We fill sheets of paper with multiple statements of our goals in life; our reality is saturated with advice on time management. But a mountain of sheets does not make our desires and goals more realistic.

How to achieve the goal? Make our goal become a reality, turn from a mirage on the horizon into a tangible “here and now”? How to organize your life so that setting goals and our actions are aimed at the result, and not at the process?

She told us about all this Anna Kebets, organizational coach, head of the consulting company GoodWin Group. The techniques described will help you create a system for achieving goals and be sure that your friends, colleagues or subordinates have the same understanding of the project you are working on together.

Determine the desired result

The SMART coaching technique will tell you how to set goals correctly and make your desires truly come true.

According to this technique, in order to set a goal, it is important that it meets the following characteristics:
Specific– specific;
Measurable– measurable;
Achievable– achievable;
Realistic/Relevant– real/relevant;
Timed– defined in time.

Specific goal. Before you start moving, make sure you are able to set yourself a clear and positive goal. For example, your personal task for today “send your resume” is not clear. It sounds much more specific: “today find 5 interesting vacancies, write a resume for each of them and send.” “Improve your diction” is also not the best example of how to set goals, and your specific option for self-improvement is “read the tongue twister twice every day.” “Organize a party for friends” also sounds too vague. But “to organize a party for 20 people in the style of office zombies in the open air outside the city” is a good example of how you can set a goal. The task “make a promotional video to wow!” will result in “uuh, what the hell did you film?” But “I want action with a cut of YouTube jokes in a one-minute video, where our ideal target audience receives the answer “why do I need this subscription to the site?” – gives your employees a clear understanding of what exactly you want to see and what goals they should set for themselves.

If something can be measured, then it can be done. Quantitative indicators help you understand what stage of achieving your goal you are at.

Measurable goal. A goal should always have results that can be recorded in some way. Otherwise, it is difficult to understand that achieving the goal is close. After all, if something can be measured, then it can be done. Quantitative indicators help you understand what stage of achieving your goal you are at. Therefore, instead of “increase sales,” for example, good sales managers set themselves the task of “increasing the average sales bill to $5,000 in May”: this is an example of how to set a goal correctly. And, for example, a marketer formulates measurability as follows: “publish three articles for one spread in three leading publications of the country / increase the number of VKontakte subscribers to 5,000 people.”

“Becoming more flexible” is not clear: how do you know what exactly to do if you set such vague goals in life? But it is quite clear what needs to be achieved in such cases - “in a month, reach your forehead with your knee without bending your legs / practice one negotiation technique per day.”

You must have the opportunity to implement your plans. It makes no sense to want a villa by the sea while spending all your free time on the sofa.

If it is difficult to understand how to correctly set a goal and measure it, answer two questions for yourself using a scale from 1 to 10 points: how many points do you define achievement of the goal and how close are you now to the final goal? The first question means that your task does not require a perfect 10 points, and you only need, for example, a 5 to tick “done.”

Achievable goal. When thinking about how to achieve a goal, you need to evaluate whether you have the capabilities to implement your plans. For example, it will be difficult for you to marry a famous TV presenter without any access to the circles in which he moves. It is also pointless to consider a villa by the sea as your goal in life, spending all your free time on the couch, not having rich relatives and not even getting involved in money scams.

Before setting goals, think about which of them you can achieve due to your professional skills or personal abilities. If you need to involve someone for this task, then choose someone who has the motivation, ability or necessary skills.

A realistic goal. Realism is determined by your external and internal resources. When building a system for achieving goals, honestly evaluate what you already have today to achieve your goal and what you don’t yet have. In addition, each new goal must be consistent with your other goals and activities. Otherwise you will stop yourself.

Don't stretch or compress real deadlines, otherwise you will have to do everything at the last minute or at an accelerated pace.

