It’s not so hard to set good goals. What’s hard is actually following through on what you need to do to make those goals reality.
But there are important techniques to keep you on track so you can achieve your goals…
1. Review Your Goals Daily
It’s very important that you review your goals every day: first thing in the morning is best. I have my main goals on a 3×5 card on my writing desk. I also have my entire list of goals and action plans printed out, and I look at these frequently, especially the ones that I’m actively working on that day.
2. Revise Your Goals Frequently
As you move through life and learn and grow, your goals will naturally shift. Some will stay very important and you will work hard to attain them; others will decrease in importance and you may decide to change their scope, push out their deadlines, or perhaps drop them entirely.
I write all my goals and action plans in Word documents. That way it’s easy for me to make changes and print out new copies.
You should examine and revise your goals on at least a quarterly basis. Monthly is better.
3. Begin with Baby Steps
It’s absolutely fine to start on any goal with baby steps. You’ll make progress and you’ll build confidence that you will actually reach your goals. Better to start small than to not start at all.
4. Develop a Strong Sense of Self-Efficacy
Self-efficacy refers to your belief in your talents and your ability to be successful in the various areas of your life. It’s important that you believe in yourself: it will give you the motivation to keep working on the action plans you make to reach your goals.
5. Understand the Locus of Control
An important determinant of your attitude in life and how hard and well you’ll work to achieve your goals is your personal “locus of control.” Locus of control is a psychology term for what factors you identify as controlling your destiny.
If you have an external locus of control, you think that other people, luck, and the economic, political, and social structures of society largely determine what you can or cannot achieve in life.
On the other hand, if you have an internal locus of control, you believe that you control your success in life through your own attributes and actions.
You want to develop and strengthen an internal locus of control. That’s not to say that external factors don’t matter: they obviously do. However, the more you think that achieving your goals depends on what you personally do, rather than on external events and the actions of others, the more likely you are to attain your goals. And studies show that you’ll be happier and have better mental health.
6. Be Realistic
You can only do so much. Make sure you have clearly identified your most important goals, the ones that that you have the time and energy to attain and that will make the most difference in your life. This means setting priorities and letting go of some goals.
7. Maintain Strong Commitment to Attain Your Goals
Your level of commitment to reach a goal is the primary determinant of how soon you’ll reach it, and whether you’ll reach it all. If you aren’t truly committed to a goal, it’s best to just drop it. Otherwise, you’ll waste valuable time taking small, half-hearted actions with no significant results.
Rank your current goals on a 1-10 scale for your level of commitment. Any goals that aren’t at least an 8 need to come off your list. Focus your efforts on your level 9 and level 10 goals.
8. Forgive Yourself for Backsliding
There will be times when you’ll do counterproductive activities, times you’ll procrastinate, times when you won’t live up to your standards or make satisfactory progress toward your goals, times when your willpower fails you.
You’re human. Forgive yourself and then get back on track toward achieving your goals. Repeat as needed.
9. Maintain Your Mental and Physical Health
You need your body and mind to be as healthy as possible. You need to get enough sleep and make sure you eat well and get adequate exercise.
10. Be With Supportive People
Spend as much time as possible with people who support you, uplift you, and make you feel good about yourself and what you’re doing with your life.
11. Reward Yourself
Set short-term and medium-term milestones. When you reach a milestone, give yourself a reward. It can be as simple as “If I finish this article before noon, I’ll take a 30-minute walk after lunch,” or take someone special out for a delicious meal or away for the weekend.
On the flip side, punishing yourself for missing milestones will actually harm you in the long run. Focus on positive rewards.
12. Learn, And Apply What You Learn
There are 2 main types of learning that you must do and apply to your life:
Learning new information that will help you understand the world, yourself, and your writing. Get this through books, magazines, newspapers, audio programs, seminars, radio, television, the Internet, and other people.
Learning from what you do with your writing business and everything else you do in life. Learn what works and what doesn’t, learn what you want and don’t want, and then change your goals and actions accordingly.
13. Understand the Importance of Persistence
You’ll inevitably have setbacks in your progress toward your goals, and you’ll often be tempted to waste time doing things that give you short-term pleasure but no long-term gain. At these times, you must persist. Think about why you want to achieve your goals and how you’ll feel when you do achieve them.
