Goal Setting? How does it help? Setting goals and aims is crucial for success. From top-level merchants or investors to subsistence farmers in rural areas across the globe, every individual relies on goal-setting to succeed. Whether you aim to improve yourself, reach some success financially, or be more fit, goal setting is pivotal in achieving such landmarks.
But before we explore the ocean of how to set goals for yourself and achieve them, let’s dive more into what goal setting actually is.
What do you mean by goal setting?
Concisely speaking, goal setting is referred to as the position you want to achieve in life at a particular stage. Or a target or objective you want to accomplish at a particular time. This can be like getting good grades as a student or establishing a million-dollar business to very specific personal goals you want to achieve.
But, out of these theoretical explanations, a more decent approach towards “goal setting” comes from Mark Manson, who believes, and I reassure you, that it’s not only about the target you set to achieve. It’s about your willingness as a goal-setter if you dare to embark on the journey of the goal.
Every student wants the top grades, but only a few get them. Why is it so? It’s because the students completed the journey of getting there.
Every entrepreneur wants an annual turnover of millions, but why only a few are successful? It can be about luck but more about how those entrepreneurs were willing to give everything to reach that success parameter.
If you want to achieve something, you should be ready to embrace the journey of reaching there. You cannot expect to set goals and wait for success to happen. You have to make that success happen. The aims you set would only show you the way. You have to walk on it.
Why should you set goals?
Setting a personal goal or a professional one may sound motivating, but why should you? What benefit does it bring? Well, setting personal goals or setting work-related aims can bring numerous benefits.
Firstly, it provides a lot of clarity over the things and aspirations you want to achieve. As a writer, you may aim to start a blog, or as an athlete, you may want to win a tournament. Goal setting provides you with a clear vision of what you should strive for and what actually you want to accomplish.
Secondly, setting goals gives you that adrenaline rush to embark on the journey of fulfilling your dreams. Dreaming about driving your dream car, for example, would ultimately give you a motivation kick to work for it. This way, you’re more likely to achieve your set goals.
Thirdly, a set target provides a clear focus. Setting a goal would give you a sense of direction and would help you not get distracted. This allows you to analyze the journey you’d have to take to reach there and would keep you in check towards the set aim.
The process of setting achievable goals
- You should be able to define clear objectives that you aim to achieve. If you, for example, aim to be a successful blogger, you need to dot down the objectives and targets you want to achieve on the way to becoming a success story in blogging. This would provide you with a roadmap and would give you an insight into the journey you’re about to start.
- You should prioritize goals in order of their importance. You may have multiple goals in your mind, and you cannot simultaneously achieve all of them. You need to think and analyze what targets are most pivotal to accomplish. Once you analyze that, you need to divert your focus and efforts toward that one goal to achieve it. You’d have to withdraw attention from the other goals you wish to achieve momentarily. Here, you need to realize that after setting your goals, you have to select your goals consciously to be able to achieve them.
- SMART goal setting helps you achieve your goals. Since your goals are specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound. This technique makes your goals much more practical and doable instead of just thinking of ways of achieving them. For example, you may aim to “meditate in the morning around 8 AM before breakfast for 10 minutes in your room, to enhance focus, for at least a week”
- Pairing your goals with one another allows you to set visual cues for achieving them. James Clear, a renowned author of the book Atomic Habits, comes up with this idea. This reminds you of the tasks you aim to do once you reach out to a specific one. For example, you may keep a book by your side by your bed so that you end up reading it once you see it. This serves as a reminder and allows us to consistently work for our goals.
The Ultimate Mantra of achieving targets
I’ve been using this technique in areas of goal setting to accomplish short-term tasks that I’m procrastinating on. And it makes them highly achievable and accomplishable. I call it the “Money Method.” Whenever you have to achieve a goal but are not sure if you’ll work on it. Simply build accountability with someone you’re close with. This can be your friend, parent, spouse, sibling, etc. Tell them that you’ll give them a specific amount of money if you fail to achieve your goal by the end of the day or whatever task you want to get done. The higher the amount of money you decide among each other, the more likely you are to get things done, not just getting it done, but completing it within your desired period, because no one likes to lose money!
In conclusion, whether you set a personal goal or a professional goal, you need to embrace the journey you’d have to take to ultimately reach there. You can apply these techniques next time you set a goal and see the magic of how achievable those goals seem.