Five Easy Steps to Set Goals and Meet Them
Goal-setting. It seems like such a simple concept, but how many of us do it regularly and successfully? Our bosses talk about sales goals and making our quota. Our teachers in high school and college talk about it like we already have them laid out, and TV is always talking about our financial goals before we call their company.
For some, goal-setting is second nature, for others they know it should be done. and still others, it's a foreign concept. So whether you've been setting goals all your life or you have no idea how, here are five easy steps for you to set goals and actually meet them.
- Your goal must be specific and must be measurable. When I ran my half marathon, I had to set a clear goal. It wasn't enough for me to say, "I'm going to go running to get into shape." I had to say, "I'm going to run a 13.1 mile race by finishing the race and not coming in last." When we set goals, it is far too easy to be vague. For instance, "I'm going to lose weight." Once I set the goal to run 13.1 miles I had to determine how many miles I needed to run per month, per week, and even per day. I was able to set up a daily plan of diet and exercise so that I could be successful. Whatever goal you set you need to make sure it is as specific as possible and that you can measure it's success at least on a monthly basis.
- Your goal must have a time limit. Before I started my journey of running a half, I figured out how long it will take me to train to run the race and found a race that suited my needs. Then I was able to go after it with intensity. I even ran on Christmas because the date was looming. If we don't set a time limit, or deadline, we will get after it for a little while and then lose focus. We are far less likely to complete the goal if we don't say when we want to accomplish it.
- Your goal must be your goal. I'll be honest, I couldn't have completed my training with Carina King's help. She has been running long distance races for many years. Naturally, she runs much faster than I do. If I had set a time goal of finishing when she did, I would have failed miserably and probably not even finished the race. When you set a goal, make sure it's your goal. You can get the idea from someone else, but you have to do what works for you. Just because it works for someone else does not necessarily mean it will for you.
- Your goal must be in writing. There's just something about writing it down. When you put it on paper, or in my case social media, you all of a sudden have accountability. No one may ever look at it, but it doesn't matter, because you have. There is something in our psyche that wants to accomplish what we have written down. If you want to take this a step further you can write it in a prayer journal as Mark Batterson suggest in The Circle Maker. Then you have an agreement with you and God. I can tell you there is incredible power in accomplishing your goal when God is on your side.
- Your goal must be attainable. It would be ridiculous for me to leave the couch and go run 13.1 miles with no preparation in 2 hours. When we set our goals we have to be realistic about the task, the measurements, and the timetable. I may want to be an Olympian, but unless I get into curling that is just not going to happen. I may want to wear a size 00 in women's jeans, but that's NEVER going to happen. I may want to lose 100 pounds, but I can't do that in a week. When setting your goal make sure it's big enough for it to be stretch, but also small enough to be insurmountable. By the time I set the goal to run a half marathon, I had already been running for two years and could complete a 10k with little difficulty. I never could have accomplished my the half marathon if I set out to accomplish it the first month.