How to set goals and achieve them. Goal must be in writing

24.09.2019

The ideal model for goal setting is SMART. This is an abbreviation for English words Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Timed. They mean that our goal should be:

specific. It is clearly indicated what result needs to be achieved;
Measurable. There are criteria showing the completeness of the goal;
Achievable. When you really assess your capabilities, you conclude that you can achieve it;
Realistic. It can be achieved by someone else besides you;
Defined by time. There must be time limits for achieving the goal;

To achieve the goal, it is necessary, first of all, to perform decomposition, that is, splitting into smaller subgoals. Even if your task is not too big, it can still be broken down into smaller parts that will make it easier to get the result.

It is necessary to consider which of the small goals can be delegated and write a number of people who will be responsible for this task.

Sort tasks by priority. Try to start with the most important goals, and then move on to smaller ones, this will allow you not to miss the main thing.

Constantly monitor the process, keep records and measure the effectiveness, then the result will not be long in coming.

Your goals will come true faster and more accurately if you learn how to set them correctly. Knowing what you want is not enough. It is necessary to detail your request to the universe.

Instruction

Decide which area of your life needs improvement the most. Of course, you can set several goals at the same time and achieve them in parallel, but it will be easier to start with something one, the main one. Think about what is the least satisfying for you at the present time, for example, the level of wealth, professional growth, relationships with the opposite sex, health, appearance or something different. Now you should understand what task to set for yourself in order to improve the state of your affairs.

Remember that your goal should be quite bold, but realistic. Do not be afraid to aim at something more, do not be modest, but do not wish for the impossible. Life goals are for achieving them, not for you to have a dream throughout your existence. If you find it difficult to determine the threshold where your real possibilities end and fantasy begins, refer to your past experience. Nobody knows you better than yourself. You can also look at relevant statistics on the Internet or study specialized literature.

Keep in mind that your goal must be very specific. Blurred definitions only push you back from the day when your plan will come true. If your success in a future endeavor can be measured in some way, set specific numbers as the bar. In addition, you need to decide on the date when you can expect the completion of the task. The absence of some deadline set for yourself will not allow you to know whether the desired result has been achieved. If there are any nuances that need to be clarified, do so. Your goal should be clear and precise.

Break down a big goal into smaller tasks. By working step by step, it will be easier for you to track your progress. Success during each period should be as easily defined in numbers, dates, or some other parameters as the overall result. In extreme cases, you can adjust your goal, because no one has canceled the possibility of unforeseen situations. Be sure to reward yourself after completing each stage. Even if it did not go completely smoothly and not one hundred percent successfully, you need self-support for further accomplishments.

Believe that you will succeed. Self-confidence will help you to direct all internal resources to achieve your goal. If you are pre-configured for failure, there is no point in starting something at all. Remember how your life will change after the end of this difficult path. You yourself will also become better, stronger, wiser. A person who has achieved his plan increases self-esteem, self-confidence. Do not forget that you will acquire additional skills, experience, skills.

Rules for setting goals and objectives.

1.Good goals should be specific. When thinking about how to set a goal, try to formulate it as specifically as possible, so that there are no uncertainties and vague concepts in it. To do this, I recommend following three rules:

– specific result. Goal setting should include a specific outcome that you want to achieve.

– measurable result. The goal you want to achieve must be expressed in some specific measurable value - only in this way can you really control its achievement.

– specific deadlines. And finally, the right goals should have their specific deadlines for achieving.

For example, “ I want” is an absolutely non-specific goal: there is neither a measurable result, nor specific deadlines. “I want to have a million dollars” - the goal already contains a measurable result. “I want to have a million dollars by the age of 50” is already the right goal setting, because. contains both the measured result and the time frame for achieving it.

The more specific the goal is, the easier it is to achieve.

2. Good goals should be realistically achievable. And this means that you must set goals, the achievement of which is within your power and depends mainly on you. It is unacceptable to plan something that is fully dependent on other people or some external factors that you are not able to influence.

