Everyone has goals, even if they don’t call them that. Any desired result that depends on your actions is a goal. Desired results that don’t depend on your actions are wishes. Those tend to not work out very well. So a goal has two parts, a vision of success, and a plan to get there.
There’s a lot to be said about making goals. But people always focus on where they want to end up. Lose ten pounds. Go on vacation. Retire. Get a six pack. Of course people focus on the outcomes. That’s literally what they want. But that’s not the best way to go about it.
Start with your vision
What do you want to do? If you’ve tried this before, why do you keep coming back to this goal? Don’t delude yourself. Accomplishing this will be difficult. Why is it worthwhile in spite of this?
Goals take a lot of determination even if things go according to plan, and things rarely go according to plan. Determination is joining present action with future motivation. This is impossible without a clear understanding of what you are getting in the future, and what you are giving up in the present.
Determine what actions will get you there
What actions will you need to take each week? How long will it take? How likely are you to fail? Once you understand the cost of reaching your goal, and what kind of results you can expect, then you have a plan.
Measure your progress infrequently
Now that you have your plan, focus on what you actually need to do. Measure the actions you are taking, where you can see results immediately. Are you trying to exercise three times a week? Then record each day you’ve exercised and you’ll see progress.
Check you progress infrequently enough to expect progress every time you check. If you want to lose weight, and you know that it takes about a week to lose a pound, don’t look at the scale every day. That moves over weeks and months. So, if you obsess about it every day, most days there will be no change. That’s incredibly disheartening. Once you see yourself making progress towards your goal, and you connect that progress to the actions that you are doing every day, then it gets a lot easier. This will take a while. You won’t know that following your plan will make you reach your goals for several check ins.
But what if it’s not working?
What if you are moving, but not as much as you want? Or what if you are moving, but it’s too damn hard to justify your progress? If something is working, keep at it. Generally things get easier as you do them more often. Try to keep going for a couple of weeks before making changes.
What if you are doing all of your actions, but you aren’t moving towards your goal?
Take a step back. How long have you been doing this for? Are you seeing any improvements? Have you taken a step towards your goal? Speak with a friend about your concerns. Are they reasonable?
Not all of your plans will work. Sometimes you’ll pick out some actions that won’t get you where you want to go. If that happens, check with your vision. Is it still worthwhile? If so, then make a new plan.
What about me?
I recently planned out two changes (one at work, and one personally). My personal goal is going very well, I’m taking actions and moving towards my goal. Not so much with my work one. I’m not performing the actions that my plan calls for, and I haven’t made much progress.