The Goal-Setting Technique That Will Allow You to Achieve More

It’s making me more motivated than ever.

When people set goals, how do they do?

They tell themselves, “I’ll lose weight, get an A on my next exam, learn that language, etc.” But, no longer than 2 or 3 months, their motivation wanes down, they start to fall flat, and before they know it, their goals fall apart. This happens to almost everyone, and I, too, struggled with it in the past.

I once told myself, “I’m going to work out this year. This is exciting!” and ten weeks later, my habit of exercising was nonexistent.

But these days, I’m able to accomplish my desired goals one by one. I have maintained a reading habit, an exercise habit, a journaling habit, and much, much more, And I’m able to reach 900 followers here on Medium, too.

So, in today’s article, we’re going to talk about the steps to the best goal-setting technique I use that can literally change your life. Without further delay, let’s get right into it.

1. Write Them Down

Give your goals meaning.

If you look at and observe people around you, you’ll be amazed at how seldom people write their goals down.

The reason why it’s so crucial is that by writing your goals down, you are giving some degree of significance to them. You don’t just let it float around in the back of your mind. You define it, you take it out of your head, and put it onto the paper. And you are also making it visible and tangible.

And sadly, that’s what most people miss. Even though they say they want this goal or that goal, so long as they don’t write them down, there’s no significance to them. Their goals are just merely wishes. However, once they start writing them down, their goal has gained significance and importance. They change from floppy wishes to meaningful dreams. Put simply, you give them power.

2. Make Them Clear

Be as clear and specific as possible.

While you’re writing down what you want to achieve, you also have to keep one thing in mind. And that is to make them clear. Crystal clear.

Don’t write:

- I want to exercise more

- I want to build my own side hustle

- I want to read more books

Write like this:

- I want to build muscles and look better

- I want to get an extra 1000$ every month(or) I want to be financially independent.

- I want to expand my knowledge and become wise.

To put it simply, I’m telling you to state your whys.

When you have identified your reasons behind doing something, it becomes clear and transparent to you. You feel great and motivated just by looking at them.

On the other hand, if you don’t make it clear or can’t define your whys, vagueness and ambiguity await in the course of your way. Since the goal is not clear to you, you will definitely face confusion and frustration.

So, define the reasons behind your goals. You will gain immense clarity, and your chance of achieving them will be doubled or even tripled.

3. Set Specific Actionable Steps

Ask yourself: “What actions I need to do daily to achieve my goal?”

You will surely find the answer to that question.

For example, when I started to learn English, my daily actions were

• Learn 10 words
• Speak English for 30 min
• Imitate 3 videos

Make a list of every activity you need to do to get to your goal. And be very specific — instead of saying, “I will exercise more,” say, “I will do chest workout at 4:00p.m every Monday, Tuesday, and Friday.” You are 2× more likely to take action on something that has a specific plan.

With written goals and an organized action plan, you will be far more productive and efficient than anyone who’s carrying around his goals in his mind.

Now that I’ve shared my goal-setting technique, you can now use it however you like.

But wait, there’s one trap you have to avoid.

• Aiming Too Big At the Start

There’s no problem in setting big goals or dreaming big. But if you put a very big huge goal in front of you, like making 1 million dollars, then it becomes too overwhelming, and you will be procrastinating more than taking action.

What you can do is to break it down into smaller milestones. Like checkpoints, you can celebrate yourself when you get there.

For me, instead of aiming for 10k followers, I focus on reaching 100, 200, …,900, etc. Of course, I have a big goal in my mind, but breaking it down into smaller checkpoints makes me feel happy and motivated. Every time I check off my goal, I feel confident and powerful. Otherwise, I’d be living repeating myself, “I’m not there yet. I’m not there yet. I’m not there yet,” which will definitely make me miserable.

If you see yourself not being able to attain your goal or not making much progress, you will be demotivated and experience self-doubt.

As an action point for this article, I recommend you try out my goal-setting technique. Apply all the steps I mentioned in this article, and I assure you it will definitely make you more productive and help you achieve your goals.

And if you have some thoughts in mind, please comment. I love reading them.