For example, “I want to have a million dollars in 5 years, which my American uncle will leave me after his death” is a completely wrong and unacceptable goal. In order to sit and wait for 5 years for the uncle to die, there is no need to set goals. And the most interesting thing will be when it turns out that he bequeathed his fortune to someone else. Well, in general, I think you understand.

“I want to make a million dollars in a year.” Right target? No, if now you have not a penny for your soul, you simply will not achieve it.

“I want to increase my income by $100 every month.” This is already a realistically achievable goal, of course, if you have calculated and understand exactly how you will increase your income.

Set realistic goals and you can achieve them.

3. Right goals must come from the heart. When thinking about how to set a goal, you should choose only those goals that are really interesting and necessary for you, that beckon you, that you really want to achieve, from the achievement of which you will be truly happy. It makes absolutely no sense to set goals for yourself to do something through force, without having a desire, simply because it is “needed”. Also, do not pass off other people's goals as your own. Even if you complete these tasks, you are unlikely to get anything really needed from it.

For example, you don’t need to set a goal to get a law degree if you want to become a pop star, but your parents “push” you into lawyers, because this is a “money and prestigious profession.”

Set goals that will inspire you, not stress you!

4. Good goals should be positive. One and the same task can be formulated in different ways: with both positive and negative connotations. Therefore, when thinking about how to set a goal correctly, avoid negativity and use only positive expressions (you write everything down!) - this will psychologically motivate you more to achieve a result. Here, too, there are 3 important rules.

- The right goals should show what you want to achieve, not what you want to get rid of;

- Correct goals should not contain negatives (“I don’t want”, “I want that I didn’t have”, etc.);

- Correct goals should not contain even a hint of coercion (the words “should”, “must”, must, etc.).

For example, “I want to get rid of poverty”, “I don’t want to live in poverty”, “I want to have no debts” - the wrong formulation of the goal, because. contains a negative. “I want to become rich” is the correct formulation of the goal, because contains positive.

“I must become rich” is the wrong goal setting: you only owe banks and creditors, it is much better to formulate the goal like this: “I will become rich!”.

Positive goals are achieved much easier than getting rid of negative ones!

5. Goal setting must be written. When your goal is written down on paper or in an electronic document, it will psychologically motivate you to achieve it much more. Therefore, when thinking about how to set a goal, keep in mind that your goals must be recorded in writing. And it is a mistake to believe that you will remember what you have planned so well. Even if you have a good memory, a goal that you have not recorded anywhere is easiest to change or even abandon it altogether.

Goals in your head are not goals, they are dreams. The right goals must be written down.

6. Break down your big goals into smaller ones. If your goal seems too complex and unattainable, then break it down into several intermediate, simpler ones. So it will be much easier to achieve a common global goal. I'll say more if you don't break down important life goals to intermediate ones, then you are unlikely to reach them at all.

Take, for example, our first goal, “I want to have a million dollars by the age of 50.” If this is all that you have planned for yourself, you will not complete this task. Because it is not even clear how exactly you are going to earn this same million. Therefore, it is necessary to break this strategic task into several smaller, tactical ones, showing exactly how you will go towards the intended goal. For example: “Set aside $100 a month for”, “Within a month”, “Open by age 30”, etc. Of course, these are only approximate goal trends, the right goals should look, as you already know, more specific.

The global strategic goal will be achieved if you break it down into several intermediate, tactical ones.

7. Goals can be adjusted if there are objective reasons. If you have already set a clear and specific goal, this does not mean that it cannot be adjusted. However, and this is very important, goals can only be adjusted if there are objective reasons. Reasons like “I can’t do it” or “I’d rather squander this money” cannot be considered objective. Anything can happen in life and in the surrounding world that will have a significant impact on the achievement of the goal. And in the event of such force majeure circumstances, the goal can and should be adjusted, both in the direction of weakening and in the direction of strengthening.

For example, you set a goal to save $100 a month in a bank account to raise a certain amount. At the time of setting the goal, the deposit rate was 8% per annum. If the rates in banks drop to 5% per annum, you will need to adjust the goal: either save more, or, if this is not possible, reduce the amount you want to raise. But if the rates rise to 10% per annum, you will be able to adjust the goal in the direction of increasing the planned result.

