Many of us want to be the best versions of ourselves, and in doing so, we try to work on our self-development by setting various goals and smashing them. For some individuals, setting goals can be a herculean task. But is goal-setting important? Yes, because it will help to lead you towards achieving your full potential.
Many factors are involved in personal development, and goal setting plays a major role. Hence, this article entails tips that can help you set goals, achieve them, and hasten your self-development process seamlessly.
As the saying goes, “Before scrambling the ladder of success, ensure it is leaning on the right wall.” So, before setting goals, you need to decide where you want to go and what you want to achieve. Knowing this can ignite the passion in your life and put you on the right path that assures success.
“Before scrambling the ladder of success, ensure it is leaning on the right wall.”
Take a look at specific areas of your life that need improvement. First, analyze and rate them. Ask questions like, “how satisfied am I with my health, finances, relationships, personality, and competency?”
Say for instance you give yourself a rating of 5 out of 10 for finances. This means you feel your performance in finance is average. Be sure to rate those areas of your life you would like to improve, so you know where you are at present and can start to make improvement plans.
With the present analysis of your performance in various spheres of your life projected to you on paper, ideas begin to come. Ask the following questions and provide honest answers to them. You may want to discuss with your friends or boss to help you gain better insights.
The answers you provide to the questions above will help you decide if you want to improve any area of your life or another.
Too many people fail to accomplish their goals simply because they chose their goals in error.
This is also why some people don’t feel better even after achieving what appears to be a significant feat. Achieving worthwhile goals should lead to improved self-worth, satisfaction, and happiness.
Freelance time tracking comes in handy in achieving your set goals and maximizing your potential. You can use this to track and record the time spent on the tasks you need to complete for achieving your goals.
The acronym SMART is one of the best guidelines for goal setting. Let’s discuss it further below:
You need to know that every part of your life (whether career, health, family, or relationship, amongst others) matters for your growth, and you need to make important plans in each area in order to achieve your goals.
If the goals are many and require time, you can split them into short and long-term plans. For illustration, clearing off a debt of $2500 or 2 months of management training on retaining top employees can be scheduled for a short term while having a net worth of $2M in the next eight years fit into a long-term goal.
It’s important that your goals align with your passions and dreams. Brainstorm on things you yearn for, dream about, and how vital they are to the future you crave for. Your goals need to emanate from your excitement about your dream or vision for your life, as this motivation fuels you to create strategies towards attaining them.
There is hardly any goal you would want to accomplish that does not require one or more resources. This may be in terms of materials, human efforts, investments, etc. When setting your goals, you may have to rely on some other people’s input in terms of ideas, expertise, money, tools, etc.
You need to identify all the resources you need so you can make plans towards harnessing those resources. For example, you may need a professional certificate to land your dream job.
Consider your goals and list out the major resources you need to accomplish them.
Identify those resources you already have access to. An example is project management software. Pick out those you can afford to buy. Look for ways to improvise for the ones you may not be able to afford right away.
Plan on how to utilize these resources. Which one will you need first? Which resource must follow? Sometimes, the major reason for top performance is the availability and the utilization of resources.
Check out your to-do list for the day, and activate the necessary work environment and motivation towards its realization. You can also set up a progress completion board to help you see your daily progress, which triggers your inner motivation to do more.
You need to work on your goals every day.
For instance, if you schedule to read 2–3 articles daily for one month to create a work/life balance while working remotely for career improvement, ensure you don’t skip a day without reading at least 1 article every morning and night!
To set new goals, look back on your past success record and evaluate your current state. This helps you stay focused. The reflection and evaluation processes include the following:
As you work through your goals, you may find that you are busy working on your goals every day. At this point, you can help yourself by delegating tasks to others around you.
Be sure that the other person has time margin and can handle the delegated tasks with little or no supervision. Delegating tasks is one of the most underrated productivity techniques. Delegating tasks gives you more time to work on higher-value tasks that only you can achieve toward goals.
It is a common experience that many people start their goals with great enthusiasm but then abandon them after a while. One way to help you stick to your goals until you achieve them is to set up a reward system.
Since your goals will be reached in phases, you can attach a reward for the accomplishment of each stage. The reward should be something tangible enough to motivate you.
Some people find treating themselves to a movie or a treat as a tangible reward for a worthwhile achievement. Find out what works for you as a reward. Have some rewards attached to the accomplishment of major goals.
This will inspire you to persevere with your goals.
On the other hand, if you’ve failed to achieve a particular target, create a negative consequence. For instance, you can take on more chores, go to bed some minutes later to catch up, etc. For example, Drake gives his friend, Willy, $50 every Saturday Drake fails to show up at the gym. After paying twice, Drake somehow broke free from playing truancy at the gym. Now, find some consequences that will work for you!
Rewards and consequences help you to build personal integrity. Using a reward system will help you stay on track and make achieving goals a fun and motivating adventure for you.
What is your relevant experience with setting goals for personal growth regarding the tips we discussed above? If you have more tips that have proven effective for you, please share them in comment section below!
Lori Wade is a journalist from Louisville. She is a content writer who has experience in small editions, Lori is now engaged in news and conceptual articles on the topic of business. If you are interested in an entrepreneur or lifestyle, you can find her on Twitter & LinkedIn. She has good experience and knowledge in the field.
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