Goal Setting

Well! The definition is pretty simple – we know what we want to achieve, put a timeline to it and there is your goal setting. However, there is more to goal setting than its definition, a few questions which define how successful you are going to be at this.

The answer to this question lies in the answers to the WHY, WHAT and HOW!

In this post, we discover the nuances of setting goals, the purpose of our goals and how we go about achieving them.

1) WHAT IS GOAL SETTING?

We all have a definition of our lives, a few standards which we keep ourselves by. And we would love to live life on our standards and definitions and we call them aspirations or dreams. This article is going to identify optimal ways to set your goals optimally and set you up for success.

Goal setting becomes important because

- If the goal is set too high, then you are setting yourself for dejection and disappointment and it gets pretty hard to keep you focused and you will need spurts of motivation to keep you going

- If the goal is set too low, then it means that you are not challenging your true potential and you are setting yourself to a failure since you underestimate your capacity.

Either ways, you are setting yourself up for failure with this goal setting. So why not look at it with a new premise?

2) WHY THIS GOAL?

Before we get into the intricacies of how we achieve the goals and how we plan/prioritize them, we shall look at what these goals mean to us.

“Show me a why and I will tell you how! “

There is no question more powerful than WHY when it comes to setting your goals in life. It is the driving force for all our motivation, the purpose which defines our actions and how much the goal means to us.

There isn’t going to be much progress before we answer the WHY! The HOW is a far easier question than the WHY. So ask yourself this

- Why this goal?

- What does achieving this goal mean to you – not to the society, not to your parents nor the perks it brings. What does this mean to you?

- How would you feel when you achieve this goal?

- How important is this goal in your life?

So.. Why this goal?!

3) SHORT TERM GOALS AND LONG TERM GOALS.

Ok! You have the goals ready, you also know why you want to achieve it. Then comes the question of when, how do you pace and place these goals in your life. If you have any challenges with managing time – this walkthrough will be able to help you.

However, it is important that you know what your short term goals and long term goals are. With these long term goals as the end point, we can channel the short term goals to achieve your larger purpose.

The connection need not be accurate or perfect, but even a small connection is a valid connection. Anything and everything you do – gets you closer to the bigger goals you have defined for yourself. So try making that connection, it strengthens your reason of why you want to achieve these goals.

4) PRIORITY OF GOALS

Put a timeline on each one of these goals, segregate them into 3 patterns

- Most Important

- Moderate

- Low Profile

Given a chance we would like to achieve all of these goals together. But that is not what we are going at today. We are talking about setting goals in our lives so that we have the best chance to achieve them based on their importance, based on what they mean to us.

Knowing the priorities prepares you for tougher decisions and lets you understand how to plan your goal setting and define timelines to achieve them.

5) A GOAL IS NOTHING WITHOUT A DEADLINE

Knowing what to do is the first step and knowing why is a great step. But none of them are ever going to mean anything unless you set up an action plan for your goals.

Your sole purpose with this post is about setting goals and achieving them – they both complement each other. For that to happen, you must set yourself for a win. So, set up deadlines, be optimistic and create a lag time. There is nothing called a perfect plan.

There will be some mistakes – allocate time to those. But remember it is ok to finish before time or on time. But never ok to finish things late. So, factor in that lead time to plan yourself.

6) ALL THE RESOURCES YOU HAVE

What are the resources you have to achieve this goal. We want you to write down all the resources you have including people and friends and whoever who can be of help to you.

Some examples of resources for setting goals are time, people, accessibility to the computer and internet, supervisors – anything and everything you can relate to the topic. It can be something extremely remote too.

But you need to make a list of every possible resource you have to help you achieve this goal.

Once you have a list of all the resources, categorize them into 3 divisions

- Direct Resources

These are the straightforward resources like your guides/teachers, study material on the project, seniors or learned graduates. These are the ones who are capable of helping you and their help can set you strides ahead with the project.

- Indirect Resources

These can be contacts, a third person contact – someone who may not directly influence the project but can make a lot of impact in the way you think. This can be a person who brain storms with you, fights intellectual wars and makes you think out of the box.

- Doubtful Resources

There always is a maybe pile in most things we do. So.. Count in the doubtful ones too. There are immense amount of possibilities out there and these doubtful resources have their own way of surprising you – but they are going to!

Nevertheless – list all the resources you have got! Makes you more aware of how strong you are and how much you can achieve. Setting goals is all about being clever and consistently bringing out your best.

7) START WORKING

No matter what all we say about setting goals, give you a perfect plan which sounds like the best answer to the question – How to set goals and achieve them; none of it is important unless you act upon it.

Define a plan as to how much time you can dedicate and what you intend to achieve in this timeline. Set it up per day and quantify these goals. There should be a clear metric to say how much you have achieved on these goals each day, what is the progress you have made per day and letting you know how close you are to your final goal.

The process of chunking or splitting a large project into mini ones is employed in most of the successful industries since it helps to keep you on track and keep your approach structured.

Start making your everyday plan based on your original goal setting worksheet.

8) GOAL SETTING WORKSHEET

Having said this all, it is not fair from our end if we don’t offer a goal setting worksheet. Based on the pointers above, we have designed the worksheet below which will help you design your life goals – whether they are personal, professional or maybe even relationships too – if you can design a plan for them.

It is just a small step into the world of your goals and aspirations, but it sure can go a long way in helping you succeed.

Here you are with the goal setting worksheet.