There is nothing wrong with adjusting goals for objective reasons - circumstances may arise in life that could not have been foreseen.

8. Believe in achieving your goal. It is necessary not only to set the right goal, but also to believe in its achievement. This will psychologically help you go to the intended and overcome all the obstacles that come your way.

Faith in achieving the goal - the most important factor on the way to success. Setting yourself goals that you don't believe you can achieve makes no sense at all.

I hope this article has helped you understand how to set a goal correctly, and what your proper goals should be.

You will find many more in other publications on useful tips and recommendations that will become your assistants on the path to success, as well as teach you how to properly manage your personal finances, because the achievement of almost any life goal has its own financial side. Until we meet again on the pages of the site!

A goal differs from a dream in that it has not only an image, but also real ways to achieve it. Without means and concrete actions that make approaching the goal possible, one can only dream and fantasize.

The goal is an ideal, mental anticipation of the result of human actions and ways to achieve it with the help of certain means.

In other words, the goal is a possible, imagined future event or state of something, the implementation of which is desirable for a person (personal image of the future). At the same time, the means and possible ways necessary to achieve it are always consistent with the goal.

Otherwise, this desired future will only be a conjuration of the elements (lack of possible means) or fruitless dreams (lack of ways to achieve). Thus, the goal is always something for the sake of which specific actions of a person are carried out. No action, no goals. And vice versa.

How to set goals correctly

The fulfillment of our desires and the realization of dreams largely depends on how correctly we set goals. Goal-setting rules help turn our aspirations and desires into reality. Therefore, in this article we will consider in detail the question - “How to set goals correctly?”, And we will understand how to translate our desires and dreams into the category of real and clear goals that can be achieved.

1. Rely on your own strength

Before you set a goal, make sure that you are fully responsible for achieving it. To avoid the temptation to shift the responsibility for your failures to someone else, set yourself goals that you can achieve without outside help. This goal-setting rule will save you in the future (in the event that you do not achieve something) from the wrong conclusions when working on mistakes.

2. Get your goals right

Firstly, goals, like ideas, must be written down on paper (notebook, diary, diary). A goal written in detail has a much greater chance of becoming realized. If you think you can keep them in your head without formulating goals on paper, then don't flatter yourself about achieving them. Such goals can be safely attributed to the category of dreams. Dreams and desires wander chaotically in our head, they are chaotic, disorderly and completely unclear to us.

The efficiency of such goals-dreams is extremely small; in reality, they are achieved very, very rarely. Even in words, we often cannot describe what we really want. Therefore, the formulation of the goal must necessarily take place with a pencil in hand. The proverb is true - "What is written with a pen cannot be cut down with an ax."

Setting and formulating a goal with the help of a record includes our subconscious in active work, the formulated goal gives confidence and makes each next step meaningful.

Caught a guy goldfish. And she tells him: "Let me go, I will fulfill your every desire." Well, he thought, thought, how to fit everything into one desire and says: “I want me to have everything!”. “Well,” the fish replies, “you had everything.”

Secondly, the correct setting of the goal and its formulation suggest that the goal should carry a positive charge. Therefore, it is better to formulate it using the rules of affirmations - talk about what you want, and not about what you do not want. The right goal is "to be rich", "to be sober", "to be slim". The wrong goal is to “avoid poverty”, “do not drink”, “get rid of excess weight”. If nothing positive comes to mind and something like “I don’t want this, I don’t want this” is constantly spinning, try asking correctly: “This is what I don’t want. Then what do I want instead?"

Also, following this rule of setting a goal, when formulating it, it is better not to use words that create resistance and reduce the effectiveness of the goal - “necessary”, “necessary”, “should”, “should”. These words are antipodes to the word "I want". How can you want, using blocking words to induce? Therefore, replace “should” with “want”, “should” with “can”, “should” with “will do”.

The right goal is “I want to relax and go on vacation”, “I can and I can earn and will earn a lot of money.” Wrong goal - "I need to relax and go on vacation", "To repay the debt, I must earn money." It is also best to formulate the goal in terms of the result, not the process: that is, "do this" and not "work better."