A goal defined in time. Effective goal setting always includes deadlines. In order to run a half marathon, you personally need to train for a year. Set a deadline - “in order to prepare well and not die during training, I need a year, but not one last month before the race.” If you want to set a goal to write a book review/financial report within a week (taking into account force majeure), indicate exactly this deadline. Don't stretch or compress real deadlines, otherwise you will have to do everything at the last minute or at an accelerated pace. And you will probably miss something important in a hurry.

Working through each task/desire/goal according to these five criteria will help you identify specific steps that will help you both set your goal and achieve its implementation.

We determine the conditions for achieving the goal

Do you want to get an objective picture of the facts and understand what is actually happening in your life/work regarding a specific goal (for example, a project, a task), what may prevent you from achieving your goals in life, and is this the goal you are striving for?

Here is a list of clarifying questions:

1. How are things going with this goal?

2. If we leave everything as it is, what will happen in a year, three, five?

3. What will happen if the goal is realized?

4. To what extent can you personally influence implementation?

5. What steps have already been taken in the chosen direction to achieve the goal?

6. Could more have been done?

7. What stopped you from doing more?

8. What resources are needed for implementation?

9. What resources do you already have, what resources will you need in the future, and where can you get them?

10.What are the possible risks?

11. Which partners/assistants/friends can help implement the idea, and which ones will hinder?

12.What measurable results are needed?

13. After achieving a goal, how will the realized goal affect everything that surrounds us?

Determining the strategy to achieve

If you clearly understand your goal, then you have several ways to achieve it. And how you can achieve your goal and the algorithm for subsequent steps depends on the strategy you choose. Want to make sure you find the best way? Test your strategy and chosen system for achieving goals.

So, brainstorm (if you are confident, you can brainstorm alone) and write down the answers to the following questions:

1. How can you achieve the goal you set for yourself? Write down everything, even the most crazy options. Don't dismiss anything.

2. What are the pros and cons of each option? Write down everything, even potential disadvantages and advantages.

3. What is needed to implement each option? Describe financial, human, time, etc. resources.

4. Which option will work faster, which one will be more effective? This question rejects decisions that are too long in time, require excessive investments and depletion of resources, and ineffective decisions to achieve the goal.

Surely, you are familiar with SWOT analysis, which allows you to evaluate a particular idea: Strengths (strengths), Weaknesses (weaknesses), Opportunities (opportunities) and Threats (threats). This is also a good tool for those who want to know how to set goals correctly. Analyze your goal and make yourself a chart to organize everything that came to mind during your brainstorming. As a rule, after these questions there are only a couple of options left, according to which you need to make a real choice of strategy.

Determining a specific plan

When you understand what goals to set for yourself, after the final choice of a single strategy, draw up an action plan (don’t forget to formulate everything according to the SMART principle!). Otherwise, all the work done is meaningless. The starting questions are very simple. We ask ourselves these questions every day:

1. What is the very first step towards achieving your goal that you are ready to take?

2. When exactly will you take this first step?

3. Who will you involve: who is the performer, the controller, who should motivate, etc.?

4. Do all steps have deadlines?

Introduction

Correct goal setting is three interesting words that for some reason we know too little about. The ability to set goals is one of the most useful and effective features of human thinking.. If now this phrase seems banal, ordinary or funny to you, then this means that you still have not learned the full power of having specific goals in your life.

There are statistics: only about 3% of people set clear goals in life. Only 1% of people write down their goals on paper and rereads them. Just think, 99 out of 100 people deprive themselves of the opportunity to increase their chances of success simply because they do not set specific goals. Let's change this unfavorable situation!

Why set goals

Goals set a certain direction in which we should do things, and set up the mechanism of attraction to work with us, because what we want is held in our minds. Without goals, we will not get far, and absolutely any successful person will tell you this. Setting goals is the sure and only way to exist the way we would like it to be.

Imagine that you need to get to another city, you really need it, but you don’t know which one. There are more than 2.5 million cities on Earth; it’s not worth reaching for a calculator to explain how tiny the probability of getting where you need to be is.

