How to Achieve your #Goals

Has anyone else noticed that as of recently, our society has seemingly become a lot more goal-oriented? So much so that we now have a slew of colloquialisms that have to do with goals. We’ve all heard it before – lifegoals, couplegoals, housegoals, workgoals, weddinggoals…the list goes on and on. April seems to be a good month to get your life back together, so what better time than now to outline your goals?

Goal setting is defined as the process of deciding what you want to achieve. Pause. Isn’t that kinda beautiful? It’s not about what you can or can’t achieve – it’s about what you want to achieve. It’s all up to you, you’re the driver! I think people often find themselves feeling stagnant not because they can’t achieve their goals, but because they’re not clear as to what their goals are. The truth is that the old saying, “You can do anything you put your mind to” is valid. In order to actually achieve your #Goals in the most surefire, efficient way, research shows that you’ll have to practice the art of making SMART goals. (Clever acronym, no? 😉). So what exactly is a SMART goal, you ask? Here we go…

Specific
When coming up with a goal, it should be precise and clear. Thinking about the who, what, where, and why’s will be vital when it comes to ensuring that your goal is specific. Saying that you want to become a better cook isn’t going to cut it. Figure out which ingredients you’ll need to get there (both literally and figuratively hehe).

Measurable
Making sure your goal is quantifiable and measurable will allow you to track your progress! A measurable goal is one that has benchmarks along the way. For example, if your goal is exercise related, making it measurable might entail saying, “I want to be able to run 5 miles by May 1^st.” So when May comes along, you’ll be able to clearly tell if you’ve reached your goal or not!

Achievable
It’s true that you can do anything you set your mind to, but setting realistic goals will prevent you from losing morale. Saying that you want to be fluent in a new language in one week’s time may not be the most achievable goal (kudos to you if you manage to do it though). Instead, be pragmatic about your goals and allow yourself a reasonable amount of time to achieve them.

Relevant
The relevancy that’s needed for a successful goal is relevancy to your life and passions. Pursuing a goal that is rewarding to you is an important piece of the puzzle. It’s the only way to justify the sometimes crazy amounts of our time that we pour into our goals!

Timely
Last, but definitely not least, your goals should have a time limit. Following a time line is crucial for both short-term and long-term goals. There are things called BHAGs (Big Hairy Audacious Goals), which is just fancy business lingo (okay it’s actually not very fancy at all), for goals that are super long-term. I’m talking 10-30 years out. But even these distant BHAGs should follow a timeline!

Picture via @angela_brasington

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Who knew that there was an art to goal-setting? Whether you realized It or not, you’ve probably been practicing many of the aspects of SMART goal setting your whole life. Make a conscious effort from here on out and watch how much easier it is for you to feel fulfilled!