So many of us enjoy talking and dreaming about our goals, but achieving them is another issue. It’s exciting to think about the possibilities of what can happen when we accomplish new goals, but unfortunately, lots of us give up or don’t even get started. So in this article, I’m sharing 5 ways to achieve your goals: examples included. Remember that although achieving your goals is rarely easy, it’s totally worth it!
How to achieve your goals: 5 Key ways
These 5 ways to achieve your goals can apply to any part of life, including health, career, financial, and personal aspects. And in addition to strategies for financial goals and goal-setting , I’m also going to share some techniques for changing behavior or habits to help you make progress with your goals! Let’s get into it!
1. Set the right goals
The first of the 5 ways to achieve your goals is to focus on proper goal-setting. Too many of us set unreasonable goals, or we don’t have a plan for reaching them. Setting SMART goals is a top strategy for setting goals you can actually accomplish.
Use the SMART Goal method
In 1981, an article in Management Review coined the term S.M.A.R.T. goals. You’ve probably heard of them, and there have been a few variations of what the acronym should stand for. The guidelines are that your goals should be specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-bound.
Here is how to use the SMART goal method to take action to reach your goals:
Make your goals specific
First of all, it helps to set very specific goals. Rather than something vague like “I want to start living a healthy lifestyle,” you need specific goals regarding what aspect of health you’re focusing on.
For example, say what healthy action you’ll take each day, such as riding your bike to work or drinking a certain amount of water.
Make your goals measurable
The “M” in SMART stands for measurable. (Other versions might use “meaningful” or “motivating,” but I prefer “measurable” because that’s been one of the keys for me in reaching my most audacious goals.
If your goals aren’t measurable, how will you know if you’ve achieved them? You could continue reaching for something more, forgetting to celebrate yourself and your accomplishments.
One of happiness guru Gretchen Rubin’s “Secrets of adulthood” is “You manage what you measure.” She also calls this the strategy of monitoring. I’ve found this to be quite accurate—if I decide my goal is to write 1,000 words a day, it’s easy to know when I’ve reached that goal.
A measurable goal comes with clear numbers. Phrases like how much, how many, or how often may be applicable.
Make your goals attainable
Next, when designing your goals, it’s important to keep them attainable. That just means it’s within reach! Remember to be realistic about where you are in life.
The key is to pick goals that challenge you but not so much as to be impossible. You can always set gradually more advanced goals, such as yearly goals, as you progress.
However, if you focus too much on a goal that feels light-years away, you might give up before you even get started.
My advice would be that it’s great to dream big, but when it comes to setting your goals that you can actively work towards now, try not to shoot too far.
In other words, if you’re a new college graduate, it’s great to dream of being a CEO or starting a business from scratch one day.
But it could take a few years, so you might start smaller, perhaps aiming to get your first promotion within one year.
Professional development goals, health goals, interpersonal goals, and other types can all benefit from focusing on what’s attainable. This isn’t to discourage you from aiming high but to ensure you’re close enough to your current goals to stay motivated.
Make your goals relevant
A fourth step in setting the right goals is to be sure your goals are relevant. They need to speak to you and be important to you.
It can be too easy, especially for women, to compare ourselves to others and center our goals around others’ needs and wants.
If you don’t have a strong desire to accomplish something, there will come a day when you decide it’s not worth the effort. Giving up is too easy as it is—don’t make it harder by picking things you don’t care about.
For example, when setting financial goals, you have to dig deep and figure out what you truly want. Of course, getting out of debt is good for everyone. But what’s your “why?” What would becoming debt-free do for other parts of your life?
The same goes for achieving early retirement. Retiring at 40 isn’t necessarily the goal for everyone.
If you pursue early retirement, you need strong motivation. Make that goal relevant by figuring out what you’ll do when you’re retired.
Will you volunteer at a homeless shelter? Travel the globe? Write a book? Clarify your goals to fit your personality.
Make your goals time-bound
A final step in the SMART goals framework is to give a time limit on your goals. Doing this simply offers healthy boundaries so you know how much effort you need to put in and for how long. Getting 30 minutes of cardiovascular activity every day for 30 days may be one example.
Setting goals on different timelines is useful when making time-bound goals. By setting mid-term goals, for example, you can tackle different levels of accomplishment than with short-term or long-term goals.
It also goes hand in hand with the “attainable” part of SMART goals. Setting goals with different timelines can help you hone in on what’s attainable in certain periods of time. Another way to look at this is by setting benchmarks—smaller steps along the road to your ultimate goal.
Don’t set too many goals
When utilizing these 5 ways to achieve your goals, remember to limit the number of goals you have! Along with using SMART as a guideline to help you set goals, you’ll improve your chances of success by limiting the number of goals you set.
Have you ever written a to-do list as long as your arm? That kind of pressure can be overwhelming, so it’s good not to set too many goals at once.
If you aim to lose 30 pounds, buy a house to rent out, plan your cousin’s wedding, and write and publish a book all in the same three-month period, guess what? You probably won’t get it all done.
