Maybe you’ve set goals before and didn’t quite reach them, or perhaps you’re unsure of where to even begin. Don’t worry – we’ve all been there. This post is here to help you cut through the confusion and set your sights on success. We’ll explore some essential do’s and don’ts that will provide you with the tools you need to set achievable, inspiring goals.
Don’ts Of Goal Setting
Setting Too Many Goals At Once
When you set too many goals at once, you set yourself up to get overwhelmed. It is important to set goals in many aspects of your life, however, you want to make sure you can focus on each one and make it achievable.
Don’t Talk About Setting Goals Too Much
The last thing you want to do is be the person who talks about setting goals but doesn’t take action. You’ll be known as the person who talks the talk, but doesn’t walk the walk. We actually covered this subject in our blog post called, “Why You Shouldn’t Tell The Goals you Set (Or Should You?)“.
Set Goals Without Doing The Proper Due Diligence
You don’t want to set the goal of making a living as a blogger, without knowledge of what it takes to make money as a blogger to begin with. A lot of people set goals without acquiring the knowledge, resources and tools necessary to make them achievable.
Don’t Wait For a Specific Time To Begin
The worst thing people do is set specific time frames for when they will start their goals. This could be “Monday”, “the beginning of the year”, or “after the holidays”. Not only is it wasting valuable time, but every new goal you set will follow this same pattern. One of the biggest things you could do to achieve success is get to work fast.
Set Goals Based On Fear
Another thing people do is set goals based on their fears. They let one little thing that scares them determine the direction of their lives, and this can be detrimental.
Let’s say your goal is to start a content creation business and your biggest fear is putting yourself on video. You then set all of your goals based on the idea that you don’t have to put yourself on video – and as a result, your business never gets off the ground, or you make significantly less than you could have. Fear of failure is actually one of the biggest reasons people don’t set goals in general.
Set Goals With The Intention Of Succeeding Fast
When you set goals with the intention of succeeding fast, you tend to rush the process. Success, in most cases, is a marathon (with the exception of luck). With today’s “I want it now” mentality, you need to take a step back and remind yourself that success takes time.
Set Vague Goals
Vague goals are your enemy. You want to break the goals down the best you can so you could take actionable steps. Learning how to set realistic goals is very important, but breaking them down is just as important. Vague goals are good when setting goals for the year, but not for the daily, weekly or monthly goals.
Do’s Of Goals Setting
Write Them Down
First things first, if you don’t write down your goals, it makes it so you have to store everything within your brain. Writing them down will help you organize your thoughts and keep track of your progress. Plus, when you write something down it can become more real and tangible in your mind.
Set Goals For Every Aspect Of Your Life Off
People get too caught up in setting goals for one specific area of life (usually monetary goals). However, doing this can lead to become imbalanced, and it will cause your progress stop to in other areas. You want to create goals in all areas of life including, career, fitness, relationship, spiritual, financial and more.
Be Consistent
Without consistency, you’ll never be successful. Consistency creates momentum, and momentum is what creates results. To be successful, you need to continuously take action on your goals. The people who are consistent no matter what, are the ones who win.
Believe In Yourself
When first starting out, it’s important to develop a belief in yourself. I know it may be hard to do that without any proof of being successful, but believing in yourself will allow you to take the action necessary, and it will also help you stay consistent. The consistency will allow you to build even more belief that you can be successful.
Review Your Goals
When you don’t review your goals, you won’t know if you’re still headed in the right direction. It’s like navigating through a dark tunnel without a flashlight. Taking the time to review your goals will help you stay on track and make sure that what you’re doing is actually getting you closer to where you want to be.
Set Performance Goals, Not Outcome Goals
A lot of people track the outcome, which causes them to give up too fast. For example, lets say you want to start making money blogging. You post two blog posts and monitor whether those blog posts are making money off the bat. This is setting you up for failure. What you want to do, is set a reasonable performance goal like posting 100 blog posts in 6 months. Once you hit that performance goal, then you take a look at how much you’ve earned.
You have to be okay with performing even when there is no immediate result. Performance goals will help you stay consistent and focused on what needs to be done in order to succeed.
Conclusion
Goal setting can be a powerful tool to guide your personal and professional growth, yet it’s a tool that requires careful and thoughtful use. Whether you’re a seasoned goal-setter or just starting on this journey, understanding the do’s and don’ts of goal setting is vital.
Avoid the pitfall of setting too many goals at once, making vague plans, or being driven by fear or impatience. Don’t be the person who talks about goals more than actually pursuing them, and don’t wait for the ‘perfect’ time to start.
Instead, take the proactive path. Write your goals down, diversify them across various areas of your life, and stay consistent. Believe in yourself and regularly review your progress. Prioritize performance goals over outcome goals, and understand that success is a journey that requires time, effort, and resilience. Embrace these principles, and you’ll be well-equipped to set and achieve your goals, and ultimately, to create the life you aspire to.