“We don’t want your distance from the goal crush you” Jordan Peterson
Obviously people have difficulty to set goals and execute them. We know you can’t arrive a place if you don’t start moving towards a direction.
Well executed goal setting is fulfilling and will increase your confidence, make you achieve future goals easier. The more you achieve, the more you will be likely to achieve.
But why it doesn’t work for most people?
A few reasons why goal setting is not working for you:
- You are not defining it in detail
- Too hard or too easy to achieve (awareness problem)
- Missing micro steps (most important reason goals fail)
The smart way of goal setting is to reverse engineer these failing reasons. Re-structure your goal not to fail for these reasons. Here is how:
Define in Detail
Your goal can’t be:
“I want to be successful”
You may want that and thats fair but you have to be way more specific, being abstract is the number one reason goals fail.
You want to be successful on what, when and to what extent?
I want to make a website for my product with a shop section ready to deliver within 3 months.
Now that sounds more achievable ha?
And it also gives you the question of whats next. Successful goals inspire more action and progression.
Not Too Hard or Too Easy to Achieve
There are variety of problems you can solve and goals you can achieve.
Some of them are super hard and takes years to achieve.
Some of them are super easy, I call them 5 minute goals.
“I want to clean my desk” is a 5 minute goal, so it is too quick to be a goal. That is why we call it a task.
A goal has to have a timeline and some level of complexity which will require multiple goals.
“I want to solve the water problem in Africa”
This is obviously a long term mission, needing years of work, funding and teams of people. That is why it is a mission not a goal.
A smart goal is not too hard or too easy.
“I will create this product and sell 1000 copies in 1 year” sounds and feels like a good goal.
You immediately feel it is executable.
Plan Micro Steps
I actually wrote this article for this 3rd step of smart goal setting.
Most people around me can do the first 2 steps ok but they fail to plan micro steps. They miss the ladder to walk to their goal.
If you can’t see what step to take next and hopefully the steps for the next few days, it is really hard to get anything done.
This is why it is vital to divide your goal into weekly and daily tasks.
If you do 1 task everyday and advance towards your goal, than you will see there is no reason to reach it.
All achievers know that structuring the road to your goal is the only way to achieve.
Now go back and re-structure your goals and achieve them.
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If you like the article, you will love achieve anything toolbox.