How to Set Goals – And Achieve Them!

 

When was the last time you set yourself some new goals?

Perhaps you are the kind of person who regularly sets yourself new challenges. Or maybe, like many of us, you make goals at New Year and they are swiftly forgotten by February!

The best goals aren’t there to make us feel bad, they are there to inspire us. If you’ve struggled with goal setting in the past, then it might be the goals themselves that have been holding you back. To make your goals work for you there are some important things to consider. 

Here’s how to set goals – and actually achieve them!

 

Get Specific

One of the most common pitfalls when setting goals is to make them too broad. 

Something like ‘Get fit’ is a great thing to do but how will you actually achieve it? Instead of motivating you a goal like this can hang over you and simply remind you of what you aren’t doing! 

Instead try something like ‘Go for a Run on a Wednesday and a Sunday’. It’s so much easier to see if you are reaching that goal when it is specific.

Once you have your specific goals be sure to write them down. It's ideal to note down your goals somewhere you see often. Don't use any scrap of paper that can easily get lost, instead, or choose a dedicated goal setting planner to keep everything in one place. 

Alternatively, dedicate one of the notes pages in your diary to your goals - get creative with your layout or add a page marker as a constant reminder to review your goals and stay on track!

 

Start Small

The second challenge people often face when setting goals is to start too big! 

Think, for example, of a goal like ‘Write a Book’. This is another amazing challenge to set yourself but starting out faced with this goal will feel like setting out to climb a mountain. 

Feeling daunted can lead to procrastination. Your goal just feels too big and you don’t know where to start.

Try instead to break your goals down. How about setting the goal of writing 500 words a day? This is manageable so you are much more likely to do it. And 500 words a day quickly adds up to be something much larger. 

Slow and steady really does win the race!

 

Make Different Kinds of Goals

There are different kinds of goals in life. Some are long term goals, like buying a house, that require slow and steady progress. Others are short term like deciding to arrange a meet up with a friend once a month for coffee.

Goals can also be arranged into different categories to help you achieve that longed for balance in life. Perhaps try setting goals in each area of your life that is important to you – for example relationships, work, hobbies and your health. 

By actively setting goals in each of these areas you are recognising their importance and not allowing one side of your life to dominate to the detriment of all the others. 

Our personalised planner has a dedicated sections for long term goal setting, with prompts to help you stay on track. For short term goals, make use of the habit tracker section on the weekly planner to visually represent your progress. 

 

Track Your Goals

To keep your motivation high try tracking your goals. Our daily planner pad can help you to keep track of daily goals and to give yourself that satisfying tick when you’ve achieved them.

Tracking is one of the keys to success when it comes to creating new habits and achieving our goals. Logging our progress helps us to see how far we have come. It might also get you up and moving to achieve your goals on days when you really don’t feel like it. 

 

Start Today

With these tips you’ll soon be smashing those goals. But remember these are YOUR goals. Goals sometimes need to change with us. Don’t be afraid to come back to them and revise them when you need to. 

So be specific, start small, make different kinds of goals and get tracking – and those goals will soon be satisfying ticks in your planner!