4 Steps To Follow To Set Your Goals And Find Success
Because how else are you going to lead a fulfilling life?
Setting goals can be a daunting task. Sticking to them is even more difficult. That is why, before setting your goals, you need to figure out your purpose in life. Understanding why you want to achieve a goal makes sticking to them a whole lot easier. It’s why I wrote in my previous essay about cultivating and developing your purpose. Purpose will make the whole process easier on you.
Step 1: Identify your goals
With your purpose — your why — in mind, think about the goals that will fulfill that purpose. Think about your career, your passions, your family, and your health. Consider your motivations and desires, whatever drives you. Then, do the following:
- Write down your vision of how you want your life to be in five years.
- Use that vision to set goals that are specific, concrete, actionable, and what you can control.
Here is an example:
- Don’t: I want to publish a few books.
- Do: I will write every day until I complete my first book.
You don’t want to be vague. You want to be concrete, clear, and specific about what you want to achieve. That way, you know where the end point is and how to get there.
Step 2: Prioritize your goals
By the time you have reached this step, you should have a list of goals you want to achieve that adhere to your vision of where you want to be in five years. Now, you must decide what you want to work on first. What you can put all your time and energy into.
Your list of goals should be specific, concrete, and actionable. Your list of goals should align with your purpose/core values. Now, you must decide what you want to achieve first. Go through that list and number your goals in order of most important to least important.
Here is an example of my list:
- I will write every day until I complete my first book.
- I will study one ad and practice my copy every day so I can learn copywriting.
- I will walk for at least thirty minutes, every day, so I can be active.
- I will learn the fundamentals of computer science and build multiple software projects.
- I will learn and practice my Spanish every day to become fluent in that language.
Step 3: Create a timeline
You have identified your goals. You have prioritized which ones to work on first. Now, you need to build a timeline for when you will reach each goal. Here is where experimentation and iteration come into play. Because we humans are terrible when it comes to estimating how long a task will take, in the five years you have to achieve your vision, determine how long each goal will take. Then, double that.
All of us are busy. We have work, school, and family responsibilities that we must attend to. I know that is the case for myself. Start working on one goal at a time. You want to be a writer? For a week, write for thirty minutes a day and don’t miss any days. Get the reps in. Then, in the next week, do forty-five minutes. Then, in the next week, do one hour. Build consistency.
A timeline will help you see progress, even if that progress is slow.
Step 4: Keep your goals dynamic
Things change. Your priorities might shift. A life event might put your schedule in flux. Don’t be afraid to switch gears. If you have been working on a goal for six months and have not fallen in love with the process, maybe that is where you need to reflect on if that goal is something that aligns with your purpose. Your core values. Experiment and iterate.
I have had goals that I thought aligned with my core values. And when I worked towards achieving them, I quickly found out when the process felt like a chore. When there was no sense of satisfaction from completing a task, I reflected on whether those goals were something I should still pursue.
Don’t be afraid to make a left when you were going to make a right.