Of course, we all fill many different roles every day. But if you want to know what’s slowing you down, one possibility is overzealous goal setting. You get frustrated and can’t focus enough to accomplish those goals.
Like Dave Ramsey’s Baby Steps can break down financial goals, you can increase your odds of success by focusing on one or two big goals at a time.
Limiting how many objectives you focus on at a time can make it easier for you.
Focus on process goals instead of product goals
You can set the right goals by focusing more on “process” than “product.”
In other words, many of us might say, “I want to raise kids who become honest, hard-working adults.” That’s great—but it’s a product.
Could you break that down into “process” mini goals? Perhaps focus on their age now and the daily steps you could take to help them become the amazing adults you know they can be one day.
Process goals emphasize what you’re in control of right now. You can control your actions, but you can’t always control how your circumstances go. (For example, Don’t say you’ll lose 20 pounds. Instead, you can decide how much to exercise or set dietary preferences.)
2. Keep track of your progress
Recording and tracking the progress we make toward our goals helps us get closer to achieving them. Often, we do better with things we write down, which is why it’s one of the top 5 ideas for achieving goals!
Write down your goals
Whether you write them in your private journal or on a sticky note you place above your desk, the act of writing down goals is useful. Writing them forces you to clarify your goals, and you can revisit them regularly to see how you’re doing.
When writing these goals, be sure to write them out in full. If possible, include all of the aspects of SMART goals.
State goals publicly
Many of us benefit from sharing our goals in public. It gives you some outer accountability. Even if the people you share it with won’t care, the very act of stating the goal to someone else can make it more real to you.
You could tell a group of friends about your fitness goals or discuss your financial goals with a family member.
Find an accountability partner
You might move closer to goals with an accountability partner. Maybe you pick one friend, and you text her every day to tell her your step count for the day. (Make sure she knows what your goal is!)
Share your goals on social media to achieve them more easily
Another strategy for achieving goals is to post them on your social media. You know you’ll get responses from friends or followers that might be encouraging. You don’t have to talk daily about these goals on Instagram, but posting your progress weekly or monthly could be helpful.
Monitor your progress
Monitoring your progress is essential when you’re setting goals. After all, if you don’t track what you’ve done, how will you know when you’ve achieved your goal?
This step is what we discussed earlier in the “measurable” part of SMART goal-setting.
Choose a method to monitor your progress and keep track of your efforts and the benchmarks as you pass them.
Monitoring your progress is important, whether saving for a family vacation, tracking spending through a budget, or keeping a list of all the money mindset books you read each year.
3. Stay focused on the goals you’ve set
Staying focused is next on our list of 5 ways to achieve your goals. A singular focus is important for any important goal or dream. Don’t let distractions or discouragement drive you away from achieving what you want to do.
Keep learning through educational resources
Books, podcasts, newsletters, and other resources can help you stay focused. Anything that helps you learn more could propel you to persevere and achieve your goals.
If you really want to learn a musical instrument, you need to take lessons, practice, and think about that instrument—a lot. That education can help you maintain focus.
Make visual reminders as a way to achieve your goals
Having a goal means having a vision, right? You need to envision a different life, whether in terms of family, career, health, or something else. You might even want to try out vision board ideas.
Put visual reminders of your most important goals everywhere. You can stay motivated and focused when you see notes, artwork, or photographs that remind you of your goals.
Ask for help
Sometimes, we need others to remind us what we’re working for. Talk to your spouse about picking up extra slack with the kids, or ask a friend to remind you of your career goals when you get discouraged.
For me, the goal of writing and publishing a novel meant I needed to find a critique group. Now, I trust the three fellow writers in my group to give me the feedback and encouragement I need.
Talk to business mentors
When working towards a big career goal, a professional mentor can have a great impact. Talk to your business mentors when you start to veer off course. Ask them what strategies helped them reach the goals you’re hoping to achieve.
4. Create an environment for success
Environment plays a huge role in our success in building habits and achieving goals. Build your environment for success!
Make it easier to do tasks you want to do
James Clear, the author of the best-seller Atomic Habits, writes a lot about making your environment support your habits. Make it easier to change habits—there’s no prize for struggling. An example he gives is if you want to practice a musical instrument, place it in the middle of the living room.
For example, to save more money, automate your finances. Automation is awesome. It takes the decision out of your hands, so you only make that saving decision once, and it remains your daily routine until you cancel it.
Both of these examples make it easier for you to do something positive for yourself.
Make it harder to do things you want to avoid
The reverse is true: you can improve habits by making bad habits harder. Make them inconvenient or difficult, and you won’t do them as much. It can help you stay on the path to achieving your goals.
For instance, to save money, you can switch to an all-cash envelope system for a few months, and leave your credit cards at home. Not having credit cards with you makes spending inconvenient.
5. Plan for obstacles and failure
That’s right, I said you should plan for failure! We’re human, so we should expect some level of failure or major obstacles along the way. Here is how to use failure as a step to success so you won’t give up on yourself.
