How to Set Goals

Learning how to set goals and following a goal setting plan helps keep you focused not only on what you want to accomplish, but how to accomplish it (realistically).

You've heard the saying "If you shoot for nothing, you'll hit it every time," right? The fact is, this saying is true. If you don't try to improve or grow, you will find yourself stagnating. This is why understanding the importance of goal setting can help you overcome your fear of failure and try again.

Many people shy away from setting goals because they've tried to make changes before but have felt defeated. This is why it's important to learn effective goal setting techniques that really work. Otherwise you may give up on trying to make changes in your life and will settle for habits and circumstances that are not good for you.

Evaluate Your Life
Before setting any goals, you need proper motivation to make changes. This can only happen through honest, thorough introspection. What areas of your life discourage you the most? Are you concerned for your health? Do you need to quit smoking, drink less alcohol, eat healthier or exercise more? Are you working at a less-than-optimal job? Do you need to find a better place of employment, a more challenging position or return to school to improve your skills? Are you happy with your personal habits? Do you wish you were neater, more organized, more disciplined or had more time to spend on pleasurable activities? Are you bored? Do you want to begin a new hobby, sport or hone a talent? By setting goals, you can improve your quality of life.

Set Realistic Goals
Now that you've identified what areas of your life need attention, it's time to engage in some realistic goal setting. It's important not to take on too much at once. List your goals in order of importance and choose one goal to work on at a time. Decide what constitutes a reasonable amount of change to expect and plan accordingly.

Set Long and Short Term Goals
Long term goal setting is essential for meeting larger goals, but short term goal setting is the practical baby step formula for achieving those bigger goals.

Look at your list of goals. You most likely wrote down a mixture of long term and short term goals. You may have listed "organize the house" and also listed "catch up on paperwork in office." Having an organized house is the long term goal, and catching up on the paperwork in the office is one of the many short term, baby step goals needed for achievement of the larger goal. You'll want to choose one of the long term goals and break it down into a series of short term goals which build upon one another.

Record Your Motivation
Now that you've got a plan involving both short term and long term goals, you'll want to write a list of reasons why you want to make this change. Detail for yourself why making this change is needed, how the change will improve your life and how you anticipate you will feel when you reach your goal. Return to this list when you need encouragement to persevere.