8 Steps to Effective Goal Setting - Set Effective Goals and Achieve Them

Hi Dear Steemians,

I would love to appreciate the support that steemit community has extended to me in a very short period. I convey my gratitude to the awesome people here who have welcomed, upvoted, resteemed, helped and guided me.

Now, let me get back to the main topic of this post; effective goal setting.

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Goal setting may be the single most important thing for you if you’re trying to achieve something. More often than not, people want to accomplish a lot and end up accomplishing nothing at all, which is a huge cause of frustration and demotivation.

I am glad to share that I did a course on effective goal setting last year and this post is inspired by my learning and experience. Read on to understand effective goal setting techniques and apply them in your life to achieve your goals. If you find this post useful, please consider upvoting and resteeming.

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Step # 1: Understand That Not All Goals Are ‘Goals’

Looking at everything you ever wished to achieve, you can recall that not all of your wishes received equal attention from you.French writer Antone de Saint-Exupery said, 

“A goal without a plan is just a wish.” 

Were some (or a lot) of your goals just passing desires? I bet they were. This situation causes cloudy thinking; a situation of confusion and uncertainty.

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What happens is that your mind reads the unachieved goals as failures, which explains why there is a lot of resentment, frustration, and unhappiness. To avoid such confusion, your goals should have clarity. Clear goal setting is key to the achievement of goals.

Step # 2: Frame the Goals Positively

While writing or stating your goals, it is important to think of what you want rather than thinking about what you don’t want. So frame them positively; focusing on achievement and rewards rather than keeping hurdles and difficulties in your mind.

Step # 3: Create Meaningfulness in Goals 

Goals are much more likely to be materialized if they are meaningful to you. If a goal is harmonious with your personality and is initiated by you due to compelling nature of it, you are going to work hard towards its accomplishment.

An example of meaningfulness is that if this post helps someone set and achieve his or her goals, it will be an incredible honor and achievement for me as making a positive difference is my mission.

Step # 4: Determine How Much Control You Have On Your Goal

Speaking regarding control, goals are of two types. Some goals are entirely dependent on you; which means you have all the control over the outcome of that goals. Then there is another kind of goals in which the outcome is dependent on a lot of factors.

For example, if you are playing tennis against another player and you aim to win, it all depends on how well you do. However, if you are playing a football match and want to win, the whole team should perform in a certain way. In the latter situation, you don’t have much control over what your teammates do.

Step # 5: Visualize the Achievement

Another great filter for goal setting is visualizing the achievement of your goal.

• How will success look like?
• What will people say about it?
• How will it feel to you?

These are the questions you should answer while setting a goal. A visualization of consequences will further strengthen your goal.To develop that visualization, ask these questions from yourself.

• Why do you want to do it?
• Who will benefit from it?
• Where will it lead you to?

Step # 6: Identify Resources and Their Availability

A significant part of goal-setting and execution is resource identification. Every goal requires utilization of a set of resources. Typical resources are: -

• Skills
• Information
• Mindset
• Time
• Focus
• Money
• Energy
• Training.

Before setting a goal, it is necessary to ensure the availability of all the resources required to establish it and to clearly identify the challenging areas.

Step # 7: See Whether Your Goals Are Holistic

Not all goals align well with everything that matters to you. Some goals may not be good for your health. Some goals may be good for you but not so good for your family. I hope you get the point. A goal must be holistic, ecological, and concordant with all the important aspects of your life.

Step # 8: Set Time-Bound Goals

A deadline is a must for all the goals you set. It consistently acts as a reminder and triggers action towards the goal. For example, ‘I will learn graphics designing by 31st December 2017’. 

By mentioning the exact date of completion, you are automatically directing your mind towards the goal.The absence of timeline sends a signal to the brain that this goal is not that important, so there’s no need to take any action. A goal with a timeline makes you productive towards its achievement.

Conclusion

By now you must have realized what went wrong with the wishlist you had. You probably have acknowledged that many of your goals have been vivid and vague. Let me share a quick recap of all the eight steps.

1. Understand that not all goals are ‘goals' and some of them may just be passing desires. 
2. Frame the goals positively by focusing on the positive aspects of it and avoiding too much focus on potential hurdles.
3. Create meaningfulness in goals by seeing that they are in line with your personality and passions. 
4. Determine how much control you have on your goal and whether some external factors are involved.
5. Visualize the achievement of goals and what consequences it will bring to your life.
6. Identify resources and their availability to see if everything which you need is available.
7. See whether your goals are holistic and go along well with the most important things in your life.
8. Set time-bound goals by introducing an exact time when you will complete your goal.

I would like to add a little wisdom. In Kung Fu Panda 3 Master Oogway says to Kai, 

“The more you take, the less you have.” 

It’s same with goals. The more goals you set at a time, the less are the chances that you’ll achieve any of them.

Take away from this article is that next time when you sit down to set a goal; measure that goal against this checklist. It will help you prioritize the most important goals and achieve them by working on them diligently.

Closing Note

Please do extend your generous support by upvoting and resteeming this post. I would like to invite you to make a connection with me (@ilyastarar). Your comments and opinions are most welcome, and I'm looking forward to having a great discussion in the comments section.