end be it big or small. Giving that end a bit of thought makes the journey there all the more enjoyable and worthwhile.
@ David – I totally agree. A lot of people tell you to pick something you’re passionate about and just do it which is great to get you started, like you say, but it’s usually not sustainable. Only if you *really* want to do, have a plan and it fits in with where you are now and where you want to be will it work. I’m glad you liked it and shared it around
@ Positively Present – For me actionable items is key! Without these I flounder a bit and end up doing nothing. Writing out a list of physical actions works wonders and really does remove the “well now what am I going to do?” question. I wish you luck in working out your goals that’s great!
@ Mary – That’s exactly what happens with me! Next actionable items work a treat!
@ Amanda – Thanks I’m glad you enjoyed it! Visualizing does help with the short term daily activities like you say. It’s like thinking about exercise…you totally don’t want to do it at the time but know once you’re finished you’ll feel great. So it helps to get you moving!
@ Karen – I’m so glad you found this post helpful and you’re quite welcome!
It’s so important that your goals are your own and you’re not doing something just because that’s what’s popular at the time. If it doesn’t feel good or it goes against what you really want in the end it’s possibly not the best use of your time. Thank you for your comment.
Smart advice, Sherri. I really like #6. Sometimes I’ve started something that I thought I’d really like to accomplish only to find out it wasn’t what I wanted to spend my time doing. It’s a relief to give ourselves permission to stop when we re-evaluate and realize what we thought was a goal is something that we’re no longer interested in.
Laurie | Express Yourself to Success’s last blog post..The Importance of Greeting Others in the First 90-Seconds
@ Laurie – Thanks I’m glad you liked it. That’s the thing with goals is we get attached to them and if we lose interest or our direction changes we feel like we’ve failed by ditching it. I think it’s a good thing to try something and not succeed than to have never tried it in the first place and always wonder “what if?”. You certainly should give yourself permission to change course if something isn’t working for you, life’s too short!
Sherri, this is great advice. I really like your “Overlap” idea.
My best advice to people is to limit the shorter term goals to no more than three. You can have you other ones on a list somewhere but I wouldn’t have them on an active list. Too many goals is a lesson I have learned hard multiple times.
The point about doing something is soooo important. If you have trouble getting started chunk it down to something smaller. Keep chunking until it gets small enough you can practically fall forward and do something toward your goal. Momentum is everything.
I think I read something once about holding your goals loosely. I really liked that. It’s not about quitting, it’s about growing or changing.
Keep up the great work!
Stephen – Rat Race Trap’s last blog post..Energize Your Success – Use The Right Fuel
Hi Stephen,
Thanks for your comment. Keeping your short term goals to a number that is doable and manageable is a great point. It doesn’t matter how easy they are sometimes just seeing a huge number of things to do is too big of a mental hurdle to overcome and we do nothing. Next actionable items are definitely important for me I can’t stress that enough. Like you say break it down so fine that you can’t help but do something.