If you’re like me, you probably already know, you’re more likely to accomplish your goals if you write them down. It seems so easy but how many of you out there follow an organized set of steps to successful goal setting. As it turns out, as always, there is a little more involved than just writing down your goals to accomplish them. But hold on now, these are simple steps you can implement to achieve success in your goals.
1. Organize your priorities
We all have a lot of things we want to do with our time, but most of us have so many things we want to accomplish we spend all day or week or month jumping from one task to the next without a clear direction.
Take some time, step back and think big picture. Where to you want to end up? What do you really want to achieve as the end result. Write down these big picture ideas.
2. Limit the Number of Your Goals
Look at the list you have as the big picture and start writing down goals that will help you achieve the end result. Take that list and prioritize it, then narrow it down to the top 5 to 7 goals that will get you there. You don’t want too many goals or you’ll lose focus. Even the best multitasker can lose focus when the number becomes too great.
3. Make your goals SMART
Now that you have 5 key goals that will help you on your way, you need to make them SMART. By making the goals SMART you are further identifying them and creating Specific, Measurable, Actionable, Realistic and Timely qualifiers that will help you identify exactly how and when you will achieve your goal. If you need a little more help, check out our article on how to complete a SMART Goals Worksheet.
4. Review and Re-focus
While statistics show that simply having a written, SMART goal will increase your chances of success, what good do you think it would do if you wrote them all down and hid them away in a desk drawer. If it were me, out of sight, out of mind. I’d forget about them in a few days. Sure if someone asked, I’d be able to tell them, but having them readily available and reviewing them regularly are two different things.
What you want to do is keep them constantly in your mind. To do this you’ll have to develop a laser like focus to avoid falling prey to the multitude of distractions that life can offer.
5. Share Your Goals
Now don’t just share them with anyone, share them with those who are supportive of what you are trying to do. Some people have support groups of family or friends. Often with your goals finding someone with similar aspirations will help too, or maybe you can find a mentor or a mastermind group of people who will help build you up, increase your focus and hold you accountable to what you set out to accomplish.
As Ronald Reagan stated, “My philosophy of life is that if we make up our mind what we are going to make of our lives, then work hard toward that goal, we never lose – somehow we always win out.”
If you haven’t made a list and started writing down your goals, let me ask just one last question. When will you do it if not today? The longer you wait the more time you waste and that time, you never get back.