3. Break Big Goals into Subgoals

Any big goal seems overwhelming until you start to divide it into parts. For example, the desire to buy property abroad seems impossible at first glance. But if you move towards the goal with systematic steps, dividing it into stages, it will be easier to achieve it.

You can first set a goal to earn 3 thousand rubles a day, then 5 thousand, etc. Step by step (goal by goal) you will reach a level where you can think about buying real estate. Setting complex (global) goals and objectives, splitting them into smaller ones, has an excellent motivational effect. Having achieved one, albeit insignificant goal, you will feel satisfaction and desire to move on. Reaching the near frontiers, you gain the strength and confidence to reach the distant ones.

Gradually, the way of thinking will also change. Understand, it is unrealistic to earn 20 thousand a month, and then in a few weeks increase your income to 500 thousand. Big money likes prepared ones.

4. Specification of the goal

Often the reason why the goal is not achieved is its vagueness, namely:

Lack of a clearly defined specific result. What does it mean - "I want to learn Chinese”, - to learn a couple of hundred words, or does it mean learning to communicate fluently in this language, or maybe “learning Chinese” means learning all 80 thousand hieroglyphs and reading the text without a dictionary?
The inability to measure this result. When setting goals and objectives, it is important to take into account the further possibility of measuring the result. For example, if you want to drop excess weight, then you should know how much you want to lose weight, by five, ten or maybe thirty kilograms.
Lack of clearly defined deadlines. Here are two examples of goal setting: the first is “I want to increase my website traffic to a thousand unique visitors per day”, the second is “I want to increase my website traffic to a thousand unique visitors per day in three months.” The first option, without a clearly defined time frame, looks more like a desire than a goal. Well, a person wants to increase the traffic of his resource, and so what? He can come to this only after five years. The second option is another matter - there is a set deadline that will stimulate and spur in every possible way. Surely the deadline was determined reasonably, and not taken from the ceiling, and therefore you will have to forget about laziness and work productively.

More, more specifics!

5. Target Adjustment

Be flexible! Just because you've set a goal doesn't mean you can't make the necessary adjustments to it. Anything can happen, circumstances may arise that can slow down or accelerate the achievement of the goal, so you need to be ready to adjust the goal. Remember that inertia in aspirations has not yet made anyone either a successful or a happy person. Life is changing and you have to change with it!

6. Attractiveness of the target

The goal and the consequences that its achievement will lead to should attract you! choose goals that attract, inspire and inspire you, otherwise “the game is not worth the candle”.

7. Believe in the achievability of your goal

After formulating and setting a specific goal, you need to feel it and fix it in the subconscious. It happens that consciously striving to achieve a goal, subconsciously we are not ready to achieve it. You can wish for a goal, but deep down you do not believe in its feasibility, do not believe in your abilities, or simply consider yourself unworthy.

It is not enough to correctly formulate the goal, it is necessary to charge it with the energy of confidence - this is the most important condition for readiness to achieve the goal. All successful people, starting from TV stars (Oprah Winfrey, Larry King...) and outstanding athletes (Michael Jordan, Fedor Emelianenko...), ending with politicians (Mitt Romney, Silvio Berlusconi, Arnold Schwarzenegger...) and businessmen (Richard Branson,...) have achieved that they have due to the ability to correctly formulate and set goals.

8. Adjustment of goals and objectives

If you once already defined your main life goals, this does not mean that you cannot partially change them over time. Adjustment of goals and objectives can take place at every stage of your life path. Flexibility in our time is the most important quality to adapt to changing conditions. It must be remembered that ossified views have not yet led anyone to success or happiness. You must change with the world around you.

At least once a year, every success-minded person should devote time to such an activity as adjusting goals. For example, you can do this every birthday because that is the moment when you grow up one year and realize that you have become wiser. Devote this day to the analysis of those fruits that you managed to collect in the previous year.

Focus on your victories and don't forget to praise yourself for them. At the same time, do not lose sight of your defeats. Make the most correct conclusions and think about what you have to work on in the coming period. Be sure to evaluate the list of goals that was compiled a year ago. Carefully analyze each of the tasks. Think about what you did specifically for the year to implement it.

