Achieving Your Goals - Getting it Done

5 minutes read

The new year usually makes you want to set a target or resolution - something you want to do or a change you want to make. It usually starts off great but sometimes we drop it before the year is through, without accomplishing the goal. 

Then, the following year you still find yourself wanting to do, create, have, give or experience that same thing, or even something bigger. So you set yet more goals and may probably not get them done. It happens to the best of us but there's a way - a proven way that has worked for decades. 

I'm here to simplify it for you so we can have it done together - This year is all about accomplishments.

 Before I tell you how to achieve your goals, let me quickly give you a refresher on what goals are and how to set the right goals for success - because that's the first step to success. 

Goal Setting

Goals are simply the things we want to achieve. We direct our efforts towards the goals, and use them to determine our success. 

Goal Setting is the Process of determining what goals we want to achieve. 

The goals we set depend largely on our values - Values are what we consider to be important.

Setting your goals is the first step towards success. It serves as a guide to help you make a decision on what you want to do and how to go about achieving it, increasing your chances of success and enabling you plan appropriately. 

Steps to Setting Your Goals

• Begin by listing all the things you want to achieve, write all of them down, you can include alternatives to the goals as well.
• Add a time frame/deadline beside each goal, if there’s a goal you are not sure how long it will take, write down how long you would want it to take, for example, meeting the right person and getting married. 
• Think about your values, what are the things that are important to you, family, career, education, faith etc. Write these down as well.
• Align each goal you have written down with your purpose - why do you want to achieve that goal? This will help you prioritise your goals and how to go about achieving them. 
• Rearrange the goals in order of what is most important, as well as which needs to be done first to enable the others. Another way to think of this is, if you could choose only one and it will be given to you, which would you choose?
• Select 3 goals which you will focus on for a set period - a few weeks or months. 
• Decide how you are going to measure your success - a target that will show you if you have achieved the goal. For instance, if you want to lose weight you have to specify the exact amount to kilograms you want to lose, as well as the time you have to achieve it. If you want to increase your income you have to specify by how many percent you want the income to increase, and so on.
• Figure out all the steps you need to take to accomplish each goal. This is where you brake down the goal into small chunks so you can tackle each objective as you go.
• Start working on your set goals and be consistent, think of all the possible challenges you may encounter and think of strategies to address them in the chance that they do come up. You may need to adjust the objectives/steps but make sure you stay on track. 
• Check your progress routinely - are you keeping up with the time limits? Are the objectives working or do you need to change some variables
• Attain your goals. 

Even with all this these, there is still a chance you find yourself going off track or not achieving the goals. So here are some tips to ensuring you do accomplish your goals

Steps to Achieving your Set Goals

1. Start by setting “SMART” Goals:
• Specific - as mentioned, you have to specify exactly what you want by including a figure, amount, distance, size etc,  which will determine the success of the goal and give you a direction to follow. 
• Measurable - there has to be a way to see or know that you have achieved the goal, is there something that will help you see the increase in your income or scores, or see the loss in weight for example?
• Attainable - the goal must be realistic and manageable, it must be something you can actually accomplish. If you are a student with mostly “D and C” grades you can set a goal to increase your grades by one level each, thus getting “C and B” grades. Setting a goal to get all “A” grades may not be realistic. Now, you could still have the goal of getting all As as the main goals then have the increase by one letter the objectives that will eventually lead to getting straight As. Just remember to take small bites at one time. 
• Relevant - goals that align with your values will have more meaning to you personally and make you passionate about achieving them even if challenges come up. They also have to be relevant to the purpose or reason for achieving the goal in itself. 
• Time-bound - if you don’t set a time limit you will not be able to hold yourself accountable for your goals. A deadline pushes you to action. 
2. Visualise your goals - see yourself with the goal already accomplished, do this everyday, it will keep you focused and motivated. Have the goal written down and place it somewhere you can see it everyday, add pictures, charts or anything that will help you see the goal clearly. 
3. Keep yourself accountable by sharing the goal with someone - a family member, friend or someone you trust (like a mentor). This person becomes your partner who will work with you through any challenges and help you stay on track.
4. Track your progress with a tool that shows how far you have gone and if you are on schedule. This helps you know if you need to make any adjustments to your strategies/approach, but make sure you don’t forget the ultimate goal. (Keep an eye out for our YouTube live videos for some of these tools). 
5. Celebrate or reward yourself each time you complete each of the steps/objectives. It motivates you to keep on with the journey towards the ultimate goal. 

To really help you achieve your goals, we have designed a set of tools for setting goals as well as for tracking your progress 

We will be sharing these tools, starting with a goal oriented Planner.

To be a part of this journey, keep watching this space as well as our YouTube Channel for live streaming of the sessions. 

Be sure to click on the “bell” on our YouTube Channel so you get notifications of when we’re live so you can join in. 

The First Live Session is scheduled for Sunday, 16th January 2022 at Noon. Don’t miss it 

Sincerely,

Yawakta