How to Set Goals: 10 Steps

Here are ten steps to follow in setting goals.

1. Decide what you want. 

Goal setting is the opposite of floating through life letting things happen to you. If you don't know what you want to achieve, be and succeed at in life, then you risk being open to doing whatever others suggest. Setting goals requires you to make a decision about what you actually want. Striving for those goals lets you achieve your known desires. And goal setting requires setting a deadline, so that you don't waste precious time. 

Get clear about what you want by asking a series of questions. Ask yourself: 

• What do I know about this? 
• What information do I have? 
• What information do I need? Where can I get it? 
• What skills do I need to master? 
• What other resources should I use? 
• Is this the best way to do it, or is there some other way? 

2 Start small, but keep walking

 Goals don’t necessarily have to be big. Indeed, when you set your goal too high, you might find it overwhelming and too time consuming, so you just give up or keep on changing goals rather than achieving anything. Bear in mind that goal setting isn't all about success––there will be setbacks. This is why small goals are preferable because you can measure achievement and the setbacks don't knock you about so harshly.

Set goals in small increments, complete with time, dates, amount, some details. If you tell yourself, “I’m going to be an opera singer” and then sit around and wait for it to suddenly happen, you could be waiting all your life. Start with singing lessons for a month, and then a year and expose yourself to opera music. You can then progress to more singing lessons year after year. By breaking down your goals in smaller, workable units, you are more likely to make them come true. Remember, even the greatest ones had to start somewhere. 

3 Match your goals to relevant areas of life

 It's not unusual to have general goals that apply to all areas of your life. Things like, “I want to be successful”, or “I want to be rich”. They're aspirations with broad intent rather than specific road maps. By detailing your goals into specific realms of your life, you'll gain more control and sense of purpose over them.

Assign your goals to different aspects of your life. Perhaps have one or two goals for each area to begin with. These areas might include: family and home, career, social, physical, mental and spiritual. 

For example, If you say, “I want to be a successful dad”, then try to make goals towards the development of your family life while still keeping an eye out for ways to improve your career and other areas of your life. 

4 Be positive when stating your goals.

Instead of saying, “I am not going to miss my exercise routine today”, say "I’ll make time for 20 minutes on the treadmill.” Stating your goal positively will help you view it as a good thing to do, and not as a by-product of what you have to avoid.

5 Don’t underestimate yourself

It’s tempting to sometimes just slack off or let yourself off too easily. If you want to write the definitive American novel, then don’t try to churn out just a page or two a day when you know you're more than capable of writing five pages, even ten. The fear of failure is sometimes to blame for setting our goals too low. How often have you said something like, “I don’t really want to volunteer for that project ‘cause I might screw it up. And then my colleagues will make fun of me”? A lot, probably.

Remember that some fears are unfounded. How do you know you’ll actually ruin it? And how do you know for sure your co-workers will laugh at your effort? If you try to reason with your fears, more often than not, you’ll realize that there really is no reason for you to be reluctant and that in fact, you can do it. 

6. Write it down. 

Putting your goal down on paper is more than just memorizing it. You are actually confirming your willingness to make it come true. A written list of goals is an effective reminder of what you need to do. Once you’re done, write a good review of your accomplishment. A simple list on a piece of notebook paper is fine. Or, use a computer program to really jazz it up if that's your thing. You may want to hang up the written goal sheet somewhere, as a constant reminder to work toward your goals: inside your closet, the back of your medicine cabinet door, or on your bulletin board near your desk.

7. Affirm it

Affirmation is really more than writing down, “I am going to buy my $750,000 home by Christmas”, twenty times. It’s about being conscious not only of your thought processes, but also of your acts during the day. If you’re trying to save money and then you pass by a shop window where a great pair of shoes seems to have your name on it, think, “If I buy those shoes, would I be making my goal of saving easier? Will I be able to meet my deadline if I splurge just this once? A few months from now if I don’t meet my deadline because I didn't save enough, would I feel good about it?”.

8. Stop procrastination.

 So you’ve heard this before. Big deal. Well, it is. Time wastage is one of the greatest crimes in history. If Henry Ford put off studying and tinkering with machines for another time, someone else would have improved on automobiles and he wouldn't have gone down in history as a pioneer. If you’re used to procrastination, being bullheaded about a goal can seem scary at first. Try to set a schedule and then reward yourself each time you meet it.

9. Habituate yourself to liking the challenges.

 The most difficult thing is to like something useful. Many people focus subconsciously on the petty, shallow things in life, such as entertainment, celebrity-watching, wishing after the lifestyles of the rich and famous, etc., and when time comes for focusing on big goals for ourselves, we back out because we see it as beyond our own capabilities. It is simply a misinterpreted relativity. There is reason to feel worthless before a big goal just because you have been liking petty goals. Substitute the shallow with thinking big when you're setting goals––allow yourself to think great thoughts.

10. Review your progress

After setting, affirming and doing, comes reviewing. This article is focused on the setting. But as part of setting your goals, be sure to write in occasional statements requiring you to "review this goal's progress". It's an important reminder to keep you on the path of achieving the goals you've set yourself. Now go set your goals and start working on them!

source: wikihow.com