Assess how far you have come in your aspirations. Ask yourself if a particular goal has the same meaning for you that it did a year ago. Perhaps today this task will seem insignificant to you, or even naive in some respects. In such a situation, you can safely cross it out.

Once you have gone through all your goals, start creating new list. You can modify old tasks, focusing on the requirements of the present moment. If you have new thoughts about goals, be sure to record them. At the same time, care must be taken to ensure that new tasks do not contradict the still relevant old ones. We must remember that their capabilities must be assessed adequately. Try to set achievable goals for yourself, because unrealistic goals, the implementation of which at this stage is almost impossible, will become the subject of your disappointment in a year.

If your life has changed significantly over the past year, adjusting your goals is almost mandatory for you. Don't set yourself too tight a time frame. You don't have to wait a year to adjust your goals. By forming new life priorities, you will have the opportunity to understand and accept all the changes that have occurred in your life.

Most likely, you have many goals. Try to write them down briefly and clearly on a piece of paper. Most likely, it will not be possible to do this quickly the first time, and the results of such work may surprise you. It will not be superfluous to compare the old and new list in order to understand what you have abandoned and where you are moving.

Remember that you have the ability to change both the goals themselves and the methods for their implementation. For example, a past strategy to achieve a certain goal at the present moment may seem to you universal stupidity. Make changes in your life, otherwise there is a risk that you will remain in the same place for a long time.

We write sheets of paper with multiple statements of our goals in life - our reality is saturated with time management advice. But a mountain of sheets does not make our desires and goals more real.

How to reach the goal? To make our goal become a reality, turn from a mirage on the horizon into a tangible “here and now”? How to organize your life so that setting goals and our actions are aimed at the result, and not at the process?

She told us all about it Anna Kebets, organizational coach, manager consulting company goodwin group. The described techniques will help you create a system for achieving goals and be sure that your friends, colleagues or subordinates have the same understanding of the project that you are working on together.

Determine the desired result

The SMART coaching technique will show you how to set goals correctly and make your desires truly achievable.

According to this technique, in order to set a goal, it is important that it meets the following characteristics:
Specific- specific;
Measurable- measurable;
Achievable– achievable;
Realistic/Relevant– real / relevant;
Timed- defined in time.

specific target. Before you start moving, make sure you can set a clear and positive goal for yourself. For example, your personal task for today “send resume” is not clear. Much more specific is “today find 5 interesting vacancies, write a resume for each of them and send it”. “Correct diction” is also not the best example of how to set goals, but your specific self-improvement option is “read a tongue twister twice every day.” “Throwing a party for friends” also sounds too vague. But "organize a party for 20 people in the style of office zombies under open sky outside the city" - good example how to set a goal. The task “make a promo video to uuuh!” will result in “uuuh, what the hell did you shoot?”. But “I want an action with a cut of YouTube jokes in a one-minute video where our ideal target audience gets the answer “why do I need this subscription to the site?” - gives a clear understanding to employees of what exactly you want to see and what goals they set for themselves.

If something can be measured, then it can be done. Quantitative indicators help to understand at what stage of achieving the goal you are.

measurable goal. The goal should always have results that can be fixed in some way. Otherwise, it is difficult to understand that the achievement of the goal is close. After all, if something can be measured, then it can be done. Quantitative indicators help to understand at what stage of achieving the goal you are. Therefore, instead of “increasing sales”, for example, good sales managers set themselves the task of “increasing in May average check sales up to $5,000”: this is an example of how to set a goal correctly. And, for example, a marketer formulates measurability as follows: “publish three articles per spread in the country’s three leading publications / increase the number of Vkontakte subscribers to 5,000 people.”

“Become more flexible” is not clear: how do you know what to do if you set such vague goals in life? But it is quite clear what needs to be achieved in such cases - “for a month, reach your forehead with your knee without bending your legs / practice one negotiation technique a day.”

You must be able to implement what you have planned. It makes no sense to want a villa by the sea, lying all your free time on the couch.

