HOW TO SET GOALS

Now, you know goals are important. You’re prepared to leap over those hurdles life throws in your path. You’re all excited, and you’re thinking of all the things you’d like to do with your life.

You’re ready to start setting goals, but you’re wondering how to do it. How do you set goals you can achieve in your life? The method for setting goals may vary a bit depending on the type of goal. It might be a short-term goal, such as a day or a week. It could be a long-term goal such as a month, year, or even five years from now. It may be a complicated goal that takes several smaller goals to reach. Here’s how you get started: - Setting Daily Goals—Daily goals may be things from that timetested “to do” list. When you first start setting goals, it’s good to 16 think of one major thing you want to do today. Sure, you’ll have several little things on that “to do” list, but these are just little tasks to complete. Goals are different. Think of one goal you want to do today that’s most important to you. If you reach that goal, it will feel like you’ve had a productive day.

It may be to finish a project at work. It may be to avoid chocolate. It might be to run two miles instead of one. Whatever it is, make it your important goal for the day, and achieving it will help you feel successful. I know...life can get in the way sometimes. If you’re busy, you’ll have ringing phones, or any number of other distractions throughout the day. Just keep your eye on the prize. If you try to set too many goals, you can’t possibly reach them in a day, and you’ll feel bad about yourself for not doing reaching them. You’ll feel like you’ve had an unsuccessful, non-productive day. Day-to-day tasks may seem boring and totally not motivating. That’s life.

 If, however, you do those little things around doing something you’re excited about, they won’t seem as bad. Focus on that one thing. Make everything you do help you work toward that goal. Be sure to write these goals down. They can be in a notebook or a daily calendar, but it will help you keep track of them. If you try it the paper and pencil way, and it doesn’t work for you, don’t worry. There is goal setting software that can help you. On these programs, you list your core values. Then based on these areas of your life, you create goals and tasks. When you write a goal, you have to list a task and a deadline. You can usually set up a few goals on these programs for free. If you want to do more, there’s a 17 small yearly fee. They even will send you a reminder to keep you focused. Many of them work with Google Calendar, and even have iPhone apps. These programs work well for those into technology. If you’re not, don’t worry. Just get a notebook or calendar and write them down though. It will make a big difference. - Setting Weekly Goals —Reaching weekly goals can take a little more discipline than daily ones. Ask yourself, “What do I want to achieve this week?” Your weekly goal may be just one for that week, or a step in a long-term goal. Keep these goals either on a weekly calendar you write, or an online calendar. Again, try to focus your tasks around that goal you’re excited about reaching. It is important that you review your weekly goals at the end of each week. Notice what you completed, but also notice what you didn’t. Think of why you didn’t.

 This will help you plan a new way to do it the next week and avoid doing the same things that kept you from reaching it this week. It will also help you identify weak areas in your goals setting/reaching abilities. When you reach your weekly goals, acknowledge it. Be proud of yourself. You’ll begin to feel more confident and successful by completing a few goals each week. You’ll probably begin to notice how much you’re accomplishing. No, you’re not working harder…you’re just working in a more focused manner. That’s what setting goals is all about. That’s the purpose of them. They’re there to give you a structure to your life that makes it 18 become a better one. - Setting Monthly Goals—Life can surely sometimes drive you crazy. You can get so busy you realize you haven’t taken any time for yourself. If you prepare monthly goals, you want to make sure you set aside time to not only reach the goals, but have a little time left over to enjoy your life.

 If you’re using a monthly written calendar, or a notebook, it’s important that you don’t neglect to check it each day to see your progress and keep up on what still needs to be done to reach the goals. If you don’t reach them, look back to see if maybe you tried to do too much. That’s often the case when you’re new to goal setting and excited about it. Setting and reaching monthly goals is easy if you stay organized. You don’t have to be a major organizer to keep things straight. You just have to have the desire and a few helpful tips. Here are several things to help you: - Get yourself an organizer calendar of some kind. All you really need is one of those small ones you can carry in your pocket, but if you’d like a larger one to carry in your brief case or purse, that’s fine too. For those of you who prefer the electronic way, you can use the calendar on your phone or pocket organizer of some type. Any and all of those methods work. Just find the one that’s best for you 19 - Having the calendar handy at all times will allow you to keep your work and personal schedule at a glance. If you have any days you want to dedicate to yourself, simply block them off by highlighting them before you do your monthly schedule. Work your other work and family goals around this time. This allows you to set your goals and the days you want to reach them on the other days during the month. If you like, you can use different color highlighters and highlight work, family, or social goals each differently.

The important thing is always having a way to see what your goals are and where you are in your steps to reaching them. - Set your goals for various things. Write them in the time you’ve allotted for each category. Don’t just stop with work and personal goals. You can also set financial goals. To do this, for example you might write: “Spend no more than $10/day for lunch this month at work.” Then each day, you can write down how much you spend. Meeting that goal will not only make you feel good about yourself, it will help you save money. That could be a small goal on the way to a bigger goal to buy a car, pay a down payment on a house, take a college class or any number of things you want to save for. You don't want to put every goal for each individual day's work. Just write down the important ones. Things you need to do every day, such as take a shower, for example, don’t need to be included. Write down one goal a day, or at least one or two goals a week, that are important to you and schedule time to work on 20 them. - Setting Yearly Goals—Annual goals can often be difficult to keep. After all, how many New Year’s resolutions have you actually stuck with until completion? While they can be difficult sometimes, they can also be a great roadmap for your year in both your professional and personal life. That’s why at the beginning of each new year, you need to set goals. They need to be both specific and realistic. Think of things you’ve dreamed about achieving. Now pick one of those to focus on for the year. It doesn’t matter if others think it’s crazy, it’s your dream.

 Once you have your list of your most desirable goals, and envision them happening, you’re ready to begin preparing your annual goals. You want to start by asking yourself which goals, specifically, will move you closer to having the things you dream about. Remember as you prepare your goals, they should be measurable as well. For example, if you want to save $1,000, you’ve put a dollar amount down, so it’s measurable. You can even measure it at any point during the year to see how much you’. It’s the same with weight loss. You can measure that. Maybe you want a promotion, but there are several things you need to do first. Each step along the way is a measurement. After you have specific, realistic, measurable goals, you want to make sure you set a date you want to reach that goal. It may only be one that you feel will take six months. If so, write down the date you want to complete it. You need to have that target goal so you 21 can push yourself toward it.

 Be sure not to write too many goals. If you do, it will be easy to lose focus. You probably don’t want to write down more than five. Once you’ve written the goals, you need a plan of action for each one. What steps do you have to take to reach them? If there’s something that will keep you from doing it write it down too. Then write a plan to overcome that obstacle. For example, if you want to lose 10 pounds, but you’re a “chocoholic,” not buying chocolate will solve that problem. Write the goals on a calendar, either online or off, and target dates. Now write on your calendar each step you need to take to reach the goal and target dates for those things as well. You have now set yearly goals. It’s as simple as that. You’ll need to prioritize them so you know which things to focus on first. Set your focus on those things. Keep your eye on the overall goals, but the little things that help you reach that are what you should focus on.