Any planning, big or small, means that you’re setting up some goals in your life. No matter how insignificant it might seem, it’s still something that you’ve set your mind to and is planning to achieve it. It doesn’t have to be a 5-year plan, the main thing is to keep focus and work towards it. Every person has goals, even children have them. It’s in human nature to want, need, expect, and push themselves forward to accomplish a better life. Let’s see what establishing goals bring to your life.
1. Better focus
Having a direction in life that is focused on certain goals will help you from getting sidetracked. Your mind will be concentrated on achieving the objectives that will better your life and give you a sense of accomplishment. Being talented and smart is not going to mean much if you don’t establish goals and work hard towards them. Just having the talent and wits are not going to get you far if you don’t have a focus in life. It would just be a waste of time and energy. With a sense of direction, your mind is going to be focused and busy with working to achieve the targets.
2. Keep it real
Setting up goals is important, but even more important is for those goals to be realistic. If you set up a goal to lose 20lbs in two weeks you’re going to end up disappointed. So, for goals to have a positive effect on your life, they have to be planned reasonably. Being ambitious is a great asset, but overly ambitious people end up being frustrated most of their life. Plan targets that you have a chance of reaching with hard work and persistence.
3. Push forward
We all have our good days and bad days, it’s perfectly normal. However, for some people, it could be hard to pick themselves up after a bad period and move forward. Roaming through life aimlessly is not going to get you far. Having goals, or at least one goal, in life will push you to keep going. There is no magic wand to make your problems go away, each person has to work through the bad times and just keep pushing forward. Goals can help you have a clear picture of where you want to go. To learn some skills on how to deal with certain situations and people, go to thehappinesscoach.com.
4. Make a list
For some people, visualizing their goals can help keep focus and determination. Whether it’s just one thing or a list of desirable targets, try writing them down and keeping them on a visible spot. When you start losing interest or are low on energy, this might help you to keep the faith and move on.
5. Be specific
When planning goals, be specific. Vague goals will get you running around in circles while specific, direct goals could create a road map to success. For example, say “I will read two books in the next month”, instead of “I would like to read more”. By being concrete, you will have a greater boost of self-confidence and achievement once you reach them.
6. Set up a benchmark
Keeping track of the progress is essential when you have long term goals. Putting in place some sort of the measuring system will give you an insight into where you stand at the moment and how much you have left. This can help with two things: increasing your sense of achievement and keep you on the right path. Everyone needs encouragement and support to reach success, so when you feel discouraged, exhausted, and lazy, just take a look at how much you achieved so far. This will give you a necessary boost to move forward. Further, you will not stray from your road to victory, and if you do just take a look back as to how far along you came. Having a benchmark, or setting up in-between small goals, will help you get back on your feet.
7. Be ready to sacrifice
Every success comes with certain sacrifices. Before even embarking on the journey, be aware that you will have to make compromises in order to achieve your goals. By getting ready in advance that you’ll lose something, like sleep, time, miss out on going out, and such, you will spare yourself a lot of misery. Expect everything, the good, the bad, and the ugly. And hope for the best. In the end, satisfaction will far exceed the sacrifices made.
8. Accountability
Procrastination is not an option when you have goals. Your pre-set objectives will not give you peace of mind until you finish them. There is no one else to push you, you need to make yourself accountable for everything that you did and did not do. Whether you fail or succeed, you will be the only one held accountable for it.
9. Responsibility
Always keeping goals in the back of your mind will make you finish the tasks and be responsible. It can cure laziness, too. If you think that you are a hopeless case, just give it a shot with the small, short-term goals. When you see that you actually did the work needed to achieve something it will increase the sense of self-worth feeling proud of yourself.
10. Motivation
This is one of the main reasons people don’t set up any goals in the first place. Motivation is the key, but it’s also the biggest problem. First of all, start small to increase your belief in yourself. Once you prove to yourself that you can do something, you will move on to bigger targets. For example, you would like to finish college and get at least an associate degree, but there is no motivation or will from your side. Plainly, you don’t think you can do it. Fine. Start with signing up for a short course, just to get you moving. Organize your time differently, be determined, and reap the results later. Motivation is a learned skill; we are not born with it. Every person needs to find the drive within themselves and push on. Discouragements will come, either from other people or circumstances, but your motivation and ambition will not diminish. Determine clear, precise targets and just put one foot in front of the other. The success will come, and it’s the sweetest feeling ever.