If we don't know our destination, then we don't know which highway to get on (to start voting) or which train to take at the station. Perhaps our city is completely overseas, and there is no point in going to the station. When people vote on the highway, none of them write phrases like “I really need to go to some city” on a piece of cardboard. Surely someone will still stop and try to help you, but how can you help?

This is a simple example with a city, but in life everything is the same: without goals you can’t cook porridge in it, but ours won’t do it on pure magic.

Setting goals may be a science, but it is not rocket science; with a little knowledge, practice, patience, and the necessary skill will gradually begin to develop.

So what should the goals be? Before answering this question, it is necessary to understand how things are now. Most often we set goals like these: “I want to earn a lot of money”, “I want to become a programmer”, “I want to have a happy family” and many more “I want”. It's great when people have goals, but it's sad that they have such goals, because they are all very badly staged.

We return to the situation with the city, and now we even know that it is located somewhere in Africa. Of course, the circle has narrowed a little, but it will still be almost impossible to guess the destination - this is how people are now trying to achieve what they want.

We have counted eight main points that contribute to the correct setting of goals, so let's break them down into atoms!

Having a goal

This may be obvious, but first you have there must be at least some idea. People do not live on Earth just like that, everyone strives, for example, to earn money, make their relatives happy, know a lot or run fast.

Wish

The goal must be desirable, so your search should be based on what you love to do. If you don’t have a desire, then nothing will come of it, no matter what goal you set for yourself. And all because it allows a person to do titanic work without feeling any heaviness. This is how any most incredible tasks become feasible if a person truly desires.

Desire is based on two main factors. One of them is the meaning behind your goal. Answer yourself the question: “why do I need what I’m trying to achieve?” The answer should be clear, incredibly pleasing and motivating. Desire becomes limitless when the meaning of the goal is worthy of its achievement. The second factor will be discussed below.

Specific Goals

Our goal setting will be correct only if we specify our desires. Specificity implies two parameters.

Availability of deadline

First, on target there must be a certain time for completion. We need to put ourselves in such conditions if we really want to achieve something. When there is no specific end date, a situation occurs that many of us are already accustomed to: the eternal desire to put everything off until tomorrow, which for some reason never comes. Well, how often has this helped you?

Of course, it’s more comfortable not to set limits for ourselves, but the realization that it’s time to move will never come to us, time passes, so every goal should have its own deadline. By the way, we recommend on the topic of “moving”, which describes exactly why you shouldn’t put off life for later.

Explicitly stated result

Secondly, the goal there must be a specific result. If you want money, how much exactly? If you want to lose weight, how much in kilograms? By describing the result accurately, you can evaluate your progress towards achieving your goal.

With a specific task, everything is clear: I need to lose 10 kilograms, I have already lost 2, which means there are still eight left before success. But when you simply decide to lose weight without specifying anything more specific, how do you evaluate your progress towards this goal? How to understand that the goal has been achieved? What is “losing weight”, how much is it? You can lose 500 grams and technically you've basically lost weight, but who are we kidding?

Here are some examples of good goal setting: “earn $100 in the next five days,” “finish your kitchen renovation in 10 days,” “make the national soccer team within 5 years.” These are just sketches, but they are potentially more useful just because we have clearly outlined what we want.

The goal must be achievable. There is no need to set goals, knowing full well that they cannot be achieved. It just doesn't make sense.

Complex or simple goals?

What happens when we are faced with an impossible task? Moving towards a similar result, over time we realize how dubious the idea was, our hands give up, our desire fades, our self-confidence is undermined (after all, I’m not cool enough to achieve what I want, and this hits my pride hard).

As a result, we begin to look for any activities for ourselves, just not to strive for this goal, so as not to disappoint ourselves once again. And who, after such an unpleasant experience, would want to burden themselves with some other tasks in life?

There is also the opposite situation, when a person sets too simple goals for himself. There's still nothing cool about it, because the goal should be compelling and not boring, and achieving too little things only leads to thoughts like, “Oh, is this all I can do? It's a pity".