Decide how you’ll deal with setbacks
It’s almost guaranteed that your journey won’t be smooth sailing all the way.
Whether you’re hoping to achieve millionaire status, launch a business, find the best way to get out of debt, or any other goal, planning ahead for setbacks can help you succeed.
You can decide in advance what your response will be in certain situations.
For instance, if your goal is to make $500 fast and save it in a month, but you come up $200 short, don’t throw in the towel. Look at your budget and your earnings and make a game plan for how to save more next month. (Or, adjust the goal if necessary—there’s zero shame in that.)
What you don’t want to do is quit on yourself after your first setback. Mistakes and failures are part of life.
Learn from failure
It is one of the hardest things to learn and one of the most valuable: failure is a great teacher. We all need to learn how to fail and deal with potential obstacles.
Failure is actually an important part of how you can become great. Thomas Edison famously said of his numerous attempts at inventions, “I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.”
By reframing the way you think about failure, you can start to see it as a tool you need to succeed. It’s a great way to achieve your goals, no matter how difficult they seem.
Expert tip: Don’t get discouraged
Goal-setting can be just as overwhelming as it is fun but you can break down your goals to be manageable. This means that whatever your goals are, you need to take the right path and one that works for you, to reach them. Get your life organized and focused so that you know the tasks to do to make step-by-step progress.
Remember that the most worthwhile goals will likely include some frustration, but that doesn’t mean the end! You have to push through setbacks and trust the process, and you can achieve more than you think.
Examples of ways to achieve your goals
As you consider some of the ways to implement your goals, take a look at these examples of 5 ways to achieve your goals from different areas of life.
Lift weights three times a week for six months
Here’s an example of a fitness goal. It’s clear, measurable, and even time-bound. It focuses on your actions rather than an outcome you can’t control.
Eat 9 fruit and vegetable servings daily
Another specific and measurable goal would be to eat nine fruits and vegetable servings every day. You can get more nitty-gritty if you like, but that’s a good general guideline to aim for if you don’t have enough produce in your diet.
Send pitches to one potential client each weekday
If you’re building a business and need to find new clients, here’s a great goal for you. Decide to send a pitch to one new potential client every weekday (for a month or even indefinitely). It gets you in a habit that pushes you to grow your side hustle or full-time business.
Save $10,000 in one year
A financial goal like this one can help you reach other financial goals, like being able to buy a newer car. Figuring out how to save $10,000 in a year is something measurable and time-bound. Make it easier with an accountability buddy to stop you from making an impulse purchase when necessary.
Take your kids to the park twice a week
Let’s shift gears to look at a family-oriented goal. If you have kids, might set the goal of taking your kids to a local playground twice a week. Again, it’s specific and reasonable (but if that’s not a reasonable goal, pick something that works for you).
Work on your new side business for three hours weekly
If you’ve dreamed of starting your own business but can’t find the time, determine if there are a few hours when you could work on it. Don’t expect to make five figures immediately, but you can make real progress even with just three hours a week dedicated to your business.
Read for 20 minutes a day
Here’s another goal that you might set to help you learn or relax. Making your goal attainable (20 minutes isn’t a huge amount of time) helps strengthen your commitment. Plus, you aren’t saying how many pages or books you’ll read because that can lead to frustration if you choose a difficult book.
Spend a summer in Europe in five years
Maybe you’re like me and dream of spending long periods of time in Europe. I might put photos of the country I want to live in all over my home, computer, car, and phone. Making a vision board is a fun way to stay motivated as well.
Pay off all credit card debt within two years
Many of us struggle with paying off credit card debt. Looking at what you owe and choosing a reasonable time period for paying it off can help you reach that milestone.
Practice morning affirmations
Perhaps you’re dealing with a lack of self-confidence, and you’d like to improve that. A great way to improve self-talk is to try morning affirmations that remind you to believe in your abilities.
What is stopping you from achieving your goals?
To determine what’s stopping you, start by thinking about the challenges you face every day. You might have trouble because of the following:
Millions of articles and thousands of self help books exist that can teach you the best ways to find success. You’ve likely heard a few of them, but if you’re serious about making progress for real, then try setting SMART goals and staying focused.
What is the first step towards achieving a goal?
Before you can achieve a goal, you need to identify your goal.
Personally, I know I won’t be able to figure out any of the next steps without first knowing what I want to achieve. And that opportunity to work towards a goal needs strong motivation.
Thinking carefully about what you want to accomplish will help you determine the best ways. You don’t just miraculously save a huge down payment for a house without preparation. You need to identify that goal and then take steps to reach it.
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Leverage these tips and examples of how to achieve your goals!
The great thing about goals is that they can always keep evolving as you do. After all, we never really stop learning, so why wouldn’t our goals change along the way? Implement just a few ways to achieve your goals, and you’ll be unstoppable.
So, what are you waiting for? Take charge of what you really want, set yourself up for success, and start progressing toward your goals today!