How to Set Goals Worth Reaching

Welcoming the new year usually comes hand-in-hand with the creation of resolutions or goals. Have you put some thought into what you’d like to achieve in 2018? There are a few tricks to setting goals that are worth reaching. Here are a few tips.

Think about what you want instead of what you need.

You may need to lose weight, but what you want is to be healthier. While losing weight is a part of being healthy, learning to make better food choices leads to weight loss, which helps you to be more robust. As a bonus, it is far easier to learn to make better food choices, which essentially allows you to eat more food than it is to eat less food. When you think about what you want, and then line it up with what you need, you will often find you can obtain both – what you want, and what you need.

Don’t pick a goal just because someone else says it’s a good one for you.

Setting a goal to obtain something you do not want or need is asking for failure. Can you tell yourself the reasons you want to achieve this goal? Do those ideas sound logical and true to you? If not, rethink what you want and don’t give another thought to what other people think you should do.

Imagine how reaching each of your goals will improve your life.

Thinking about how it will feel to reach your goal will motivate you to succeed. (And if it does not improve your life in some way, it probably should not be on your list.) How will your life be better if you journal every day? Stay on track with your financial goals? Picturing life as if you’ve already achieved that level of success will help you set a goal worth reaching.

Break big goals into smaller goals.

It is too easy to become overwhelmed when you are focusing too much attention on a big goal. That is especially true if it will take you years or decades to achieve a significant goal. If you become overwhelmed, you will start viewing your big goal as something you will never be able to reach and you will likely give up. However, as you reach each small goal, you will be encouraged to strive to achieve the next one, enabling you to make your big goal an eventual reality.

Do not set unspecific goals.

If your goal isn’t specific, how will you know when you have reached it? You must have a clear objective. A good goal isn’t to “write more” but instead to “write 500 words each day.” Instead of setting a goal to travel, set a goal to visit France next summer. You must have clarity concerning the things you want in life and this starts with stating your intentions.

If you follow these guidelines when you set your goals for the coming year, you will find you are eager and excited to get started on the necessary steps to reach those goals. You will be setting goals you know are worth attaining.

Want a little help writing or defining your goals? Check out this blog post on 15 Journal Prompts for Goal Setting – and Goal Getting.