If it is difficult to understand how to set a goal and measure it correctly, answer two questions for yourself using a scale from 1 to 10 points: how many points do you define the achievement of the goal and how close are you now to the final goal? The first question means that your task does not require a perfect 10 points, and for example, 5 is enough for you to check the “done” checkbox.

Achievable goal. Thinking about how to achieve the goal, you need to assess whether you have the ability to implement your plan. For example, it will be difficult for you to marry a famous TV presenter without any access to the circles in which he moves. It is also pointless to consider a villa by the sea as a goal in life, lying all your free time on the couch, not having rich relatives and not even getting involved in money scams.

Before setting goals, think about which of them you can achieve due to professional skills or personal skills. If you need to involve someone for this task, then choose a person who has motivation, abilities or the necessary skills.

realistic target. Realism is determined by your external and internal resources. When building a system for achieving goals, honestly evaluate what you already have today to achieve your goal, and what you still don’t have. In addition, each new goal should be consistent with your other goals and activities. Otherwise, you will stop yourself.

Do not stretch or compress real deadlines, otherwise you will have to do everything at the last moment or at an accelerated pace.

A goal in time. Effective goal setting always includes deadlines. In order to run a half marathon, you personally need to train for a year. Set a deadline - "to prepare well and not die during training, I need a year, but not one last month before the race." If you want to set a goal to write a book review/financial report in a week (taking into account force majeure) - specify this period. Do not stretch or compress real deadlines, otherwise you will have to do everything at the last moment or at an accelerated pace. And be sure to miss something important in a hurry.

Working through each task/desire/goal against these five criteria will help you identify specific steps that will help you both set yourself a goal and achieve it.

We determine the conditions for achieving the goal

Do you want to get an objective picture of the facts and understand what is really happening in your life / work regarding a specific goal (for example, a project, a task), what can prevent you from realizing your goals in life, and is this the goal you are striving for?

Here is a list of clarifying questions:

1. How are things going with this goal?

2. If you leave everything as it is, what will happen in a year, three, five?

3. What will happen if the goal is realized?

4. To what extent can you personally influence the implementation?

5. What steps have already been taken in the chosen direction to achieve the goal?

6. Could more be done?

7. What prevented you from doing more?

8. What resources are needed for implementation?

9. What resources do you already have, what will you need in the future, and where can you get them?

10. What are the possible risks?

11. Which of the partners / assistants / friends can help to realize the idea, and who will hinder?

12. What measurable results are needed?

13. After the goal is achieved, how will the realized goal affect everything that surrounds us?

We determine the strategy for achieving

If you clearly understand your goal, then you have several ways to achieve it. And it depends on the strategy you have chosen how you can achieve the goal, the algorithm of the next steps. Want to make sure you find The best way? Test your strategy and the chosen system for achieving goals.

So, brainstorm (if you are confident, you can brainstorm alone) and write down the answers to these questions:

1. How can you achieve the goal you set for yourself? Write down everything, even the most crazy options. Don't dismiss anything.

2. What are the pros and cons of each option? Write down everything, even potential disadvantages and advantages.

3. What is needed to implement each of the options? Describe financial, human, time, etc. resources.

4. Which of the options will work faster, which one is more effective? This question brushes aside solutions that are too long in time, requiring overinvestment and depletion of resources, inefficient solutions to achieve the goal.

Surely, you are familiar with the SWOT analysis, which allows you to evaluate this or that idea: Strengths ( strengths), Weaknesses ( weak sides), Opportunities (opportunities) and Threats (threats). It is too good tool for those who want to know how to set goals the right way. Analyze your goal and make a chart for yourself to organize everything that came to mind during the brainstorming session. As a rule, after these questions, only a couple of options remain, according to which you need to make a real choice of strategy.

We define a specific plan

When you understand what goals to set for yourself, after the final choice of a single strategy, draw up an action plan (do not forget to formulate everything according to the SMART principle!). Otherwise, all the work done is meaningless. The starting questions are very simple. We ask ourselves these questions every day:

1. What is the very first step you are willing to take to achieve your goal?

2. When exactly will you take this first step?

3. Who will you involve: who is the performer, controller, who should motivate, etc.?

4. Do all steps have deadlines?

All successful people know how to set goals and achieve results. Read about the basic rules for setting goals and achieving results that will help you realize your dream.

