Table of Content
What Is A Goal?
A goal is an aim or objective that you set for yourself, a target you strive to achieve. Whether it’s personal, professional, or something else entirely, a goal is what guides your ambition and shapes your actions towards achieving something meaningful. It’s the desired outcome that motivates you to push forward, plan and commit to making it a reality within a certain timeframe.
Where Should I Start?
Brainstorm
Firstly just grab yourself a pen and some paper or a notebook. You can use your phone with your notes app too but I personally prefer to physically write things down. It also prevents you from getting distracted from notifications and your apps.
Begin to visualise the life you truly want to create. Think about the type of person you want to be. The experiences and achievements that would make you feel content. Write down anything that comes to mind. It could be long-term goals that may seem out of reach at the moment or it could be smaller milestones that matter to you. Write it all down.
Categorise Goals
Once you’ve got your list, it probably looks messy. That’s fine. The next step is to organise your goals into categories so they’re easier to follow.
Before we do that though, I’d like you to choose one main goal to focus on. Having a clear priority makes it easier to adjust your other goals so they don’t end up clashing with each other. For example, if your main focus is a career goal and it requires you dedicating a big chunk of time to building your side hustle then aiming for an intense health goal, such as spending hours at the gym five days a week, might not be realistic with your schedule. That doesn’t mean you drop your health goal altogether; it just means finding alternatives that fit better. Instead of long gym sessions every day, you could aim for three workouts a week and add in shorter activities like 20-minute walks. It’s all about balance and making your goals work together.
I’ve created a free worksheet that you can download to help with this.
I use these 6 categories for my goals:
- –Financial (Any money goals which can include saving for a holiday, paying off debt, investing etc)
- –Career (Goals related to your workplace or the business you have. This could be increasing sales, getting a promotion, changing career path etc)
- –Health (Any goals related to improving your physical health and fitness, mental health, emotional wellbeing. This could be diet, exercise, sleep)
- –Mindset (Goals related to developing or improving your way of thinking such as embracing challenges and practising gratitude)
- –Relationship (This would include goals that involve the people that surround you such as family, friends, partner. Examples of this could be spending more time with the family or deepening a connection with a friend etc)
- –Personal (This is a bit of a broader category as technically all of the above could go here but I use this section for the other goals that don’t fit in the above categories such as any home improvement goals or if I want to adapt a new habit or learn a new skill etc)
Now you can go ahead and write your main goal in the box.
After that, look at the remaining of your goals and put them in the relevant categories. Just remember to make adjustments if you need to. Try to not put too much in each category. Aim for 1 in each to start with, maybe 2 if they’re smaller, more manageable goals.
Remember, these categories aren’t set in stone. While I use financial, career, health, mindset, relationship, and personal, you might want to add others like educational or spiritual. Choose what feels right for you and adapt the framework to suit your life.
Use SMART Goals Method
Now you should have all your goals in categories and have your main goal identified. From here, we can go ahead and use the SMART Goals Method.
Designed by Freepik
| Specific | Define exactly what you want to achieve. |
| Measurable | Decide how you’ll track your progress. |
| Achievable | Make sure it’s realistic with your time and resources. |
| Relevant | Align it with your bigger vision. |
| Time-bound | Set a clear deadline. |
Starting with your main goal, make each of your goals SMART. Below you have a free worksheet to help you with that.
Example of a NON-SMART goal: I will start reading more.
Example of a SMART goal: I will read 10 pages, three times a week, to finish this book by the end of January.
Notice the difference:
- Specific: Finish reading the book.
- Measurable: You’ve set a clear way to track progress. For instance, by the end of each week, you’ll know whether you’ve read 30 pages.
- Achievable and realistic: The goal is doable within your schedule. If you had said you’d read for three hours every day, knowing you don’t have that kind of time, you’d be setting yourself up for failure.
- Time-bound: You’ve given yourself a deadline; finishing the book by the end of January.
Now compare this to the NON-SMART goal. How would you know if you’re succeeding? What does “reading more” actually mean? If you read just one page, does that count as achieving the goal? Without specifics, there’s no way to measure progress or determine success.
With the SMART goal, however, you’ve defined the outcome: finishing the book by the end of January. When that time comes, you’ll be able to clearly see whether you’ve accomplished your goal or not by simply checking whether you’ve finished reading the book or not.
Break Goals Down
Big goals can feel overwhelming. Just thinking about writing a whole book might make your head spin. But when you break that big goal into smaller, manageable steps, it suddenly feels more achievable.
Let’s say your goal is to write a 300‑page book in 6 months. Instead of focusing on the full 300 pages, break it down:
- 6 months → 300 pages
- 3 months → 150 pages
- 1 month → 50 pages
- 1 week → about 12 pages
Now, instead of having to worry about writing hundreds of pages, you only need to focus on 12 pages a week. That feels much more doable, right? When you have smaller milestones, you’re more likely to stay motivated. These ‘baby goals’ give you quick wins and fill you with a sense of accomplishment that empowers you to keep moving forward. This is part of the ‘Measurable’ element in the SMART method as you can track your progress step by step.
Review
It’s no good going through all that process if you’re just going to forget about your goals and leave them buried under all that laundry. Schedule time to check in on your goals. Whether it’s weekly or monthly, give yourself a good amount of time to go through your goals and check your progress. Because you’ve already broken your goals into smaller milestones, tracking becomes much simpler. Ask yourself:
- Am I on track to reach my next milestone?
- What’s working well?
- What needs improvement?
- Do I need extra resources or support?
- Am I dedicating enough time each week?
Ask yourself these questions and write down the answers in your notebook or journal so you have something to reflect back to. This will help in your next review as you will be able to clearly see whether the changes you have made, made a difference or not. Each review you’ll be able to get a clearer picture of the things that are working both positively and negatively for you and make the appropriate changes.
Conclusion
In conclusion, setting goals is so important for personal and professional growth. By defining clear, achievable objectives, you are creating a roadmap that guides your actions and decisions. This approach not only helps you stay focused and motivated but also allows you to track your progress and celebrate your achievements along the way. So, take the time to set your goals thoughtfully, and watch as they transform your aspirations into reality. I hope you’re as excited as I am about this process and are ready to start. That’s if you haven’t already!