How to Set Goals for Success

What are your plans for June 2016?  30 days – that’s how long you have to work toward those goals.  30 days – that’s how much time will pass whether you spend those days working toward your goals or not.  30 days from now, what will you say? I’m 30 days closer to my goals, or I’m at a standstill?  The choice is yours.

Every day, people set goals.  How many of those people meet their goals?  What stops us from realizing our goals?  I’ve found three things that hinder my goals:

1). Lack of Goals:  Quite simply, I didn’t set any goals

2). Lack of a Plan:  I didn’t make a plan of attack for my goals

3). Lack of Execution:  I didn’t execute my plan of attack

Lack of Goals

I’m very good at setting goals.  I consider myself an expert on the S.M.A.R.T goal theory.  I understand that my goals need to be:

Specific

Measurable

Attainable

Realistic

Time-Bound

Unfortunately, many people don’t set any goals, so they don’t have a target; they don’t have anything to shoot for.  No plans are a set up for failure.

Set a specific goal and write it down.  For instance, I want to lose weight.  That’s a good goal, but it isn’t a S.M.A.R.T goal because I haven’t specified how much weight I want to lose.  Take the time now to write down some goals for June.

Lack of a Plan

Ok, maybe you set a goal, but how will you accomplish that goal?  You have to have a PLAN.  Let’s use our weight loss goal again but let’s say I want to lose 2 pounds/week.  What steps are you going to take to reach that goal?  I would plan to walk 30 minutes five times each week, drink 64 ounces of water each day, and eat clean.  I recommend spelling out what eating clean means by creating a weekly menu and sticking with it—plan for success.

Lack of Execution

And here’s where I screw up every month.  I set my goals. I even detail my plan of attack.  Unfortunately, life happens, and I sometimes don’t execute the plan I’ve put in place.   Instead of drinking 64 ounces of water a day, I probably drink that much in a whole week.  I tend not to drink enough water, which causes headaches, which causes me to lie down and not take my daily walks.  Then I get frustrated and order Chinese food.  Lack of execution is my greatest downfall.

We have to complete all three of these steps to accomplish our goals.  If we try to take a shortcut, we’ll see the results of that shortcut on our targeted date, July 1 in our example.

As I said in the opening paragraph, the next 30 days, 60 days, 90 days, or year are going to come and go whether we’re working toward our goals or not.  Wouldn’t you rather be closer to your goal(s) than farther away or stuck in the same spot?

Comment below with three things:  1). One of your SMART goals, 2) Your plan of attack, and 3) The words “I WILL” if you’re committed to reaching your June goals.

We can do this!