Investing in yourself through goals can be scary if you have no idea how to even start, mainly because if we set goals for ourselves, it puts us in a vulnerable state because there's usually a judgment day that comes with the stigma of goal setting.
If you have big dreams, chances are you might have big goals too. If you tell people about those goals, then you’re agreeing to be the center of attention for peeping eyes to see whether or not you actually hit them.
When you start feeling this pressure, the fear of the possibility of not making it happen might start to trickle in because you know people you've told about your goals may have something to say when you don’t achieve your goals.
It gets worse too, you might even trap yourself in the failure pitfall where you wallow in guilt because you feel like a failure.
But the truth is, it doesn’t have to be that way – the process of setting goals for success doesn’t have to be scary, you just need to be smart about the way you’re going about your goals.
To set yourself up for success, you first need to do some pre-work that requires self- reflection.
Is the goal that you want to achieve what you truly want ?
Sometimes we say we want to achieve something but deep down know that it’s a “it would be nice to have” type of deal rather than, “I need to have this at all costs, for me”.
You need to make sure that you feel it in your bones when you set a goal for yourself. This is the first step in setting yourself up for success.
This is important because you’ll want to aim for an end result that’s going to benefit you tremendously in some way.
When you create and attach some type of value to your goal, you will find a way at all costs to stay motivated and push through any challenges you might face.
It will also make staying disciplined easier which will result in consistency.
Next, you need to make sure that your goals are big and important enough that it scares you to not get them done, whatever that fear is.
It could be feeling like a failure, being judged, or continuing to be stuck in life at the moment.
It needs to be big enough that if you don’t achieve them, you know you’re gonna feel the consequences afterwards.
Knowing that there's potential consequences in how you set goals in life will be the little fire under your ass that will keep you moving at all times.
Finally, you need to be practical with your goals. Make sure that your goals are realistic.
If they’re not realistic, you’ll never see a finish line and you will experience burnout, discouragement and resentment for wasting your time and effort.
This doesn’t mean you can’t dream big, by all means dream big and reach for another galaxy...not just the nearby stars. You have what it takes but you need to be smart about it.
Divide your big dream into smaller ones with smaller attainable goals so that you can get to that finish line you’ve been wanting so much.
Consider them stepping stone goals, they’re smaller but not less important because they’re attached to the overall goal.
Setting goals for success means that each goal must be realistic and specific.
If you’re not specific with your goals you’re gonna have a very hard time measuring them. There should be a way for you to clearly note your progress along the way.
You need to be able to see your progress so that you know how far you’ve gone and how much more you gotta go. Progress keeps you motivated to keep going.
Next thing to consider is relevance, this goes back to the level of importance in your life.How relevant is this goal to you in terms of the big picture?
Your relevance is your WHY.
Why are you doing this goal?
What’s the point of it?
And lastly, your goal needs to be time-bound. This means that you need to give yourself a deadline and actually stick to that deadline.
Deadlines are important because life gets busy and if you don’t set a deadline for yourself (and take it seriously), it will be another thing on your to do list. When you get deep in the busy daily routine, chores and duties will take over and you will push your goal to the end of the list.
Pushing your goals to the end of the list means it’ll never get done. Or worse, it’ll never get started.
If you follow these tips, you’re setting goals for success.
Friendly reminders as you work on your goals:
One important tip to keep in mind is to go at your own pace and don’t compare yourself to others.You’re not them and they’re not you.
Being truthful to yourself and what you can truly handle depending on your life situation at that very moment that you're working through a goal is the best thing you can do for yourself.
If you don't take care of yourself first, you will experience burnout and lack of motivation.
But watch out for pumping yourself up with excuses to not do the things because of how your life is.
At the end of the day it’s your ultimate choice to continue to have what you currently have or do something about it. Start creating better ways for yourself and your way of life.
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