It is an important strategy for planning to achieve one’s dreams or vision in life. No matter whether you have a goal of achieving career promotion, getting better health, or learning a new profession, goal setting will be helpful to you. However, goal setting is not merely about the filing of the wish list but it is a coherent strategy on how one will achieve his desire. In today’s blog post, we will have a look at goal setting as an art, why setting goals is important to achieve success and how can you set goals to achieve your vision.
Why is Goal Setting Important?
Goals are very important to achievement because they act as a guide. When you have a goal, you are aware of where you want to get and what you want to achieve and this way you can aim at the essential things. Periodic research studies have indicated that those people who set clear, specific, and difficult targets were 90% more likely to examine high performance than those individuals who did not set goals or who set fuzzy goals. This means that it is possible to achieve massive differences when one is able to make certain clear and achievable goals in his life.The SMART Framework: A Proven Method for Goal Setting
For effective goals to be set there is a need for the use of structures. One of the most used frameworks is the so-called SMART which is Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound. Here’s how you can apply the SMART framework to your goal-setting process: Here’s how you can apply the SMART framework to your goal-setting process:- Specific: It may be said that the goals should be stated clearly and with great detail of what you want to accomplish. A specific goal defines the actions of a project's key stakeholders and outlines who will do what, where, when, and why. For instance, one may dare to set the goal, ‘I want to be fit,’ it should be set as ‘I want to lose 10 pounds in the next three months provided I attend the gym for training three times a week. ‘
- Measurable: For your goal to be effective it should be measurable so that you can know how you are faring. For instance, in the fitness example, training for weight loss, with manageable goals of losing 10 pounds is quantifiable but training to ‘get fit’ is not quantifiable.
- Achievable: Goals should be ambitious enough so as not to be easily achieved and, at the same time not impossible to achieve.
- Relevant: Goals should always be in line with other life purposes as well as principles. Very important to understand why this goal has to be achieved and how it would help to fit into overall vision.
- Time-bound: The last one is to set a time frame for your goal so that you will be focused on achieving it and it will also create a sense of urgency. The three months as used in our example enable one to set a realistic time within which to achieve a particular goal.
Real-Life Example: How Goal Setting Changed My Career
Several years ago, I was going through what I considered a lack of job satisfaction. I was working so hard but what I was undergoing did not meet my expected results. It took me some time to see this, but I did not have a specific plan of what I wanted to achieve. After that, it occurred to me that I’d make use of the SMART framework to set specific career objectives. My first career objective I had was to be promoted to the team leader within the spate of one year. These were refined into more achievable goals such as enhancing leadership skills, volunteering for more responsibilities, and asking the superiors for feedback. This way, the goals are tangible, and I was able to keep a tally of the progress made in order to motivate me to achieve the goals. I also have in the course of the year been promoted to a team leader which helped me boost my confidence and career path. This was a great learning that I understood the essence of setting goals in one's career life.Common Goal-Setting Mistakes to Avoid
While goal setting is a powerful tool for success, there are some common mistakes people make:
- Setting Unrealistic Goals: The goals have to be thus rigorous, yet realistic. You should know that if you set your objectives too high, you will most likely lose steam and quit.
- Not Breaking Down Goals: When setting goals that are big, one may feel that it is just impossible to accomplish them. It’s debatable how easy it should or is able to be made, however doable they should be segmented and broken apart into logical sub-tasks.
- Lack of Flexibility: The circumstances in life are rather unpredictable and at a certain point, one may need to shift his aim. Do not be rigid in your thinking and stubborn in your goals or refuse to change them if the circumstances require otherwise.
- Failing to Monitor Progress: The way it lets you check on your progress and allows you to fix things that were going wrong or areas where you weren’t studying.
Actionable Steps to Start Setting Goals Today
Here are some actionable steps you can take to start setting goals for success:
- Reflect on Your Priorities: Just as particularly for you, take some time out to think about the things that are most valuable to you in your life. What does ignite you and what do you aim for?
- Write Down Your Goals: Manually writing goals are somehow more concrete and tangible it would encourage one to stay committed to the goals.
- Create a Plan: The next thing that you ought to do is elaborate on the steps that will enable you to accomplish the goals that were set down as follows: Devise several subtasks that will help to achieve each goal.
- Track Your Progress: Take the time to periodically review how you are doing. At the same time, one should celebrate incremental successes in the process so as not to get tired quickly.
- Stay Flexible: Finally, be ready to modify your goal from time to time if you find the need to do so. This just means that life is ever unpredictable, and it is okay to alter the set plans.
