Have you ever wondered how to start achieving your goals in 7 easy steps? Then this article is for you. I will show you the exact tricks I use to keep me focused and motivated throughout the year!

The process of setting goals helps you achieve your outcome. By knowing precisely what you want to achieve, you know where you have to concentrate your efforts. You’ll also quickly spot the distractions that can, so easily, lead you astray. What are we waiting for?

Do you feel drifting, travelling through like you are a passenger, rather than the pilot of your own life? Do you feel the need to change but lack the focus to do it? Then goal setting is what you have been waiting for.

Why is goal setting important?

The process of setting goals helps to keep you motivated and focused. It keeps you moving. As you begin the process of goal setting, you envision what your life could be, which pushes yourself to move forward and ultimately achieve your goal.

How to achieve your goals in 7 easy steps

And now you ask: If goals are so important, why do we fail to achieve them?

And my answer is: Because we don’t plan the steps to get there.

Goal setting is a process. You first have a vision of what life would be like once you achieved your goal. Then a sense of mission runs through you. It is then that you start planning your strategy and begin taking the steps to the action plan you have designed to achieve your goal.

This process forces you to think about the journey (in other words, how you’re going to complete your tasks) instead of just the end destination. And it is exactly the people who follow through with their action plan that achieve their goals.

Let me show you how you can start achieving your goals in 7 easy steps!

Step 1: Focus on the results.

Before you set a goal, think about what you’re trying to achieve and ask yourself the following questions:

Is this goal really going to add value to your life?

Is this goal something you truly want?

Is it important enough to pour hours of time and effort into it?

Step 2: Get real about right now.

Be realistic. Do not expect to be able to achieve a long list of goals at the same time. Your focus will shift and you will end up failing to achieve most of your goals, if not all. Instead, use step one to really determine which goals are important right now. You can set new goals as you achieve the old ones.

Step 3: Create SMART goals

Once you have decided which goals need your focus right now, start to design the goals according to the SMART acronym:

A SMART goal encompasses all 5 of these traits: It is significant, so you can easily picture the end result, you can track your progress as you go along, you are really able to achieve it and it has a deadline.

For example, many people set goals to lose weight, but they fail to accomplish the goal because it is almost every time set in a rather unspecific way, like “I want to lose weight this year.” Do you see what is wrong here?

A SMART goal would be “I want to lose 5kg by the end of May.” This goal provides an exact amount of weight to lose and an end date to do it by. It is also trackable, since you can divide the weight you want to lose by the amount of time you have until your deadline. But most importantly, it is a goal that can be achieved as well as being a realistic goal (as opposed to someone who wants to lose the same 5kg in a week, for example).

Step 4: Create an action plan

Many people decide on a goal, but never go from there. When you transfer your thoughts to paper, they become clearer, real, instead of just a vague idea that exists only in your mind. Creating an action plan helps you to determine exactly which steps you will take to achieve your goal and which tasks to complete.

Your action plan should also have a timeline to help you schedule tasks, milestones and deadlines. It is very important to stick to it to remain focused on your goal.

This tactic also reminds you to keep working on your goals daily.

Step 5: Action!

You have focused on the results you want to achieve with your goals. You have hyped yourself to start working on it. You have designed your SMART goals, you have created you action plan and your timeline. Now all you have to do is start! Remember that every step you take should lead to the next task, and another, and another, until you hit the finish line. Keep focused!

Step 6: Evaluate your progress

One way to keep your motivation levels up is to keep evaluating your progress. Think about adding an evaluation day to your goal timeline. You could do that weekly, once every two weeks or monthly, depending on your action plan. On evaluation day, you can measure your progress, check your schedule and see how close you really are to achieving your goal. This also helps to make any adjustments to your plan you see fit.

Step 7: Reward

Remember to reward yourself for milestones or difficult tasks completed. Positive reinforcement is very helpful because it easily improves your motivation and your focus to keep working on your goals daily. Just try to resist the urge to reward every single task you complete, because it will be counterproductive.

In conclusion

All it takes for you to start achieving your goals are these 7 easy steps I have mentioned above.

Now all you have to do is decide on a goal, describe the goal using the SMART acronym, create your action-plan and timeline and get to work! If you have trouble organizing your thoughts, I have created a goal-setting blueprint to help you get started on accomplishing your goals. What are you waiting for?

Let me know in the comments how your goal planning is coming along and how many of your goals have you been able to achieve since trying out these steps!

Until next time.