Looking for a challenge

So how difficult should your goals be? Here we return to the second factor, which synthesizes desire in a person. So, the goal should be a challenge, that is, difficult, but possible. Such that there is space for the thought “I wonder if I could do this?” A challenge fuels desire in a person, because one is tempted to take oneself weakly in an effort to jump out of his pants.

We draw your attention to one word in the title of this paragraph. This is the word “ours”, it means that when setting goals you rely only on yourself. We should not think that someone or something will help and contribute to making our desires come true. This kind of thinking makes a person’s success less dependent on other people and external circumstances - and this is exactly what we need!

Detailed plan

If your goal has a specific result and time to complete, then this is some kind of path that needs to be followed. You can’t just throw away an extra ten kilograms of weight in a second. Therefore, correct goal setting implies a whole plan with information on achieving what you want.

If the goal is designed for a year, then break it down into many small subgoals, each of which is designed for a month (or better yet, a week), write down the goals specifically, and set an end date for each of them.

Now, instead of one sentence, you will have detailed instructions that you can follow and observe the dynamics.

Recording goals

You will often have to adjust and change something in your plan, plus it will be great to mark your progress to maintain your desire, so without recording it will not be possible to work normally with your goals. In addition, your goals are already materializing on paper this way. And everything that is in the mind is quite abstract, and “abstract” is the worst word if we are talking about the correct setting of goals. You can read more about how words can be a cool tool in your hands in the article about.

Make it a rule to always have a special notepad with you that you can quickly use to write down interesting thoughts regarding achieving your goals.

Adjustment

A little background. Times were different, and one day, while looking for a job, one of our authors ended up in a popular cosmetics company. When these guys were trying to finally recruit him into their ranks, the big boss had a conversation with him, who said a phrase like this: “Son, you need to set yourself a goal and move towards it all your life, under no circumstances change your goal, so you’ll be fine.” You won’t achieve it.” At that time, our author still hoped that he could get something useful out of that work, besides the obvious (money), but after this phrase he realized that his hopes were too optimistic.

A person is designed in such a way that throughout his life his interests and preferences change. If someone in childhood wanted to be a builder, this does not mean that if now he is a writer, then he has no future. What seemed like a good idea a year ago, now, due to new circumstances, may turn out to be simply ridiculous nonsense, which is certainly not worth striving for.

There is no need to worry if your desires change. You can set goals correctly only by setting a bunch of wrong ones.. Therefore, in the created plan you will have to make many adjustments to the time, your actions, and the final result itself.

Focus

No matter how Caesar and the female half of humanity try to argue with us now, people are single-tasking creatures. Therefore, maximum productivity is achieved only when you focus on one thing. In this regard, it is unreasonable to set yourself a thousand goals. Set one, maximum two goals and strive for them every day. Energy must be concentrated.

Misadventure

Great, now it's time to get started, but before you start practicing, a few words about the worst thing - failure.

In quantitative terms there will be many more failures than successes(if the Russian language allows such expression at all). The presence of failures should not frighten a person. On the contrary, it is necessary for failures that occur for one simple reason, which Thomas Edison will speak for us more succinctly.

Edison invented the filament, having completed more than 11 thousand failed experiments on the way to this goal. 11 thousand failures per invention. And during his life, the famous physicist patented more than a thousand of these inventions. So, to the journalist’s logical question about how Edison, despite so many failures, was able to create a thread, the inventor answered the following with a grin:

Failure?! Yes, I never had any failures, I successfully looked through options that were no good and each time I became closer to the goal.

The ideal model for goal setting is SMART. This is an acronym for the English words Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Timed. They mean that our goal should be:

Specific. It is clearly stated what result needs to be achieved;
Measurable. There are criteria showing the completeness of the goal;
Achievable. When you really assess your capabilities, you conclude that you can achieve it;
Realistic. Someone else besides you can achieve it;
Determined by time. There must be time limits for achieving the goal;

To achieve the goal, it is necessary, first of all, to perform decomposition, that is, breaking it down into smaller subgoals. Even if your task is not very large, it can still be broken down into smaller components that will make it easier to achieve results.