Your Take
Anything to add? What do you do to keep yourself on track with your goals?
Cathy Miller says
John, I have a favorite saying – even baby steps move you forward. 😉
John Soares says
I really like that saying, Cathy, especially since I have four young grandnieces.
Emily Fowler says
I still struggle with self-efficacy, but I’m getting there! On the other hand, I’m good at rewarding myself, ha ha, so not all bad 😉
John Soares says
We all are better at some techniques than others. It’s important to recognize our weaknesses so we can improve them.
Jake Poinier says
Motivational stuff, as always, John. I made a huge mistake last year–I did about a 2-hour brainstorming session about goals in the spring, and then managed to file that notepad somewhere where it wasn’t accessible on a daily basis. Didn’t find the pad till later in the year. I still managed to hit many of the goals because I was thinking about them anyway, but I blew it on a couple of the easy ones!
John Soares says
That’s the problem with paper: it’s easy to misplace it. I write my goals in Word docs, and then use a 3×5 card for the main goals. I can always quickly recreate the 3×5 card if I need to.
Paula Hendrickson says
I’d only add one thing, John: Take that first step, then the next, and don’t overthink it.
When you second guess yourself, you start to overthink. When that happens, nothing ever gets accomplished. (Other than annoying everyone around you.)
John Soares says
Good point, Paula! I think there’s a quote in the Tao te Ching that is something like this: “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.”
Cheryl says
Good suggestions but I find commitment and persistence to the goals something I need to work on. I found handwriting my goals more effective than typing them in the computer. Each year I used to buy a Taylor planner to go inside my nifty leather binder which also contained address book, phone log, notes, etc. At the front of the planner was a section to write down goals and target date and I did that every year since beginning buying those planners in 1999. I’ve since moved on to using an electronic planner but the 2007 planner is still in my binder. Procrastination and throwing out old stuff should be in my goals! I had 3 goals written down and none were completed! Still working on them, though priorities change and at this stage none of them are important enough to be on my agenda. In 2005 and 2006 I did write down “buy a red Burgman”. I never met that goal but I didn’t write it in the 2007 planner because in 2006 I bought a black one. And no, the red one won’t go back on my goals. Maybe now I need to write down buy a red Jeep.
John Soares says
There’s a lot to be said for actually writing your goals. I have never had good penmanship, and I’m a fast typist, so I gradually shifted to typing everything — it’s more comfortable for me now.
Anne Wayman says
All true… being willing to revise is one of my favorites, and persistence is another. Babysteps too… with the warning or observation that they often lead, for awhile to more and more steps… like climbing a hill. Finally you start to move down.
Timothy Gagnon says
I wrote down a list of some goals on a little piece of paper that I keep under my laptop, and I take it out and review it on a daily basis. It really helps to keep the goals fresh in my mind and motivates me to work on my projects. One tip that really helped is to write a “Because” after each goal, a valid reason to achieve that goal. It helps me. Thanks for the great article.
Amanda at HeyRunnerMama says
“Locus for control” sounds like one of those biblical plagues! But, once you understand it, such an important concept for running one’s own life. Thank you for sharing this post!
Theodore Nwangene says
This is very awesome John,
Goal setting is very very important in human life and if you check the world most successful people today, you’ll find out that they don’t joke with it.
If you really want to achieve great things in life, you must adapt the goal setting attitude and after you might have sets your goals, you must also know the necessary steps needed for its attainment.
Thanks for sharing
Kirk Thompson says
John, I recently completed your course. Thank for providing a concise, painless method to help me focus my freelance efforts! It was eye-opening.
John Soares says
Kirk, Thank you for the kind words and I hope you’re well on your way to finding the right freelance writing niches for you.
Theodore Nwangene says
Great post John,
It’s always good to have goals but in most cases, it’s not all about setting the goals, the main thing is in achieving them.
Thats why it’s always good to set achievable goals that will not get you overwhelmed.
Thanks for sharing
Talissa says
Love your article. I’ve recently start my own biz, and i think your article can guide me to my success. gonna try it step by step until i’ve reach my goal. thanks for sharing
Moe says
that was an amazing read, I just recently started my business in art & graphic and need all the advice I can get I will definitely take your advice.
Thanks for the post!