3 Things You Need to Accomplish Your Goals
They’re not impossible.
Setting and reaching goals gives us a sense of purpose and direction. We’ve all met someone (or been that someone) who didn’t have any goals. This person seemed to just meander through life with nowhere to go.
However, accomplishing our goals helps us grow and progress. They keep us motivated and inspire us to continually improve our lives. But having goals and reaching them are two different things. There are plenty of obstacles in our way and accomplishing them can feel impossible.
If you’re struggling to reach your goals, you need these three things.
1. Properly Set A Goal
For starters, you need to know how to set a goal. Working towards unclear goals is like being told to “head east” before leaving on a trip. You have some direction, but it’s not enough to get you where you’re going.
Every goal needs to be these three things:
Clear: If your goal is too vague, you’ll never be able to stick with it, let alone accomplish it. If your goal is to “be healthy,” what does that mean? Going on a diet? Losing weight? Quitting smoking? You need to clearly define what it means to “be healthy.”
Measurable: Next, you need to be able to measure your goal. If you can’t measure your goal, you have no way of knowing when you accomplish it. If you want to “be healthy,” you can measure this goal by going to the gym three times a week. Eating one serving of vegetables with each meal. Or getting at least seven hours of sleep each night. These are all measurable ways to reach your goal of “being healthy.”
End Date: All goals need a finish line to cross. Or else you’ll procrastinate and never reach it. With our “be healthy” example, your end date could be to lose 30lbs in one year. Or it could be to squat 200lbs at the end of six months. Or run your first 5k next month. Having end dates for your goals keeps you on track to reach them.
2. Consistency
Consistency creates the momentum you need to achieve your goals. And momentum becomes the driving force that pushes you toward your goal. As you consistently work towards your goal, it will be easier to keep heading in that direction.
For example, if you’ve already worked out three days in a row, it’s much easier to work out the fourth day. If you haven’t worked out in several months, it’s difficult to start the habit back up again.
In order to reach your goals, you need to consistently work towards them. You need to spend x amount of time working towards your goals each day. If you’re not consistent, you’ll eventually give up on your goals.
3. Improvement
After developing a pattern of consistency, you need to start seeing improvement. Without improvement, your efforts fall flat. You’ll become discouraged and you’ll give up.
For example, let’s say your goal is to run a half marathon in under two hours. That’s a strong, measurable goal. And you’ve consistently run every day for two months. This is great, too. But you haven’t gotten any faster.
In order to run your race in under two hours, you’ll need to start seeing some improvement. This may mean switching up your routine. Instead of running every day, you’ll add some strength training workouts to build muscle. You’ll tweak your diet so you can have more energy to run faster. You’ll get more sleep. You’ll buy better running gear. You’ll do more stretching and yoga to help your body recover.
A good goal and consistently working towards it isn’t enough. You need to improve along the way. Every week evaluate your efforts. If necessary, tweak your routine until you start to see improvements.
Conclusion: Your Goals Aren’t Impossible
If you don’t have goals, you’ll be stuck where you are watching the world pass you by. But even if you have goals, it can be challenging to reach them. In order to accomplish your goals, they need to first be clear, measurable, and have an end date. Then, you need to consistently work towards your goal and you need to see improvement.
Focusing on these three things will make reaching your goals easier. You’ll have a clear path to follow and you’ll know how to navigate it.