It is necessary to consider which of the small goals can be delegated and write down a number of people who will be responsible for this task.

Sort tasks by priority. Try to start fulfilling the most important goals, and then move on to more minor ones, this will allow you not to miss the main thing.

Constantly monitor the process, keep records and measure efficiency, then getting results will not take long.

Your goals will come true faster and more accurately if you learn to set them correctly for yourself. Knowing what you want is not enough. It is necessary to detail your request to the universe.

Instructions

Decide which area of ​​your life needs improvement the most. Of course, you can set several goals at the same time and achieve them in parallel, but it will be easier to start with one thing, the main one. Think about what currently satisfies you the least, for example, your level of well-being, professional growth, relationships with the opposite sex, health, appearance, or something else. Now you should understand what task to set for yourself in order to improve the state of your affairs.

Remember that your goal should be quite bold, but realistic. Don’t be afraid to aim for something bigger, don’t be modest, but don’t wish for the impossible. Life goals are meant to be achieved, not so that you have a dream throughout your entire existence. If you find it difficult to determine the threshold where your real possibilities end and fantasy begins, refer to your past experience. Nobody knows you better than yourself. You can also read the relevant statistics on the Internet or study specialized literature.

Keep in mind that your goal must be very specific. Vague definitions only push you further away from the day when your plans will come true. If your success in a future endeavor can be measured in some way, set specific numbers as the bar. In addition, you need to decide on a date when you can expect the task to be completed. The absence of a deadline set for yourself will not allow you to know whether the desired result has been achieved. If there are any nuances that need to be clarified, do so. Your goal should be clear and precise.

Break your big goal down into smaller tasks. Taking things step by step will make it easier for you to track your progress. Success during each period should be as easily defined in numbers, dates or some other parameters as the overall result. As a last resort, you can adjust your goal, because the possibility of unforeseen situations has not been canceled. Be sure to reward yourself after completing each stage. Even if it didn’t go entirely smoothly and wasn’t one hundred percent successful, you need self-support for further achievements.

Believe that everything will work out for you. Self-confidence will help you direct all your internal resources to achieve your goal. If you are pre-set for failure, there is no point in starting anything at all. Remember how your life will change after the end of this difficult journey. You yourself will also become better, stronger, wiser. A person who has achieved his plans increases his self-esteem and self-confidence. Do not forget that you will acquire additional skills, experience, and abilities.

Video on the topic

A person’s life is a movement towards set goals, as a result of which it becomes rich and meaningful. It is necessary to cultivate a new habit - to act until the result is achieved.

Instructions

Create desire. A truly genuine, powerful desire. Motivation will arise that will help overcome inertia and fear, and will encourage action, helping to overcome any obstacles.

Develop a belief. It is very important to believe that your goal is realistic and achievable. In order not to lose confidence and not be disappointed, you need to set only realistic goals for yourself. Decide where you are now and where you want to go as a result of your plans. Don't doubt your capabilities.

Write down your goal, thereby giving your desire a clear form. Otherwise, they will remain only your fantasies.

Today we will tell you how to set a goal correctly.

Target. What is this?

The goal is the end result which you are striving for. Most often, a goal stems from a dream or inspiration. desires. But inspiration alone is not enough, you also need work.

You can say this:goal = desire + conscious decision to act.

Having set a goal, determine the tasks with the help of which you will achieve your plan.

The goal answers the question “WHAT needs to be done?”, the tasks tell you HOW to achieve the desired result.

For example, you wanted to learn English. Formulate a goal (to master a basic level of language in 1 year), make a decision and sign up for language courses.

The goal must be written down. How to do this correctly - see ourvideo:

How to set goals correctly

Check your goal against SMART criteria

To achieve the desired result, you can use different methods. The most universal is SMART technology. This is an acronym and it translates as “smart”. For over 60 years, people have achieved success using SMART technology. It includes 5 criteria that a properly set goal must meet.

