We all love goals.

Nothing is more gratifying than reflecting back on all the really scary goals that we actually crushed this past year. As it is January, I thought it would be fitting if I write a blog about goals.

This post will largely be focused on a short training video I attended at work. The training went through a specific technique and provided a guide on how to meet your goals. I did write a lot of notes down but hopefully I can summarise here without missing anything.

Bridging the Gap

The gap we are referring to is the where you are and where you want to be. More importantly, it is the steps necessary to get where you want to be.

There are various components required to reach your goals. These are:

1. Knowing where you are and where you want to be.
2. How you plan to bridge that gap?
3. How you train your mind?
4. How you action it.

Awareness – Knowing what your goals are

Awareness is knowing what you want out of life. It is also knowing where you currently stand.

A simple exercise I encourage you to follow is to answer the following questions:

1. What do you want out of life? Try and give an answer that isn’t necessarily materialistic, but is something on a deeper level.
2. Then ask yourself why this.
3. Again ask yourself why?

You get the idea right? Eventually, this will lead you to what you exactly want.

Goal Setting

What is a goal? A goal is a stepping stone towards your overall purpose in life. In other words, it is a desired result that an individual strives for as part of their ambitions.

Now, you may have heard of SMART goals. What exactly are these?

S – Specific
M – Measurable
A – Attainable
R – Realistic
T – Time based

Goal Exercise

1. List all your goals on a piece of paper – Mind Dump.
2. Focus on different categories in your life. For example, financial, family, health and adventure. Remember, these goals should all be a stepping stone to your mission statement.
3. Assign timelines to each of these goals:

– Short term – 6 months to 1 year
– Medium term – 2 to 5 years
– Long term – 5 to 10 years

4. Focus on 5-7 short term goals you feel are a priority (or however many feel right to you).
5. Make your goals smarter

Example

• One of your adventure goals was to visit Rome.
• Firstly, you need to be more specific. Ask yourself the following questions:

1. What do you want to accomplish?
2. Why do you want to accomplish this goal?
3. Who will be involved?
4. Where is it located?
5. Which resources will be needed?

• You then need to be measurable. Therefore, you need to ask yourself how you will measure your progress and how will you know if you have attained your goal?
• Achievable? Ask yourself how you can achieve your goal. Is it realistic enough based on what resources you have? If not, what resources will you need?
• Relevant? How relevant is your goal to your overall mission statement? Is it worthwhile? Is this what you really want?
• Time-bound. State an exact time period that you require to achieve this goal.

As stated above, it should be your short-term goals you work on. Once these have been achieved, your medium-term goals will become your short-term goals. You can then repeat the same process as above, and make those goals SMARTER.

Taking Action Towards Your Goals

The next step is to assign actionable steps to each of your chosen short-term goals. Therefore, under each short-term goal you set above, note down 3 or 4 action points that will help you achieve your goal.

Compartmentalisation Technique

The idea here is to divide your life up into compartments. For example, work, family, admin and goals.

On a Sunday evening, plan your week ahead and list some of the action points you would have written down in the Taking Action section above. Then use your diary or software such as Microsoft Excel to plan your week across every hour. This will give you accountability for each day and will ensure you stay on track for your actions

Mindset Required to Reach Your Goals

No matter what goals or systems you have in place. Without a certain mindset, you will have trouble achieving your goals.

Firstly, what are belief systems? A belief system is a set of habits which ultimately control an individual’s behaviours/actions both consciously and unconsciously.

Beliefs -> Emotions -> Actions -> Outcomes

How can you change your belief systems so you can favour favourable outcomes?

Firstly, you need to notice and be aware of what your belief systems are. Once you become more self-aware, you may notice negative thoughts or ideas. You need to change these negative belief systems into more empowering ones by writing opposing statements.

You could do this by:

– Incorporating a daily routine of reading and reciting your new beliefs, as well as your goals.
– Creating a visualisation board.
– Utilisation of the pain and pleasure principle.
– Use of the emotional triad.

These are just some of the ways you can do this. I am sure there are plenty more methods on the internet. The point here is to find a method that suits you.

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Overall, I think this training I attended was quite useful so I hope my notes above have added some value to you. Personally, I have never had a problem with setting goals. The problem for me has always been the process and meeting those smaller daily targets to then achieve the overall target.

At the moment, I am using an application called Notion to track my goals. I will be doing a blog later about this and how I personally keep track of my goals.

Have a good day!