Reach your goals - Goal-setting tips that get results

Success is no accident. Ask anyone who has excelled in any walk of life, and they will all tell you there were driven by their goals. Goal setting helps you focus and is critical for your motivation levels. Lots of people do actually try to structure their goals, but if it’s not done properly, it can do more harm than good. All too often, when working with teams or in the corporate sector, I’m told their goal is to be the best. That’s great, but nowhere have they laid out a roadmap to success.  

There are three types of goal:

1: Outcome – The end result. For example, winning a national championship.

2: Process – These are the actions needed to reach the end result.

3: Performance – These are the standards independent of other variables.

You might notice that process and performance goals lead to your overall outcome goal, and it can’t be reached without them.

Be S.M.A.R.T. in your goal setting.

Specific – What exactly do you want to achieve? The more detailed you are, the better your odds.

Measurable – Know what you will feel when you reach your goal and break it down into smaller, more manageable goals along your journey to your overall goal.

Attainable – You need to weigh up your goal and critically assess if it is achievable for you. If you aren’t good at physics and if you haven’t got a head for flying, perhaps deciding you want to work at NASA with a view to travelling to space isn’t an attainable goal. If you haven’t got the time, money or talent to reach a goal, you will fail and be miserable.

Relevant – Make sure you question why you want to reach this goal, and make sure that it is actually relevant to you.

Timely – Lay out deadlines but keep them realistic and flexible.

Remember…

It’s important to remember to set positive goals. Don’t set a goal telling yourself to stop missing passes on your left, but focus on giving extra time in training to working on your left side. If you set a negative goal, that’s all you will think of.

Make sure your goals are difficult enough to challenge you, but not so difficult that they’re unrealistic.

Be flexible. Sometimes you need to change your goals and that’s ok. Just know why they are changing.

Write your goals down. This reinforces your intentions and it also means that you can revisit them, chart your progress and recharge your focus.