Specificity (S)

No “lose weight” or “learn”. Be specific: “My weight is 65 kg,” “Win ​​at least 10 chess games.” By being specific, you will see your intermediate successes. For example, reducing weight from 80 kg to 71 will motivate you to work further, because less than half of the way is left to the goal.

How high do you set the bar for yourself? At what level do you want to master a skill or learn information? For example, it is enough for Mikhail to learn to play simple courtyard songs in three chords on the guitar, and Oksana strives to participate in international competitions.

Three levels of information and skills

Level 1. Basic.Josh Kaufman, author of The First 20 Hours. How to learn anything” speaks of the principle of sufficiency. The principle implies mastering a skill at a level sufficient for the activity to simply bring you satisfaction.

Level 2. Intermediate.You operate with basic concepts, do not need ready-made templates, and can even advise others.

Level 3. High.You know about all the subtleties and tricks of the subject you are studying. Other people cite you as an authoritative source and take their cues from you.

It doesn’t matter whether you’re improving your guitar skills or mastering how to create websites, there are differences in skill levels everywhere. Before setting a goal, determine what kind of result will suit you.

« When a person does not know which pier he is heading towards, no wind will be favorable for him »

Seneca

Measurability (M)

Formulate your goal with numbers:

terms, volume, percentage, ratio, time

Any work implies the presence of a result. SmartProgress has a Completion Criteria option. By filling out this line, you will formulate for yourself what you need to achieve. How to determine that the goal has been achieved? Learned 100 English words, read 60 books, earned 800 thousand rubles.

Reachability (A)

Think about whether your goal is realistically achievable

Sometimes it’s enough just to use logic - you’re unlikely to vacation in Thailand if you have a pathological fear of airplanes.

When checking the goal against this criterion, take inventory of resources. This is time, knowledge, skills, money, useful information, acquaintances, experience. You already have some of this, but you still need to get some. SmartProgress has a “Personal Resources” field that will help you think again about what will help you achieve your goal.

Relevance (R)

The goal must be related to other goals and not contradict them

This criterion is also called environmental friendliness of the goal in the sense of “carefully for what already exists.”

How much does a new goal help or at least not interfere with existing ones?

Environmental friendliness can be internal and external. Internal refers to your aspirations, values, beliefs. External environmental friendliness is the relationship between new and old goals.

For example, you want to become the head of a department, but for this you need to travel frequently on business trips. And one of your goals is to spend more time with your family. Here the two goals conflict and cannot be considered environmentally friendly.

Questions to ask yourself:

• How does your new goal compare to your old goals, desires, lifestyle, expectations?
• Is this the result you want to achieve by setting this goal?
• Is it worth the effort?
• Why and for what purpose do you want to achieve this goal?

Timed (T)

Set a deadline for achieving your goal

Clearly set deadlines motivate you to work more actively. It's easy to look back to see how far you've come and how much you still have to go. Parkinson's Law states: “Every job increases in volume to fill all the time available for it.” Therefore, if a goal does not have a deadline, you are unlikely to get around to it.

Are you afraid of being disappointed and not achieving your goal in the allotted time? Then set the deadline a little further than required.

Example of a SMART goal

S (specific)— Play the acoustic guitar: correctly place the basic chords, use fingerpicking and different types of strumming in the game.

M (measurable)— play 10 songs by the groups Spleen, Basta, Gradusy.

A (attainable)- have a guitar, tutorials on the Internet, time, money for lessons in the studio or with a tutor.

R (relevant)— I want to perform at a bard song competition, and also be successful with girls.

T (time limited)— July 2017.

Why does this technology work?

• You audit all resources and evaluate whether the goal is achievable.

It happens that one gives up and emotions say: “Oh, that’s it. I can not do it". Don't give in to your feelings, use logic: you have everything you need to get to the end. And if there are no resources, then you know where to get them.

• You can clearly see the end result.

