Setting goals and achieving them is easier said than done.
People often set goals without knowing.
For instance, a couple wants to buy a house, so they work towards saving enough until they can buy one.
Or a student wants to ace a test, so they study until they get a great grade.
These goals were not set intentionally and with deeper thought.
If you truly want to succeed at something more complex and demanding, goals are necessary.
Here are some tips on setting goals and reaching them:
1. Break it Up into Milestones
Goals for complex operations – starting and having a successful business, for instance – are often huge.
It’s intimidating. And that’s why most people quit before they even start.
They believe that they cannot do it. And that’s often the end of their efforts.
To actually achieve the goals you set, you’ll need two things:
- A positive attitude
- Milestones
“When it comes to a positive attitude, it’s important to remain realistic – believe that you can do it but understand that it’s going to be hard and demanding. Don’t be a pessimist from the get-go, but rather stick with a realistic optimism,” says Carl White, a project manager.
Next, the milestones.
Huge goals require a lot of work and risk, which seems scary.
However, if you break it up into small milestones and focus on each one while keeping the big picture in mind, you’ll have an easier time succeeding.
For instance, you want a successful business. Start off by setting the first milestone: register it and handle all the legal and financial actions in order to set it up.
You can even break this up into small, separate tasks.
Then, move on to developing an online presence. Break this up as well.
Continue to do this with all of your tasks until you reach your desired aim.
2. Be Realistic
Once you start setting your goals, it’s important to remain realistic. People have a tendency to go overboard with their goals.
In our previous example, it would be to reach global fame.
It may be attainable at some point. But when you are just a person with no experience yet, it’s a bit far-fetched.
Opt for goals that you are sure you can achieve.
For instance, if you want to start a hair salon, your realistic goal would be to be the most visited hair salon in your area or to have 50 loyal customers.
Once you achieve the smaller goals on your list, you can move on to the bigger ones and they become more realistic as time goes on.
3. Give Yourself Enough Time
Another huge mistake people make is believing that you don’t need that much time.
For example, if you want to start a blog and you expect that it will have 1000 followers in a month.
“While this goal is probably attainable within six to nine months, you’ll probably get disappointed if you don’t reach it in your desired time frame, and you’ll likely give up. However, if you expect that it will take longer, you will persevere and succeed,” – says Ruby Jenkins, a content writer at Origin Writings.
4. Set Measurable, Specific Goals
You cannot set goals without being specific.
If you say that your goal is to be the most popular company in your niche in your city, that goal is probably attainable – but it’s not specific or measurable.
However, if you say that your goal is to be the top-ranking business in your niche when it comes to local search rankings within nine months, then you can measure your success against your goal and see how successful you were.
5. Stay Focused
To succeed in achieving your goals, you need to remain focused.
Don’t set any other goals, and don’t work on anything else until you get where you want to be with your first goal.
Over to You
Setting and achieving goals is a difficult process.
What matters most is that you are passionate about it. Remain focused and keep working.
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