10 Tips On Setting Realistic and Achievable Goals

Whenever we look at making changes and improvements to our lives we need to set goals and it’s not as easy as it sounds. Goal setting is a powerful process for thinking about your ideal future, and for motivating yourself to turn your vision of this future into reality. But we all know that some goals can be unrealistic but here is a guide to help you set realistic and achievable goals.

1. Define your goals

The goals you set need a reason, a motivation. What will it mean to your life if you achieve the goal? Try this: the next time you think of a goal, like “get a new car” add the words “so that” after it. Now you’re better equipped to define your goal – “get a new car so that…”. Now you have to define why that goal is important to you.

2. Express your goals positively

State each goal as a positive statement – Express your goals positively – “Execute this technique well” is a much better goal than “Don’t make this stupid mistake.”

3. Be specific

Set precise goals, putting in dates, times and amounts so that you can measure achievement. If you do this, you’ll know exactly when you have achieved the goal, and can take complete satisfaction from having achieved it.

4. Write goals down and keep track

If you write nothing down, nothing will happen. We’ve all thought about goals and thought “right, I’ll get started on that tomorrow” only for nothing to ever happen. Tomorrow you wake up and do exactly the same thing you did yesterday. You need to write down your goals and every single stepping stone.

5. Set priorities

When you have several goals, give each a priority. This helps you to avoid feeling overwhelmed by having too many goals, and helps to direct your attention to the most important ones.

6. Break down your goals

Next, goals need stepping stones. Unless you’re already a millionaire, it’s next to impossible to set your goal, then get it done straight away. In 99% of cases, your goal will need a lot of work before you can consider it achieved.

7. Keep operational goals small

Keep the low-level goals that you’re working towards small and achievable. If a goal is too large, then it can seem that you are not making progress towards it. Keeping goals small and incremental gives more opportunities for reward.

8. Set performance goals

You should take care to set goals over which you have as much control as possible. It can be quite dispiriting to fail to achieve a personal goal for reasons beyond your control!

9. Review each of your goals

Things change. It’s the nature of the world. Life circumstances, financial circumstances, relationships, everything. Even your goals change! You need to move with these changes. Set yourself a schedule to review each of your goals and your stepping stones.

10. Set realistic goals

It’s important to set goals that you can achieve. All sorts of people (for example, employers, parents, media, or society) can set unrealistic goals for you. They will often do this in ignorance of your own desires and ambitions.