If biathletes didn’t see their target, how would they shoot? A specifically formulated goal helps you understand whether you are going in the right direction and how close you are to the goal.

• Set tasks more effectively on the way to your goal.

Knowing what, where and when you want to get it makes it easier to achieve what you want. You have assessed your resources, checked the relevance of the goal - now you can continue on your way.

To move quickly and efficiently, you need to carefully plan your actions.

Plan and work

Knowing WHAT you want to achieve, it is easier to determine HOW to achieve it. If the goal is complex or long-term (create your own business in the IT industry, buy an apartment without taking out a mortgage), then your action plan will be more extensive. Don't be alarmed. We will tell you about 2 ways to go towards your huge goal in ourvideo.

1. By time. Set yourself milestones. What should I achieve in a year? What should I be like in 2 years? What should I know, be able to do?
2. Make a list of everything you need to do to achieve your goal. Get an education, study the market sector, analyze the achievements of competitors, reach first the local, then the regional level - the more detailed the actions are, the more effective the work will be.

Supplement your main goal with healthy habits

A habit is an automated action that we constantly feel the need to perform. We automatically do exercises, drink coffee in the morning, and check email when we come to work. And if something disrupts the course of events, we begin to get nervous.

Habits help you save internal energy to solve more important and complex tasks. There is no longer any need to waste time and energy thinking about whether to do exercises now. You just go and do what needs to be done without thinking. Therefore, it is important to form healthy habits. They make our lives easier and have a positive impact on our work.

Watch your thoughts - they become words.

Watch your words - they become actions.

Watch your actions - they become habits.

Watch your habits - they become character.

Watch your character - it determines your destiny.

O. Khayyam

On the SmartProgress service you can set not only a regular goal, but also a habit goal. This will help form and consolidate daily repetitive actions: jogging in the morning, reading books, walking, getting up early. If you decide to give up something, then in this case the habit goal will work. Regularity is important when forming a habit. That's why a habit goal doesn't take a vacation. Running in the morning every other day or taking a break from sports on holidays will not achieve the desired result.

For example, in your SmartProgress profile you set a habit goal to “get up early.” Your job is to check in with your goal after completing your daily action.

For five days you conscientiously celebrated your achievements, but you missed the sixth day. A red cross (failure) appears in the habit goal and you have to start your journey again.

Once you place the final checkmark on your goal, it will automatically complete. Write a conclusion, note the difficulties and successes of forming this goal. And start a new one! As Lao Tzu said, “A journey of 1000 li begins with the first step.”

Right now

1. Think about which goal is most relevant to you today. Is this a habit goal or does it require relatively more preparation?
2. Formulate the goal in accordance with SMART criteria. It must be specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound.
3. Choose how you plan your actions: chronologically or to-do list.
4. Create a goal for SmartProgress and write down your plan to achieve your goal there.
5. Start implementing the plan.

Sometimes people set goals incorrectly. Because of this, they become disillusioned and feel unable to achieve greater heights. But EVERYONE can set goals and achieve what they want. We, members of the SmartProgress team, support you and wish you success in achieving your goal!

Tasks performed daily cannot be accomplished without setting a goal. Even the simplest and most everyday actions are initially planned by a person. How to set goals correctly? What helps make your plans come true? The information below will help you answer your questions.

What do you need to set a goal?

Few people will like a purposeless existence. Almost every person has his own goal, an incentive to live. How to set goals correctly and To do this you need to put in maximum patience and effort. The correct setting of life priorities, as well as the recommendations presented below, will help you create your own mindset to achieve your goal.

Thoughts are material

What we constantly imagine will sooner or later come true. Positive thoughts attract good luck, while negativity makes us passive and unhappy. How to set goals correctly and achieve them? Think positively and believe in your own success. Without self-belief, setting goals is meaningless.

Think about your goals, mentally imagine the moment when they will be achieved. The more often you do this, the faster your plans will be realized.

Visualization: watch and do

Laziness is the main enemy

Don't let yourself rest when you need to act. If you have a free minute, work through the options for accomplishing the task once again.

