Importance of Setting Goals

To take the first step, you must know where are you going.

Setting a goal is not even the first step, it’s step 0.

“If you don’t know where you are going, any road will get you there.” ― Lewis Carroll

Why?

People who don't set goals are less likely to achieve the success they hope for. You don’t set a goal without a reason. A goal serves some purpose—either your want (most of the time) or a need. If you are confused, wants and needs were tackled here.

Before we start, I want to demystify a few things. Setting a goal is not overwhelming or difficult once you know what you want.

You want money? Set a specific amount of money to hit before a specific deadline, your measurement tool is just bank account balance. You want to be fit? Set a specific weight in lb/kg to a specific deadline, your measurement tool is a scale.

Without a destination, you're like a ship with its sails down—you sail as the wind blows. The goal is a lighthouse on the horizon. Only so much and so much.

But how do I even know what I want? Grab a pen and answer a few questions first:

• What will be the end result?

• What will I gain?

• What will I lose?

• Where does this desire come from?

• How long will the end result last?

• What aspects of life will the end result improve and what aspects will it potentially worsen?

• What sets the speed at which I will achieve this goal?

So, the idea is - think before you commit. If you have answered these questions and decided that your goal is worth it, let's move on.

How to set a goal?

Your goal should not be just a detailed wish, but a blueprint for progress.

An optimal goal should be:

• Realistic, which means - you will be able to take consistent action towards it. If you set an absurd goal, you may get frustrated and totally demotivated not achieving it.

• Specific: write down what you want to accomplish in detail. If the goal is too vague like “I want to lose 10kg (22 lb)” the chances of achieving it go down because you haven't specified how to do it. You know the event but don't know the process.

• Measurable: because otherwise how will you know if you are making any progress? The example above is very easy to measure. All you need is a scale. Some goals are much harder though. There’s no universal advice here, depending on your goal, you should research ways to track progress.

If the goal is step 0, what’s step 1?

A plan. You already know your destination, now let’s set a route. Like Google Maps, we want the route to be as short and efficient as possible. The previous example was losing weight, let’s stick with that. We will start with easy to implement steps and will gradually increase the difficulty along the way.

Here is an example of what the beginning of a “route” might look like:

If you want a personalized “route” to solve your problems, hit me up:

Visualize

Attitude plays a huge role here. If you think something is hard, it is hard. Visualizing is for breaking the first ice of this “this is difficult” mindset. It helps mentally prepare for the journey ahead and gives you a clearer picture of what you want and how to get there. A lot of people suggest visualizing as if you are already there. Visualize your rich and jacked self. Will this me have the same habits, behaviors, and views?

But it’s only doing as much, to make hard things easy you have to… do them.

Remind yourself

It is easy for the initial fire of excitement to burn out quickly. But that’s normal. Motivation and excitement at the start are always higher than during the process. Your “why” is usually pretty clear and stuck in mind. That's why we don't want to remind ourselves why we are doing it, we want to remind ourselves how to do it.

If you use Notion or any other screen-related tool to write down your goals - set it up as a default browser page. If you used pen and paper - put the sheet in a visible place. Reading this first thing after waking up and the last thing before going to sleep is also not a bad idea.

The hard part

Now all you have to do is get to work. Working on your goal is not one bit as satisfying and enjoyable as planning it, but there’s no way around that.