5 steps you need to follow to achieve your goals

Goal setting refers to listing the things that you would like to achieve; however, most people end up writing a wish list! Which remains as a wish list and goal never been achieved.

Setting a goal with a general statement ends with zero results.

You feel you putting weight, you set a goal to lose some weight. You want to get fit, you set a goal to subscribe to a gym. It has been 3 years in the same job position, you set a goal to get promoted.

What happens after you set those goals? You try different diet programs and nothing happens, you join the gym and hardly go, and, you work hard for long hours at the office but never get promoted.

Do you wonder why you don’t achieve what you want to achieve? Simply coz your goals are general and vague.

HOW TO SET AND ACHIEVE YOUR GOALS?

When you set any goal, ask your self how important it is? How badly you want this to happen?
And be clear and straight with yourself no one monitors you except yourself.

If this goal is truly important for you then you have to understand that everything in life you want to reach, there will be a price (time, effort, energy, etc.). are you willing to pay the price? If yes, then go ahead, continue reading and achieve your goals.

Set your goal using the SMART Goal setting method. SMART goal stands for:

Specific: A clear and well-defined goal

Measurable: A goal with specific milestones that you can measure the progress towards
accomplishing the goal.

Achievable: You must be able to achieve. In goals setting Sky is not the limit!

Realistic: A goal that is important and adds to your life purpose.

Timely: A goal must have a start and end date.

BE SPECIFIC

For example, do you remember the new year resolutions? How many of them came true? At the beginning of each year, you set resolutions from diverse areas, such as work, health, leisure, relationships, etc. if you must do something every day toward each resolution you set to achieve your goal. Will you have a higher chance to succeed if you divided your efforts between 15 different resolutions or only 3-5 resolutions? It seems like Easy-Peasy answer, right?

Focus on what important to you and what you really need to remove all other “good to have” ideas which to be classified as a wish list for the time being.

Avoid general statements, such as “I want to lose weight”. Be specific, “I want to lose 10Kg”. another example, change “I want to focus on my relationship” to “I want to take my spouse to dinner”.

Stake your actionable goals to a routine so that you won’t forget it or procrastinate. For example, I will call my mother every day right after I brush my teeth.

Use Warren Buffett’s 5-25 strategy for goal setting

Warren Buffett, an investor and the CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, has built a fortune of wealth—a net worth close to $89.2 billion. Warren Buffett uses highly effective strategies that help him to get more done in less time than most people achieve in a lifetime.

MEASURE YOUR GOALS

You can’t control what you don’t measure. You simply let it for hopes and wishes!

Set a measurement mechanism for your short-term goals and long-term goals, those measurements act as your milestones toward achieving your goals and give you feedback on your progress toward the goal. It helps you to stay motivated and also allows you to adjust your plans if needed. Use a visual cue, such as a daily planner.

For example, your goal to go to the gym three days a week, every time you go checkmark that day. That will remind you about how much progress has been made, and that feedback motivates you to keep going. Be creative and use any means that you like and enjoy, what important is, to keep measuring your goal progress.

MAKE THEM ACHIEVABLE

Set your goals that match with your environut, life purpose, and available resources. Your dreams and vision are where the sky is the limit, it is where you have no boundaries for your thoughts and things want to achieve, however, goals should be practical and achievable, otherwise, you will end up overwhelmed and disappointed.

This is one of the critical areas while I do a life coaching or executive coaching with my clients, we all may have tons of goals that keep us motivated and positive, however, I ensure that my client goal is achievable and he/she got the required resources for that.

For example, if your work requires that you travel around different cities in GCC and Mena and your goal is to go to the gym three times a week. Will you be able to do this in Dubai? Will your traveling scheduled facilitate or stop you from achieving your goal?

BE REALISTIC

One of the reasons that make you fail in achieving your goals is by trying to achieve too much too quickly.

Long term goals that lead to life transformation can’t happen overnight, hence divide your goal into sub-goals that can be achieved and keeps you motivated.

Short terms goals should be realistic and relevant to your resources in means of time, skills, environment, support you need, and stakeholders involved

Tip:
Set an upper limit for your goal tracking measurement. for example, I want to go to the gym for 3 days, but not more than 4 days. This upper limit helps you to stay within the sweet spot and avoid being burnout.

SET TIME BOUNDS

Knowing when exactly your uber driver will arrive, is the success factor for uber and what makes can’t live without google maps is not only its accuracy but also knowing when exactly we will reach our destination. And this is how your goals should be!

Define a start and end time for your goal.

Define when shall you regularly review the goal performance.

And finally, your goal will be “I will lose 10Kg in 30 days, by going to the gym 3 max 4 times a day and last meal at 8 pm”.

Download the SMART goal questionaire (PDF)