Making dreams come true consists of 2 stages: correct goal setting and an effective process for achieving results. First of all, we will analyze: how to set the right goal.

turn your dreams into reality;
competently allocate time and energy;
motivate yourself on the way to the result;

When you set a clear goal for yourself, your actions become as effective as possible. subordinated to a specific idea. A correctly set goal will not only show you the easiest and most effective way to achieve results, but also give you the necessary motivation when the desire to work will leave you.

Setting goals is a habit

Some successful people have dedicated their lives to the study of effective goal achievement. Brian Tracy, the author of more than 70 books on self-development, paid much attention to the study of this art. Of the Russian writers, Gleb Arkhangelsky, the author of the book Time Drive, stands out. Each of them came to the conclusion that the ability to correctly set goals and achieve them is a habit that can and should be developed. We will touch on some of the thoughts of these authors in this article, but to a greater extent the article will be based on my personal experience on achieving goals. Writing this article is also a small goal, a step towards achieving a more global goal - creating a useful website for self-development. And the fact that you are now reading this article indicates that the result has been achieved quite well. Here we go?

How to set a goal: 5 rules

In total, I identified 5 basic rules that affect the quality of the goal. If you follow each of them, you will be able to formulate a correct and motivating goal for yourself, with which you will undoubtedly be able to achieve results. Let's start.

Goal must be in writing

A verbally stated goal is just a thought. Only written down on paper, a specific wording is a real obligation to oneself. The written formulation of the goal implies the presence of some convenient tool to fix it. There are 2 handy tools for setting goals:

diary

The most efficient and user-friendly tool. People who use a diary are much more efficient than those who neglect it. The diary is convenient in that goals can be formulated for the year, month, week and day, and you can always have it at hand. At the same time, short-term goals (for example, a plan for the day) should always come from long-term goals (goals for the year).

visualization board

This is small size a board with the ability to draw and erase, which is hung at home or at work in a conspicuous place. For daily planning it is not suitable for tasks, but for the formulation of global tasks, for example, for the coming year, this is an ideal option.

For myself, I chose a diary.

The right goal should be as specific as possible.

One of the reasons many people don't achieve goals is lack of specificity. Because of this, it is not clear whether you are getting closer to the goal, and how far you have progressed. Let's take weight loss as an example.

Bad wording: lose weight

Good wording: lose 10kg in 10 months, dropping 1kg monthly by November 1, 2018;

The more specific the goal is, the brighter in your head you can imagine the final result, which means you can effectively motivate yourself.

The goal must be measurable

A measurable goal should be as detailed as possible. It must specify the period during which you plan to achieve this goal. If the deadline for achieving the goal is not set, then you give the brain a setting: there is nowhere to hurry, which means that it is also not necessary to make maximum efforts to achieve the goal.

The deadline does not have to be exactly set the first time. Perhaps it will undergo adjustment, become shorter or longer. Just assessing your strengths right away is not an easy task, but in the process of work it will become clearer to you.

The goal should be divided into the maximum number of subtasks

This is especially true for global goals, which may take more than one year to achieve. A very good association on this issue was voiced by Gleb Arkhangelsky. He compared a big goal to an elephant, and the process of achieving a result to eating an elephant. Eating a whole elephant seems like an overwhelming task, but if you divide the elephant into small pieces - "steaks", and gradually eat them, then soon you will see that your impossible task is completed in many small steps.

Goal must be achievable

You should not set yourself impossible tasks - they greatly weaken the motivation on the way to the result. You must constantly see progress and be aware that you are approaching the intended goal. Therefore, first of all, you need to evaluate your strengths and decide what result is really achievable for you.

The goal should inspire

Even just the very wording that you make up should make you want to make efforts to achieve a result. Closing your eyes and seeing yourself having achieved your goal, you should literally be filled with strength and inspiration. And remembering her early in the morning, when you don’t want to get up, fly up out of bed.

