Learning. Life.

5 steps to awesome goals

Posted on 28 January 2008

Want to get things done this year but don’t know where to start? The best place is to figure out your goals, so that you know what you’re working towards. Here’s how to set awesome goals for this week, month, or year.

1. Brainstorm. Think about what you’d like to do this week, month, year or decade, and just write down everything that occurs to you. Don’t judge it at the moment – just get it down.

Note: Goals can be actions, as well as results. “Exercise 3 days a week” is much more achievable than “run a marathon”, although the end result might be the same.

2. Pan for Gold. Sift through the things you came up with, getting rid of the rubbish and setting aside the good stuff, until you’re only left with the goals that you’d really like to do. Make sure the goals you keep are achievable – if not, maybe downsize them a bit and work up.

3. Prioritise. Sort out which goals are most important to you, and work on those first. In fact, sort out which goal is the most important to you, and work on that first. Not sure which is most important? This post may help.

4. Define. You want to get healthy? Great – but what does that mean? Eat better? Exercise more? Have more energy? Get that funny-looking sore checked out? Yes, Yes, Yes, you say. Well – maybe not that last one. Break down your goal to figure out exactly what it means. If it has several sub-goals, like this one, go back to step 3 and choose the one to do first. Make it measureable, so you know when you’ve achieved it – “walk for 30 minutes 4 times a week”, not “exercise more”.

5. Write a plan. When you’ve got your one goal (that’s one goal, right?) create a plan to acheive it. Like your goal, your plan must be very specific. Maybe you’re going to walk from 4:30 – 5pm on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Include in your plan how you’re going to make that happen – does that mean you need to start work earlier and have shoes in the car? Do you have to get up earlier? If so, what time? Where are you going to walk? What will you do if you don’t make it one day? If it’s raining? The better the plan, the easier it is to do, and the more likely you are to succeed.

Remember: doing new things takes time and energy, and you’re probably busy enough as it is. Work on carving time out of your schedule, and building habits which help you meet your goals. I’ll talk more about these things in future posts. Have a great week!