It’s the beginning of a new year, the time where people start setting new goals for the year ahead. People usually have varying views towards goal setting, some find that it is too stressful while others find it helpful in achieving something. Personally, I’m a big fan of setting actionable goals. I believe that well-planned goals help set us up for success. For those who may find it a challenge to set goals, here’s usually how I go about setting my goals and working towards it.
1. Looking at the big picture
It’s easy to set goals with sweeping statements based on how we feel at the start of the year (e.g I will drink less or I will exercise more). However, I think it’s important to take a step back, look at the big picture and envision how we want to be a year from now. To help us, we can envision the various areas in our life — finances, career, relationship, healths and so on.
If we know where we want to be a year from now, it’ll be easier to set achievable goals that will bring us closer to that. This brings me to my next point.
2. Setting SMART goals
We can start by setting goals using the popular SMART framework. Many would’ve heard of the framework, but I’ll suggest reading it again here and applying it in your goal setting.
I want to focus on 3 aspects of a SMART goal — Measurable, Achievable and Time Bound.
Measurable: You should be able to measure the input and output of it. For example, you can’t set a goal to draw everyday to feel happy. Happiness is not something that can be measured. Instead, choose an end goal that you can measure. (e.g Drawing everyday in order to be able to draw a portrait of my dog by the end of the week)
Achievable: An achievable goal means that it can actually be actioned by you. For example, instead of saying “I want to gain 1000 subscribers on my blog (which I do but can’t control). I’ll instead say, I want to write 10 more articles over the next month (which can be controlled).
Time Bound:
Good goals have to have a start and end date. This allows us to know how long we have to get there and keep us on track. I would recommend setting short sprints that don’t span beyond 6 months. This ensures that you won’t procrastinate and delay what you need to do.
It may take some time to learn how to write good actionable goals that can help you, but I suggest you start today and learn as you go along.
3. Accountability
However even with the best goals, it may still be difficult to accomplish our goals on our own. This brings me to my last tip. It helps a lot to have someone to be accountable to. I cannot emphasise this enough. Having someone who can ask you how you’re progressing and keep you on track if you’re a bit lost will go a long way. This can come in various forms:
- Speaking to a friend: Ask a friend to keep you accountable and speak to them about your goals.
- Posting it on social media: Be it Instagram or LinkedIn, posting it makes a promise and public declaration of your goal.
If you do prefer an accountability coach, I would love to be an accountability buddy to you. I do help my friends with bi weekly 15–30 minutes check in and could do the same for you. Feel free to drop me an email on my website.
Like what you’ve read? If so, check out my website at https://www.itscheryltan.com
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