I promised you an article on achieving goals. In this insight I will summarise some pointers to help you set goals and get results.

Without goals are do you plan to get there? Where’s your focus? What is your direction in life? A vision of where you want to go will help you focus your mind and actions. If you know what you want then you will find out here how to follow through and make things happen. 

“To the person who does not know where he wants to go there is no favorable wind.” — Seneca

Achievable outcomes or goals is a process which starts with a vision, steps or plan and a plan of action. It sounds complicated but it’s in fact really easy once you know how. 

There are many reasons why people fail to achieve their goals: Inner critic telling us to give up, others’ judgement telling us we won’t make it, procrastination, laziness, means, time, lack of energy, fear, anxiety, doubt, past experience which is proof that failure is inevitable, knowledge, skill, etc. The list is endless. An endless list of excuses which are definitely not unsurmountable. There are countless examples of people failing and a lot of them will have in common this: no vision, no plan, no steps to follow, no drive. 

“Goals are not only absolutely necessary to motivate us. They are essential to really keep us alive.” — Robert H. Schuller

If you are serious about setting and achieving your goals, you need to be committed, patient and follow some basic rules. 

“Setting goals is the first step in turning the invisible into the visible.” — Tony Robbins

“The thing about goals is that living without them is a lot more fun, in the short run. It seems to me, though, that the people who get things done, who lead, who grow and who make an impact… those people have goals.” — Seth Godin

While it’s good to have the end-result in mind, it’s also really rewarding to enjoy the journey to the end-result. Enjoy the process while keeping an eye on the result, the prize.

1. Commit to your vision and to yourself

If you want to achieve your goals, you need to first make a commitment to yourself. Look at the current state of your life and ask yourself, “What is the consequence of NOT achieving my goals?”

We’ve all heard of S.M.A.R.T objectives. It stands for Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, and Timely/Time frame.

SMART goals provide the structure and guidance to ensure that goals are clear and specific, that we know when we have achieved them, that we have a degree of confidence that we can actually achieve them and that we know by when they need to be achieved. 

An easy and effective way to set your goals and ensure they are achievable is to ask yourself as honestly as possible what it is you actually want and how does it fit with where you are now. Imagining your goal, visualising it might help this process. What does good look like? Is there anything that will need to happen, change, stop to reach your goal? What might be the impediments on your way there? Bringing potential obstacles to your awareness will help you be ready. This is by no means a way to find excuses to stop you from setting your goal and achieving it. We are not seeking the perfect opportunity to take action. That’s usually a sign of procrastination. 

Setting goals that are too small and don’t stretch us means we hardly ever  reach our full potential for an amazing life.  Setting goals that are too ambitious we risk overwhelm and discouragement. I have nothing against ambition by the way, but if your usual trend is to give up or be bored with your goals, then it’s a good idea to follow this simple rule. 

2 – Write it down!

There I something about writing down thoughts. It seems to empty the mind of clutter. It also helps to actually visualise what’s going on inside your head. Write down your goals and visualise what it would mean to achieve it.

Additionally, there is a sense of commitment to the goal when its down in actual words in front of you. It seems to promote action. Writing down your plan of action or steps is also a great idea to see progress as you tick each step that you have completed.

To the question “what do I want?” When setting your goal, it’s a good idea to write down the answer, your goal, in a clear, positive, and in the present tense to make your goal come alive. Don’t say what you don’t want, but state what you want. 

3- Chunk down your goals for focus and direction

A lot of my clients have set goals that are so big that they feel overwhelmed before they even start. It’s ok to aim big but it’s important to break down your goals into manageable chunks so that you can manage the process, focus your attention, still see your end goal or big picture, and gain confidence with each step taken. 

Celebrate the smallest of steps to boost your confidence in what you’re doing. Celebrate each milestone as an end result in itself. If you opt for more than one goals and decide to work on them at the same time, then focus on a few of them, step by step. I’d advise one big goal and a few modest ones at least at the beginning to avoid overwhelm. And if you’re only just starting one goal is plenty at that stage.  The more confidence you build following the process, the more goals you will be able to take on. 

If you can’t fly, then run. If you can’t run, then walk. If you can’t walk then crawl, but by all means, keep moving! Martin Luther King Jr. 

4- Believe in yourself

Easily said but crucial to achieving your goals. When setting your goals you will need to have a high degree of belief that you can achieve it. If you follow the steps shown in this article, your belief and confidence will rise. Let’s face it, there is no point in setting goals when you have zero belief that it will be attained. My advice here is for you to understand that we learn from our mistakes. I mention Mandela’s quote a lot in my articles because it’s so inspiring and encouraging: We never lose. Either we win or we learn. 

With every mistake you will grow stronger and less fearful if we embrace that imperfection is our friend. Avoidance will be a thing of the past. When faced with an obstacle remember to ask to yourself “How can I do, overcome, afford, manage, etc… this” instead of “I can’t do, overcome, afford, manage, etc… this”.

5 – Be in the present

This is something we hear more and more. Be in the present. If we think about it, now is the only thing we can change and hence have any control over. Stop worrying about the past if the past hasn’t served you the way you think it ought to have treated you. Every moment of now is a moment we can shape, decide upon, work on, take action and think about in a helpful manner. 

In some ways we tend to recreate early experiences in the present but if we build an awareness of it happening, we can direct our present better. As a master coach I help a lot of clients be free of their past so that their present is a canvas for their higher self or happier version of themselves to thrive. 

Be aware of any bad habits or routine behaviour and thoughts that have crept in your life, preventing you to go forward and unleash your potential. Learn new positive habits such as consistency in your approach where you learn to make progress each day. Even a small step is better than none. 

6- Accountability

The more accountability, the greater the results you will get because if you have to report to someone on how you are doing, you will have more drive to make things happen, you will get encouragement from your accountability ‘friend’ and you can brainstorm ideas if necessary. Your motivation will rocket if you select a willing person to whom you are accountable for the success of your goal. 

Select this important person carefully as he or she needs to be someone who will inspire you, challenge you if necessary, and will give you the strength and motivation to continue. 

The best place to start is by following the above 1o tips. Every successful person has one thing in common – they all set goals and work extremely hard to achieve them. 

If you want to be successful, you need to drop the excuses. Stop telling yourself that you don’t have time to achieve your goals. It’s time to make time for the things that are most important to you. 

Are you ready to crush your goals? There is no better time than today to start.

7 – Adapt: Make changes if need be

Along the way, during each step or between steps, stop to evaluate yourself and your progress. Be honest and kind with yourself and remain respectful of your efforts so far.  A retrospective of the past days or weeks is a checkpoint to see what went well, what could work better and what was awful, and adapt your actions in the next stages.

Sometimes the changes to make are small and easy or they might be more difficult. All of this is normal and we all go through this stage of evaluation. Our strength is in how we adapt.  Additionally, because we are working with small steps at the time and we do this retrospective at least after each step, the changes should really be manageable and require little effort. 

“If you can dream it, you can do it.” Walt Disney

Good luck and as always, any questions, comments, thoughts please let me know. 

Be successful!