Set Your Goals – How To Reach Them

I love setting goals! Goal setting is for everyone as you can always find at least one thing that you want to do to make your life better. Your goal doesn’t have to be for a whole year either; you could try to do something in a shorter period.

How to set your goals

For big life goals, I use The Wheel of Life which is a fantastic tool to help you figure out which areas of your life need a bit of ooomph!

• Happiness Goals! – The Wheel of Life

I do the Wheel of Life to help me identify what some of my big goals for the year will be. Where I have long-term life goals I determine what I can do this year to push towards them. I tend to have just 4 or 5 big goals in a year and 2 or 3 of them going at a given time, and then I also have a list of things that I want to do during the year that I organise, book and schedule.

My big goals for the year are:

• Find a new job at a senior level
• Create some learning as a charity project
• Learn to surf
• Go on an information diet
• Blog at least once a week and find my audience for Work It Sister

List of things to do this year include:

• Visit all of my best friends
• A weekend away in Edinburgh
• Shambala Festival
• Surf lessons

To enable you to achieve your goals for the year you must set your S.M.A.R.T goals

They should be:

• Specific
• Measurable
• Achievable
• Realistic
• Time Frame (within)

“I want to learn to surf in 2018” is a great goal but not quite a S.M.A.R.T goal. I did one lesson with Oscar Pursch at Star Surf in El Cotillo to test if I would even like surfing and wish to pursue it as a goal for the year. It helped me see my weaknesses and Oscar coached me on what I need to work on to achieve this goal. This includes yoga for surfers tutorials, swimming coaching and training to improve my paddling strength and overall fitness level. So a S.M.A.R.T goal is “I will train at least once a week and go on a surf holiday where I will get lessons to learn to surf at least one wave in 2018.”

Maybe test drive your goal like I did to see how you’ll go about tackling it.

Once you have your list of goals it helps to ask yourself the following questions:

1) What actions do I need to take to achieve this goal?

This is likely to produce a list of tasks which you can plan and schedule. For me, this is the yoga surf tutorials and swimming coaching and training.

2) What might get in the way of me achieving these goals?

Are there costs involved, have I got enough time to dedicate?

3) Who I need to share my goals with someone so they can help me achieve them?

Yes with my partner as I’d like to choose holidays this year located where I can get private beginner surf lessons. Asking this question is particularly important if you are giving something up, like smoking, drinking or if you’re dieting. Peer pressure can be a killer so ask those around you to be kind to you and not tempt you with those vice that you’re giving up.

Some people find that they can better reach their targets with someone else or as part of a team. Finding an Accountability Partner may help you to share your resolutions to achieve a similar goal. The ideal Accountability Partner will check in with you, see if you have moved forward and even support you during the tough times.

Or you sponsor yourself to reach your goal here at go fucking do it!

Prioritise your goals and give them a time frame

Prioritise each of the goals on your list and put a time frame for achieving each of them, maybe 1 month, 3 months, 6 month and 12 months.

Action plan and review – the key to achieving your goals

“If you fail to plan, you are planning to fail.” Ben Franklin said and he is absolutely right.

Schedule an action plan for the year. My list of things to do can be diarised, scheduled and booked such as holidays, yoga retreats, festivals, theatre and visiting friends and family.

My bigger goals will feature on my weekly action planner or to-do list where I will be scheduling smaller tasks that I can do each week to work towards those bigger goals. Smaller tasks are easily achievable and stop you feeling overwhelmed by the big goal. With these, I do a weekly and monthly check-in to see how well I am doing and if I’m on target. It’s important to be truthful with yourself and review your progress often. Don’t let a small setback put you off, just tweak your schedule to accommodate and get moving again. Remember to celebrate your successes – you’ve got this!

What if new opportunities come up

New opportunities always present themselves during the year, so I do still ask myself if the opportunity fits in with my goals and something I want to do. Reaching goals means dedicating the time to work towards them so not all new opportunities will fit in with this plan. Asking myself what means the most to me and what will I get maximum enjoyment out of usually answers this question for me. Life is for living, right?

“People with goals succeed because they know where they’re going.” Earl Nightingale

Once your goals are solid you might like to create a Mood Board

If there’s something you would like to do or try, but you’re scared, then read Is Fear Holding You Back?

• Be at your best
• Confidence, happiness, and wellness

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