One of the most crucial elements to achieving your goals is preparation and planning. If you truly want to accomplish something its going to take some serious thought. Too many times I have seen people give up and not reach their goals simply because they didn’t put any long-term thought into how to achieve it. Or worse, I’ve seen people give up because they completely overwhelm themselves in the beginning and it gets to be too much to handle.
Whenever I set out to achieve a goal or get completely overwhelmed with what I’m currently working on, I stop and ask myself these questions that help get me refocused:
What do I want to specifically accomplish?
Helping yourself narrow done what you want to accomplish can really help you feel focused. For example, if your goals are health and fitness related be specific with what you want to achieve. When I start working with a new client and we talk about what their goals are, more often than not I am met with the response of I want to “get in shape”. I ALWAYS ask but what does “get in shape” mean to you? For some, getting in shape could mean running a mile without stopping and for others it could be running a sub six minute mile. Having a specific idea about what you want to accomplish will help keep you focused and should help stop you from feeling completely overwhelmed.
Why do I want to accomplish this?
So now you know what you want to accomplish, but why? Understanding why you want to accomplish your specific goal can be a huge factor in helping to keep you motivated. When I start working with a new client, I always recommend that they write down why their goal is important to them. Being able to look back on your why can help you remind why you started and keep you determined to see it through.
How am I going to accomplish my goal?
Try not to just focus on the big picture, start to break down your goal into small achievable steps. For example, say you want to lose 30 pounds. Instead of focusing on how you are going to lose 30 pounds, you could break it down to focusing on losing 1-2 pounds per week, losing 4-6 pounds per month. Having smaller attainable goals, helps you stay motivated and lets you work on accomplishing your overall goal. I like to ask myself these questions when I’m focusing on how to accomplish my goal:
- What progress can I make today?
- What can I accomplish by the end of the week?
- Where would I like to be at the end of the month?
Have I made any progress?
Let’s say your goal is to lose weight. The scale is not always our friend, I’m sure the ladies know what I’m referring too. Consider taking a before photo and taking a phono every four weeks. When you feel like you haven’t made any progress or are frustrated and want to give up, look back at where you started. Keeping track of your progress can help keep you accountable. If you haven’t made any progress or feel that you should have progressed further, this can be a great point to stop to ask yourself what you can do different in order to see more results.
Goal setting doesn’t have to be complicated. As long as you remember to focus on your what, your why and your how you will get to where you want to be. What do you like to do when you work towards your goals? Do you have any strategies that have worked for you in the past? Share your thoughts end experiences below, we’d love to hear them!
Goal setting is super important for me. I like to set monthly and yearly goals for myself 🙂
I do as well!
SMART goals are…smart! I am better at implementing in a work environment, and need to carry this into other areas as well.
This is a great and informative post on goal setting. It’s so important to truly understand what it is and why you want to achieve that goal!!
It really is, it can help keep you focused for long term.
This was such an inspiring and positive post! Loved it x
these are all wonderful ideas on how to set goals and accomplish them, I recently moved and I am having such a hard time jumping back into the groove of things. I am def gonna use these to help!
Awesome, good luck!
I’ll keep these in mind. I’m always working on meeting my goals.
Awesome
Yes! Goal setting is so important and so many people struggle doing it.
Exactly, it can easily be accomplished without over thinking!
This is such a great post and very informative. Loved this kind of article, it really helps us to set and determine our goal.
Thank you!
These are great way to determine goals and set them. I can definitely see how someone can accomplish goals with these questions.
Absolutely!
This is such a great post and very informative as well. We should keep this in mind in setting our goal and how it can be done.
I agree, we really should.
I agree that the more well thought it is, the easier it will be to achieve. I am a huge fan of setting achievable goals.
Exactly!
This is amazing! Setting a goal is easy but achieving all of it is not. I agree with breaking down goals and eventually focus on the bigger picture.
It really does make the process that much easier!
This is great! Definitely some good tips to help achieve your goals
Thank you!
This is so helpful! Goal setting is crucial when it comes to working out. I always try to work out for myself and not anyone else because that always helps me to follow through!
That’s good, doing it for yourself is always better than doing it for someone else.
It always fascinates me when I hear of others setting their goals and actually accomplishing them. You always want to define your goals first. A lot of people forget the importance of doing so.
Exactly, I agree completely!
Every point is so correct and important to ponder on. I am definitely going question myself from now on so that I don’t lose track. Very helpful post.
Thank you, I am glad you find this helpful!
The thing i find hard with setting goals is actually finding the numbers to reach – not too low, not too high. This is a great way to determine goals!
It really is a great way to break it down and not get to overwhelmed by the big picture.
I have to admit that I haven’t been keeping track of my goals and I can see the effect it’s had. It’s time to change that.
Definitely, take small steps everyday and start working towards it.
These are all great questions! I find myself asking them regularly.
Awesome!
What a wonderful post! These are some great ways to think about it, very eye opening. Thanks for sharing! 🙂
You’re welcome!
Thank you. I have been busy lately that I lost my focus. I even forgot where I am at, talking about my goals. This simple outline will help me assess my progress.
I’m glad, good luck with getting back on track and working towards them!
Goal setting is very important. First we must know what we want the most. This is not easy, especially if we want many things. Then we set the specific goal and plan the steps and efforts to reach the goal.
Exactly, I completely agree!
These are great steps at setting a goal. A lot of people don’t always ask themselves all of these questions, while instesd just jumping into achieving the goal. I’ll have to try these out myself. Thanks for sharing!
You’re welcome, let us know how following the steps works out for you!
In all honesty, setting goals is important to me. With that being said, thank you for giving me ideas on how to do it a simpler way.
You’re welcome, let me know how they work out for you!
These are definitely some great ideas for simplifying goals. I think that setting reasonable goals is super important and then pushing yourself with the goals each time after.
Exactly!
I love this post! It’s so insightful and full of useful tips. I really enjoy goal setting.
I love goal setting too!