In order for the goal to inspire you as much as possible, do a simple exercise. Take a piece of paper and write down the 10 most desirable changes that achieving your goal can bring to your life.

An example of a well-set goal

Take for example a goal: buying a car.

If this is your cherished dream, then you should choose which car model can inspire you to exploits. For example, Chevrolet Lanos.

I am buying a black Chevrolet Lanos car on June 30, 2020 at a price of 180,000 rubles.

To do this, I need to save 5,000 rubles a month for the next 3 years, which I will save to a special bank account, with interest.

When I buy a car, I will make my dream of car travel come true, I will be able to travel to work in comfort, I will get rid of the need to travel by public transport, I will listen to my favorite music loudly, I will be able to ride through an empty night city late at night, go to an endless highway and drive , drive, drive ...

Let's move on to the next step.

How to achieve results: 5 rules

Even the most correct and inspiring goal will not be achieved if it is not supported by action. After the goal is correctly formulated, it is necessary to proceed to the most important stage - the process of achieving the result.

The first thing you will encounter is a lot of fears in your head, most often invented. Let's look at the 3 most popular fears and how to deal with them:

Work with fears

I won't be able to

A very common idea, and extremely harmful. Take a look around. Look at what incredible results others are achieving: they create a million-dollar business, become screen stars, popular performers. Imagine that one day one of them would say to themselves - I will not succeed. It would stop him and he wouldn't even try. Who would he be now? You do not want to deprive yourself of future victories, success and achievements, simply because you are afraid of failure?

Actually, you don't have to be afraid of defeat. In any case, it will be experience, practice, efforts. But what you really need to be afraid of is not even trying. Drive this fear out of your head, and constantly tell yourself - "I can do it!". Soon you yourself will believe in it and achieve results that you only dreamed of before.

2. The goal is unattainable

You need to figure out why you think so. If no one has achieved such a goal before you, then be the first. Many people were once the first in something, and this did not stop them.

And if someone has already achieved a similar result (especially if many), then you have every chance. You are no worse. Most likely even better. Now you are working on yourself, reading useful material. And that speaks volumes about your determination. You simply cannot fail. I believe in you!

3. It's too late

A dangerous and very destructive thought. I used to like talking to myself. When I was a student, it was precisely this thought that stopped me from achieving important goal. And after many years, I nevertheless returned to my goal, and began to work on its achievement. And I have already achieved good results. It turned out that even after many, many years it was not too late, and after many more years it would not be too late. But then, when I studied at the university, it was the perfect time. I'm sorry I didn't understand it then.

If you now refuse to achieve the goal, because It seems to you that it’s “too late”, then after many years you will be very sorry and realize that it was “it’s time”. Believe me.

To achieve results - act

The key to success is to keep moving forward. Have you broken your goal into many subtasks? It is necessary to take a step towards the goal every day, even a small one. But be sure to do it. If you do not have the strength, or you want to postpone the matter until tomorrow, remember that the same thing will happen tomorrow.

Think about this.

If you write only 1 page a day, then in a year you will write a book.

If every day you save 100 rubles, by the end of the year you will have 36,500 rubles.

If you do 100 push-ups every day, then in a year you will do 36,500 push-ups.

Thinking about this, you realize what a huge power the constants have, even if small steps to reach your goal and what big results can be achieved through small but regular actions.

Control the achieved result

Your constant companion in achieving results is progress tracking. If you decide to use a diary, then it will be right to report to yourself every day about what results you have achieved.

Such reports help you not only to see progress, but also to feel responsible to yourself if you "cheat". Are you ready to accept what you have today and give up your dreams? I'm sure not. Report to yourself every evening, analyze the mistakes and think about what can be done better.

Get inspired by success stories

That's very important point- there will surely be people who have already achieved the result you are striving for. Find their success stories - books, personal blogs, forum posts. The stories of people who have conquered the peak you aspire to will not only inspire you, give you the opportunity to gain experience and valuable knowledge; learn about the mistakes they made and not make them yourself.

That's all, friends! Believe in yourself and you will succeed!