7 Steps Of Personal Goal Setting So You Can Succeed In Life

Have you ever set personal goals for yourself, but for some reason, they were never accomplished?

Maybe it was stress, a life event, school, or your own personal motivation that played a role in why you maybe had missed the mark. In turn, this left you feeling unaccomplished, but I’m here to tell you that you’re not alone.

You’re at a point in your life where you are ready to take responsibility for your future. You are willing to work past any obstacle that may have previously gotten in the way.

In this blog post, I’m sharing 7 simple steps you can take action with today that will help you set your personal goals – so you can succeed at anything in life that you set your mind to.

What is personal goal setting?

There are many definitions of personal goal setting, but I like to think of it as focusing your thoughts on:

• what you want for your future
• setting out specific goals for yourself
• taking action on those goals to achieve your desired outcome

You can set personal goals for many different things in your life such as completing an assignment for school, reading a book, saving a certain amount of money, learning a new skill, or starting a healthy meal routine.

Maybe one of your goals is to set up a small business. Check out Goal Setting for Your Small Business to make that a success too.

The purpose of setting goals for yourself is to assist you with keeping yourself accountable. But a lot of people find it difficult to take the time to plan out their life goals.

Personal goal setting can be challenging at times. But with a plan of action, goal setting can set you up for success. It provides you with a strategic roadmap to getting you where you want to go.

How do I get started with personal goal setting?

This blog post will provide you with 7 steps to getting started with personal goal setting for yourself without feeling overwhelmed.

I feel like one of the main reasons why people feel like they don’t achieve their goals is because they make it too complicated. Or they do not set realistic expectations for themselves and how their goals will work in their current life.

With these 7 steps, you’ll be able to assess whether your personal goals will fit well into your life & get you started easily and effortlessly.

 1 | Reflection

Reflecting on the possible reasons why you were (un)able to achieve your previous goals will help you to understand a few things.

It will give you insight into either your goal-setting process and where it may lack. Or give you insight on how well prepared you were when you started out your course of action.

For example, did you give yourself enough time? Did you have enough support, or were you feeling stressed in other areas of your life?

Reflection is a time to think about what you can do differently this time and not repeat the same things that did not serve you well before.

During this time, it’s important to let go of the past and move forward with your thoughts and feelings. If you continue to hold on to the past, you may miss out on some great learning experiences.

2 | Main Goals

I suggest focusing on 2-3 main personal goals at a time when you’re starting to set personal goals.

We are all ambitious in many ways and want to achieve many things, but when more than 2-3 goals are set, this can inadvertently place too much pressure on ourselves.

You can set monthly goals, for example, as one of the 5 steps to set up for a successful new month.

Keeping a list of 2-3 main goals (especially if you are just starting out) will help you focus your efforts better.

3 | Subgoals

You can also focus on 1-2 subgoals that can support your main goals.

For example, if your main goal is to achieve a certain weight, your supporting subgoal could be to walk for 30 minutes, three times a week.

The beauty of the subgoal is that it doesn’t have to be specifically tied to your main goal in any way. Maybe your subgoal in this example is to walk for 30 minutes a day to clear your mind and de-stress. With the act of your de-stressing routine, you are physically supporting your main goal without you even knowing it.

4 | Start planning

Once you have your goals set, you want to focus on planning out how you are going to achieve them.

In this step, you can take out your Google calendar or your favorite project management tools such as Asana or Trello and get things written down.

Research has shown that when goals are written down and documented on a regular basis, you have a 42 percent more chance of achieving them.

Set yourself up for success by writing down your goals and keeping track of the outcomes along the way.

Related post: The Absolute Beginner’s Guide To Using A Planner

5 | Utilize your time well

Time management is a big obstacle that many people face, but the truth is that it doesn’t have to be!

The biggest factor to utilizing your time well is to find the gaps in your day where you can work on your goal.

If you’re on a lunch break, find the time then to read a few pages from your textbook or order your groceries for your meal prep that week.

The important thing you want to do is to keep moving forward with your goals and finding the smallest window of opportunity to do so helps the process.

6 | Review your progress & celebrate your milestones

It’s important to take the time to see what you have accomplished or assess where you can improve.

You never want to feel pressured to complete anything, but the benefit is to review your progress and celebrate even the smallest win of your accomplishments.

7 | Share your goals

This is one part a lot of people forget to do!

Sharing your achievements, goals, fears & desires humanizes you and allows for others to see themselves in your experience.

This not only builds upon your human connection but it also allows you to learn from other people’s shared experiences.

Let’s get started with personal goal setting

Setting personal goals should never be stressful but always work for you.

When you set personal goals, it’s good to:

• take stock of what your goals are
• break them down into manageable steps that you can incorporate into your life
• utilize your time well
• not forget to celebrate
• share your wins

Are you ready to achieve something bigger than yourself? With these 7 goal-setting tips I’ve shared, you’ll be able to accomplish them with ease.

In the spirit of sharing with others, share this post on your social media to help your friends too!