How to properly set goals and achieve them

[CaptainSaveAh0]

How to achieve your goals

I talked a lot about setting goals in this post but I didn't really touch on how to set a successful goal and how to achieve it.

Everyone has different goals, but I will use a simple example to demonstrate the steps needed to reach a goal. So where do we begin you may ask? Many people struggle with just starting the goal because they do not know where to begin and lack the motivation to do so.

Make sure your goal is reasonable and achievable.

Lets say our goal is to lose weight. Don't make your goal to lose 100 pounds off the bat because that is far from reach and a tough feat to accomplish. Set yourself a goal of 20 pounds. Your goal in the long term may be to lose 100 pounds but focus on small goals first. As you start tasting success you can set yourself higher goals instead of shooting for the stars from the start.

Make your goal something you can get excited about
A lot of people give up on goals they have set because they are setting goals for things they do not enjoy or like and lose motivation very quickly while pursuing them. Make sure you can get excited about your goals and ask yourself why you are setting it. What benefit will this goal give me? How will this goal help improve my life? Make sure your answer to these questions is something you can get excited about. So back to our weight loss example. How will this goal benefit me? I will feel mentally and physically stronger. I will have more energy throughout the day allowing me to accomplish more.

Always give yourself a deadline if you are setting goals
Without a time limit to set your goal you will procrastinate to achieve it and may never start.For our example we will give ourselves 4 months to lose the 20 lbs of weight. This is a reasonable deadline and with the proper steps it can be very achievable.

Now that you have a deadline set,

Implement an action plan
How are you going to achieve this goal? An action plan is one of the most important parts in successfully achieving your goal and will require some prior research. Once you do your research make the action plan fit within your dead line. Going back to our weight loss example. In order to lose the 20 pounds I will cut down on carbs during lunch and dinner and go for a 30 minute run every day after work.

Measuring the success of your action plan
Now that I have this brilliant action plan set up I have to somehow measure the success to see whether my action plan needs changing or if it is actually working. I will check my weight after 2 weeks of my action plan to see if I have actually lost any weight in order to measure how successful my plan of action is. A good form of measuring your goal will be to keep a journal documenting your success and failures each week.

Anyways feel free to add any more steps you can think of and this process can be applied to any aspect in life whether it is game, health, wealth or education. What are some of your guys current goals right now? My main goal right now is to rehabilitate from my injury which is preventing me from living life how I want to live it. I set myself a deadline till August to re cooperate. Once that is fixed and out of the way I will set much larger goals.

 

[Mike32ct]

Very good stuff. Great thread.

I would add, "Keep it to yourself." There are two schools of thought in the personal development world:

1. Tell people your goals. This makes you accountable.

Or

2. Keep it to yourself. Just shut up and do it. Let people notice that weight loss, fitness, new job, clean apartment, music/dance/foreign language/martial arts skills, etc. without you having to mention it.

I firmly believe in #2. The more I talk about it, the less likely I am to do it. I think E ric Th omas has a great video talking about this. I think it's called Shut Up.

 

[Mr Wright]

2. Keep it yourself. Just shut up and do it. Let people notice that weight loss, fitness, new job, clean apartment, music/dance/foreign language/martial arts skills, etc. without you having to mention it.

I firmly believe in #2. The more I talk about it, the less likely I am to do it.

Great point on a great post. I think can't remember what the term is called but the premise is that lets say you want to run a marathon. You go around telling all your friends and family that you're going to run this marathon and they're like "oh well done" and " you're going to do something so brave" but in the end you don't really feel like you need to do it. You've had all the social approval for doing it and your ego is satisfied so the drive has gone. So if you really want to achieve something, shut up and just do it.

 

[CaptainSaveAh0]

Very good stuff. Great thread.

I would add, "Keep it to yourself." There are two schools of thought in the personal development world:

1. Tell people your goals. This makes you accountable.

Or

2. Keep it to yourself. Just shut up and do it. Let people notice that weight loss, fitness, new job, clean apartment, music/dance/foreign language/martial arts skills, etc. without you having to mention it.

I firmly believe in #2. The more I talk about it, the less likely I am to do it. I think E ric Th omas has a great video talking about this. I think it's called Shut Up.

I completely agree .. " actions speak louder than words" ... A lot of people go around blabbing about their goals and are not taking any steps toward them.

 

[thespecialist]

how do you guys motivate yourselves?

 

[Born_Again]

Great post thanks for sharing it

 

[Mike32ct]

how do you guys motivate yourselves?

Great question. I hope plenty of you guys jump on this one and offer some tips.

I'm not a big fan of the "How badly do you want it?" advice. Let's face it, some days you won't want it all lol. Some days you will even HATE your passion. It's normal to have thoughts of quitting every so often.

The question is, what keeps certain people going despite not feeling like it sometimes or wanting to quit sometimes?

 

[CaptainSaveAh0]

Motivating yourself is definitely hard. I think a lot of it is about building mental toughness and discipline, once that is accomplished you will be more firm to sticking to your goals. That's why I also said for really unmotivated people to set small goals that they will accomplish. It will boost your morale and tasting success is a good feeling.