7 Practical Tips For Setting Successful Goals
How to win at goal setting
Long-term goals are tricky. This article is my recipe to cook up the perfect amount of motivation to drive you toward your goals. Here are my 7 tips on how to set goals that propel you closer to the person that you want to be.
- You need a “Why”.
Who do you want to be? This should be the driver behind every goal. Some examples: healthy and fit, master of a skill, well organized, close with your family, financially secure, a published author…etc. This list could be anything. Start with figuring out who you want to be and then dig into some reasons why you want this.
The “why” will be your main motivator when things get tough. This doesn’t need to be super profound, as long as you can tap into it when temptations claw their way into your life. Maybe you want to get in shape to fit into your old jeans or to look good at your reunion. Maybe you want to eat better to have fewer health complications or to be around to see your grandchildren grow up. Maybe you want to be organized to stop wasting time searching for misplaced items or to avoid the embarrassment when company visits. This will help you aim your goals, keep them on track, and fight off minor bumps on your journey.
2. Make it measurable.
Once you know who you want to be and why, you can start working on a how. The most important part of an implementation plan is to make goals that you can track. Without measurability, you are trying to tackle your goal blind. “I want to eat healthier,” is a blind goal. “I want to eat under 50 g of sugar and 46 g of fat, and at least 76 g of protein every day.” Now that is a goal that will propel you toward who you want to be. You may not measure up right away but remember your “why” and keep moving forward.
3. Goals are not to deprive you, but to build a life that you can better enjoy.
Let me repeat that, the purpose of goals is not to deprive you, but to build a life that you can better enjoy. I have found this to be a critical concept in setting goals that last. Far too often people set goals that harshly restrict them in ways that are not sustainable over time. When they eventually get worn out and quit, they miss out on all the long-term benefits they so deeply desired.
Let’s say, for example, you love sweets. You recognize that sweets are not great for long-term health, so you decide to completely cut them out of your diet. Soon, a cycle of immense craving followed by overwhelming guilt traps you. Baked goods start calling your name and you come running. Your “why” wasn’t to deprive yourself of chocolate cake, it was to live a healthier life so that you feel better and have more energy to do what you truly want to spend your time on.
Moderation is your friend. Enjoy a small piece of cake, just don’t make a daily habit out of it, and when you finish it, keep on track toward living a healthier life. To conquer cravings, you need more than just saying no to yourself, you need to say yes to all the healthier options that make you feel nourished. A balanced diet is not about what you can’t eat, but about gifting yourself with all the tasty and sustainable foods that satisfy your body.
The same concept applies to a healthy balanced life. It’s not about giving up your addictions, but the control that you win over your life. Set your goals, not around what you are trying to lose, but what you are trying to gain. Remember, these are goals to help you better enjoy life, not just dreaded items on a to-do list. You want to enjoy life, don’t you? Worry less about losses and restrictions, and ponder more the victories that could be yours.
4. Start now! Don’t let the cousins win.
“I’ll start tomorrow” is one of procrastination’s favorite phrases. If tomorrow actually meant tomorrow, this would be no problem, but procrastination knows that soon tomorrow will come and you will push “tomorrow” back just one more day. Believe me, I’m no stranger to procrastination, he creeps into my life often. Unlike moderation, he is not your friend, and he will do just about anything to push back your success. I feel like this is no surprise to you, so why do you keep putting off what you want to work on in your life? If procrastination had cousins, they would be named busyness, laziness, and perfectionism.
Busyness and laziness are certainly not small mountains to climb, but your “why” needs to be big enough to conquer these. It needs to be important enough to you that you set aside time to work on it, and exciting enough to you that you will pick it over the couch (or chocolate cake). Your potential gain needs to be bigger than your perceived losses.
Perfectionism will tell you that the conditions must be absolutely perfect for you to start working on your plan. We often tend to think that goals need to be implemented on January 1st. If we miss this sacred deadline then somehow our entire year is doomed. We might as well put a large red X on the entire year and try again when the next one rolls around. I know this is a crazy idea, but we can set goals on a random Tuesday in March or a Thursday in October. Nothing is stopping us from doing this! We don’t have to wait for a new week, month, or year. You can start now. Beat all 4 of the cousins in one blow!
5. If you miss one day, all hope is not lost.
You probably read that and thought it was a bit dramatic, but honestly, how many times have you quit on something after you missed just one day? You were determined to start exercising every morning and were going strong until you bumped into a crazy day that messes up your routine, and you quit on the entire idea. Or, you give into the cake just once, and then completely give up on ever eating healthy. Perfectionism creeps in again. Too many goals are lost this way. If you miss a day, count it as a loss, but keep going. Don’t let a piece of cake ruin a lifetime of health.
6. Address your goal killers.
It’s silly to start a goal and expect zero resistance to your efforts. So think ahead, what might try to get in your way? If chocolate cake is a goal killer for you, then maybe don’t leave one on your kitchen counter. If you hate mornings and can’t seem to get your half-asleep self to the gym, then try going at night. If you can’t focus on writing because social media is relentless, then put your phone in another room. Keep your goal killers from getting the best of you.
7. Take it one step at a time.
Don’t let the daunting idea of the end goal scare you away from taking the first step. The perfectionist in us is a liar, and we often get overwhelmed when it tells us we must tackle everything at once. If you have never run a mile in your entire life, but your goal is to run a marathon, this applies to you. If you go out tomorrow and try to run the whole marathon, chances are, you are going to fail and give up. So don’t start with the marathon! Start with briskly walking a mile and work your way up from there. You don’t need to shrink your goals, but give yourself victories along the way, because each milestone gets you one step closer to your end goal. Make your victories loud and the perfectionistic voice inside your head quiet. So keep working toward your goals, one step at a time, and don’t let one piece of cake stop you.