How to set and achieve your goals in 7 steps
Success doesn’t happen by accident.
The most successful people in the world are extremely efficient at setting, monitoring, and achieving their goals.
Let’s jump right in.
Below you’ll find 7 hacks to help you set and accomplish your goals.
1. Spend time in thought.
Many people rush into setting goals. Avoid this at all costs.
One of the worst things you can do is create goals that set you up for failure.
Before jumping into goal setting, be sure to set time aside for deep thought. Think about where you are today, then where you want to be tomorrow, next week, or 1 year from now. One of the healthiest things you can do in life is be mentally clear, present, and intentional with your thoughts and actions.
Say it with me now, “Ohmmmm”
2. Write your goals down.
People who don’t write their goals down are significantly less likely to achieve them. Putting pen to paper physically helps to create a sense ownership over your goals which builds accountability.
After you write them down, be sure to put them in a place where you will see them every single day. A few suggestions include; a whiteboard in your office, setting them as your phone wallpaper, or setting up an automated email that comes to your inbox daily.
3. Be specific.
For each goal you set, assign a quantity, action, time, and place along with it. Carving out a specific time in your day to pursue a goal and setting clear expectations with yourself is key. When you don’t set these parameters, it’s much easier to push off.
Goal: I want to lose 15lbs by my wedding day.
Action to Goal: I’m going to run 2 miles every morning right after I wake up on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday for the next 6 months until my wedding day.
Makes sense, right?
4. Set realistic goals.
Some people suggest setting extremely ambitious goals to maximize progress. This doesn’t work. Setting unattainable goals sets you up for failure and will leave you feeling discouraged.
Setting attainable goals is necessary because it’s important to reward yourself when you accomplish a goal. Now, I’m not suggesting to set really easy goals just so you can treat yourself to a surf n’ turf at your favorite steakhouse.
Definitely make sure your goals are challenging, but not so challenging that you can’t reach them. Rewarding yourself when you reach a goal is imperative to training and convincing your brain that your process of goal setting is effective.
This could be you.
5. Put in the work.
It’s a myth that successful people don’t work hard.
Throw that bs out the window. Period.
To be clear, I’m not saying ignore your health and relationships. But I can pretty much guarantee you that your competition isn’t playing video games or spending their Saturday mornings in bed hungover.
6. Monitor your progress.
Goals need to be tracked in order to tell if you’re on pace to achieve them. Whether your goal is short term or long term doesn’t matter, you should set time on your calendar at least bi-weekly to review your progress towards your goals.
If you’re on pace to blow a goal out of the water — great. How badly can you blow it out of the water? Make sure to take note so the next time you set goals for this category you can make them a bit more challenging.
If it’s looking like you might come up short that’s ok. Don’t beat yourself up. Again, take note for the next time you’re setting goals.
7. Take time to reflect.
After the time period for your goals has come to an end, it’s time to reflect.
Next to each goal, give an honest score of your effort on a scale of 1–10. Then, identify whether you achieved your goal or came up short. Usually you will observe a strong correlation between the effort you put in and whether you achieved your goal or not.
Then, write down important takeaways so that the next time you set goals you can build upon your learnings and improve.
Lastly, go crush your goals.
This stuff seems simple, yet most people don’t take the time to put in the work.
Some categories I like to set goals for include: Self Development, Health, Financial, Family, Relationship, Spiritual, Intellectual, and Professional Goals. Personally, I like to set quarterly goals and track them in excel.
