How to proactively achieve your goals

Despite being almost a quarter of the way through the year, there is no time like the present to set and work towards some goals. 

Setting goals is a great way to give yourself both motivation and structure. No matter their size, whether it be to buy a new home or to increase your running speed a goal will help give you focus. Although they differ from person to person, many of us experience the universal feeling of fear of failure when it comes to setting goals. This fear can prevent us from both setting goals and taking any action toward achieving them.

The following advice will help you not only determine your goals but guide you on how to be proactive in achieving them. 

Think about the why

When we set ourselves goals, it is easy to opt for things we think we should be trying to achieve, for example earning more money. However, setting goals without intention behind them makes them far more difficult to accomplish. Think about what you are hoping to achieve and create your goals from there. If your goal is to travel more but you can’t currently afford to, you might set yourself the goal of working towards a promotion to increase your disposable income. Having a reason behind the goals is far more motivating.

Make them smart

Setting a goal is all well and good but can be pretty pointless if you don’t make it smart. Smart goals are specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and time-bound. Creating goals using these parameters makes them far more structured and easier to work towards. 

An example of a non-smart goal could be ‘to get fitter’. This goal doesn’t include any measures of success. Whereas a smart version of the same goal could be ‘to be able to run 5km in under 25 minutes by the beginning of September’. This goal is far more detailed and gives you a clear endpoint to work towards.

Write them down

It is beneficial to write your goals down. This could be done physically with a pen and paper, or digitally on a note on your phone. However you choose to note them down, it is useful to display them somewhere you are going to see them often. For example, pin them above your desk where you work or screenshot them and make them your screen saver. Doing this means you are going to be constantly reminded of them and what you are working towards. 

Start now

It is very easy to procrastinate getting started with working towards your goals. You aren’t alone in begin tempted to wait till the start of a new week, month, or even year before you get going. However, the ‘I’ll start on Monday’ attitude is only going to hold you back.

There is nothing wrong with starting to work towards your goals on a Wednesday in the middle of March. There is no better time than now so don’t let yourself be held back. Think about what you are trying to achieve and how happy you’ll be that you got started when you did once you have accomplished your goal. 

Create mini-milestones

Certain goals can take months or even years to achieve, and as a result, it can be easy to become demotivated as time goes on. A good way to combat this is to create mini milestones to celebrate along the way. 

If your goal is buying a home, do some research into the different stages of the process and determine small achievements to acknowledge along the way. For example, saving your required deposit amount, being granted a mortgage in principle, and attending your first viewing. Being able to recognise these smaller successes is a good way to keep yourself on track.  

Check back in

Finally, it is important to check back in with your goals list every so often. Circumstances change and as a result, your goals may change too. This isn’t something to beat yourself up over, we all have to realign things now and then.