Top 10 tips for setting goals
As we come to the end of the year, many of us start thinking about our New Year’s Resolutions. In fact, with the final days of the year in sight, it’s common to take our foot off the gas, give up on the goals we had and assume nothing more can be done until January 1st. “Next year will be the year that I achieve.”
Those resolutions always begin with plenty of vigor and enthusiasm but quickly we fall back into our same habits, another year is lost and we are met with the guilt of having failed yet again.
So this year, I urge you to get off of the hamster wheel. Let’s start making real goals with real plans and watch them become reality.
First let’s distinguish between the two:
1. Resolution: A FIRM decision to do or not to do something.
2. Goal: the object of a person’s ambition or effort; an aim or desired result. These involve intentional planning, preparation, direction, and commitment.
As you can see the biggest difference between the two is that resolutions imply that set-backs and mistakes are not allowed. It’s all or nothing. Goals however, leave room for growth, error and opportunity to recalibrate; therefore there is no need to give up at the end of the year, the end of the month, the end of the week. Make the mistake, put it in the past and be committed to doing better next time.
So, now that we know we need to set goals and not resolutions, here are my top 10 tips:
1. Start by finding a window of time where you will be completely uninterrupted. Take a seat and a few deep breaths. Allow yourself to feel relaxed and uninhibited. Forget what has worked and not worked for you in the past and get to a mental state of believing that anything is possible. Remember if something has already been accomplished by someone else, then that is all the proof that you need that you too are capable of achieving your goals.
2. Take out a notepad and a pen; and no your voice recorder on your phone is not good enough. There is something about physically writing down your goals that impacts whether or not you will stick to them. Essentially by thinking it and then writing it down, you’ve now put this goal into your subconscious twice; the world has a funny way of bringing to you what you focus on.
3. Write down 100 things you would like to accomplish before you die. Yes this may seem like a lot, but keep in mind not every goal has to be exorbitant. Some can be small goals that can be achieved in week one. For example, “I will workout 5 times this week.” Other goals can be longer term and growing on the original goal, such as “I will work out 20 times this month.” As you can see the second goal can’t be achieved without completing the first goal. By making and achieving the less grand goals, you now have the proof that you are capable of achieving, regardless of how small, and you can now build off of your successes. I also find the concept that I could possibly achieve 100 new things super exciting so have fun with it.
4. Make sure to include in your list at least 1 or 2 goals that STRETCH yourself. I refer to these as “Big Hairy Audacious Goals” and they are goals that represent sizable changes to your life. The point here is to not think that any goal is too big. Use your past self as a child as an example. Perhaps when you were 8 you wanted to grow up to be a baseball player; you would spend countless hours tossing the ball against the garage door and catching it or perhaps you spent weekends and evenings at the batting cage; regardless, the goal was ever real and every present in your mind. The only difference between those who actually make it as professional baseball players and the rest of us, is that they never stopped believing it was possible and they continued in pursuit of their dream. So whatever it is….write it down!
5. When writing your goals down, be sure to make them detailed. I like to use the acronym SMART when assessing how effective my goals are.
S — Specific: For example, if your goal is to one day have enough money to afford your dream home, write down what that dream home looks like. Include the architecture, the landscaping, the interior décor. The more specific and vivid the goal, the better. Also make sure that when your visualizing what you want to accomplish you think of it as having already happened. Picture how you feel now that you are walking through your dream home. Feel the joy that comes from looking at your year end pay cheque and you’ve accomplished your target.
M — Measurable: Try to make it so your goal has criteria for measuring progress. If we use the dream home example again, do your research on how much that house will cost, what do you need for all of your closing costs (down payment, legal fees, land transfer taxes, inspection etc.), and how much will it cost to furnish the house. This will ultimately determine how much you will have to save over the next 10 years for example in order to come up with funds and try to break that down into a yearly goal. Again, we are taking massive goals and breaking them down into bitesize, attainable goals.
A — Achievable: Goals should be attainable and not impossible to achieve. Contrary to what I mentioned above, it just so happens that some goals are near if not impossible to achieve. This does not mean set your goals lower; what this means is take the time to become super self-aware — know your strengths and understand your weaknesses. Ask yourself is the weakness something you are capable of overcoming, is it something you want to overcome? If not, let it go, move on and double down on what your truly good at.
R — Realistic: This means within reach, realistic and relevant to your life purpose. Sure many of us can write a goal down on paper that we all want to be married, with 2.3 children, living in a large house with a 2 car garage. That’s not a bad goal to have. But is it YOUR goals? Be realistic with yourself and ask yourself the hard question “What is it that I really want in order to be happy”; you may be surprised by the answers that come.
T — Timely: Have a clearly defined timeline on when this goal is to be achieved. Try to have a number of goals that will take you a few months, some that you suspect will take a year and others that may take decades. Then have patience.
“Many people overestimate what they can do in a year, and underestimate what they can do in five years” ~ Bill Gates
6. Review the list. Do all of the goals excite you? Do some of these goals make you uncomfortable? Good. The list should make you feel both and if they don’t, you are not setting your goals high enough or they are not aligned with your true ambitions. So be sure to go back and edit accordingly.
7. Tell your goals to someone else to make you feel accountable. Just recently I told Social Media that my goal was to workout 20 times in the next 25 days; after 8 or so days I know that had I just told that goal to myself I would have definitely quit BUT, I now was held accountable and being a disappointment to others was all I needed to get up and make it to the gym.
8. Be Committed. Writing your goals down does not automatically mean you will accomplish them. You MUST be committed to achieving them every single day. Some people find it helpful to read their goals multiple times a day as a reminder of what all of the work and sacrifice is for. Others like to write their top goals on a paper and put it in their wallet, so they are constantly reminded. Some find it helpful to post a picture or illustration of thing they are trying to obtain on their mirror so that they are prompted every single day. I personally review my goals in my head in the shower every morning; I run through the list multiple times. Whatever it is, find your hack.
9. Be Consistent. Go into the process of obtaining your goals with the understanding that there will be days that you did not move the needle in the right direction. If your BIG HAIR AUDACIOUS GOAL was to be healthier and that was then broken down into smaller goals such as working out 150 times a year and then you further broke down that goal down into working out 3 times a week then don’t beat yourself up if you got sick and missed a workout. Remember that not working out one time will have ZERO impact on your ability to reach your TRUE milestones, ie. being healthier. that is as long as you get up tomorrow and get back on track. Consistency is way more important than perfection.
Tony Robbins said it best “ don’t get caught up in the trap of making a living rather than designing a life”.
10. Be sure to review your list throughout the year. Can you cross off any of the items? If you can, great, but be sure to replace them with new goals. This is how you are going to make progress over time.
Now stop reading and get to it!
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