How to put it correctly Fight laziness and apathy. Movement is life, and it doesn’t matter whether it’s physical or mental. Lazy and apathetic people do not reach heights and, as statistics show, are less successful than active individuals. Don't let laziness enter your thoughts, organize your day in such a way that even during a rest or break at work you are busy with something.

What should be the time frame for achieving the goals?

To set goals correctly, you need to set clear time limits for their implementation. Specific dates will help you become more focused and responsible in achieving the desired result.

You cannot set goals for a long period of time, since you cannot guarantee that nothing will prevent you from achieving them. That is, if you set the expectation that after 10 years you will save up for an apartment, then the goal runs the risk of remaining unfulfilled.

How to set goals correctly: examples

Correctly set tasks and goals are quickly realized. For example, if a person gave himself the intention to buy a car of a certain brand in six months, then he will buy it. It’s not just a matter of setting the task, it’s a matter of the desire to implement the plan faster. People who are passionate about achieving goals have an easier time getting what they want out of life.

A great example of proper goal setting is how athletes prepare for competition. They set themselves the expectation that they will be physically prepared for the Olympic Games. Here, not only the goal itself is used, but also the attitude of the athletes, their determination.

Another example of a correct setting: “I want to lose 10 kilograms in 5 months.” The complete opposite of this goal setting is this type of goal setting: “I want to lose weight.” In the first option, the goal is clear and has a specific time frame and a tangible end result. It forces a person to work productively in order to implement his plans on time. The second option is an example of how not to set a goal. Blurred time boundaries and unclear final results will not help you realize what you want.

A few steps towards setting and realizing goals

How to set goals correctly? Before you begin directly setting a specific task, you need to choose several (no more than 5) most important goals for yourself. Throw away everything unnecessary and uninteresting to you at the moment. When you decide on a goal, a few simple steps will help you create the right attitude for yourself and implement your plans.

Step 1. Conversation with your own “I”

Sit in the way that is comfortable for you, relax, and fall into a light, pleasant slumber. Now ask yourself the question: “What do I most want to achieve?” Filter out unnecessary information, eliminate fleeting desires and abstract dreams. Highlight what brings you positive emotions.

Step 2. Fixing the task on a piece of paper

How to set goals correctly? Record them on paper. Write down your goals in detail and highlight important points. Re-read the written information several times a day - this will help consolidate the task in the subconscious.

Step 3. Breaking down global goals into small and quickly achievable tasks

How to set and achieve them correctly? Consider the actions required to implement them. Opposite each of the written goals, write down microtasks, the implementation of which will bring you closer to the realization of your plans.

Do you want to earn 10,000 rubles by the end of next month? Decide what you need to do: find additional income or change your occupation.

Do you want to get rid of extra 15 kilograms in 7 months? Develop an individual training and diet plan. Do not use other people's experiences, since only those activities that are designed specifically for you are suitable for achieving your goal.

Step 4. Removing obstacles

Ask yourself the question: “What is stopping me from getting what I want?” Write down the answers on a piece of paper and analyze them. Now proceed directly to action.

Take care of yourself every day and stop the appearance of laziness, avoid wasting time communicating with unnecessary people. Mobilize your strength to achieve your goal and try not to be distracted by irritants.

Step 5. Listing the means to achieve your goals

The implementation of any goals requires certain costs: financial, energy, time. Next to each goal, make a list of means that will help you get what you want faster. This could be money, free time, energy to solve everyday problems.

Remember that on the way to achieving your goal you will have to sacrifice something. Feel free to shorten your day's rest, replacing it with working through issues that interest you. Try not to regret the time spent, convince yourself that all this is being done for your benefit.

Step 6: Planning your day

What helps you set goals correctly? You need to plan your day wisely. A clearly drawn up daily routine helps you become more focused; planning allows you to spend your personal time more rationally.

To achieve your goal, you need to create a schedule every day. Within 24 hours, you should have time both to work on the task at hand and to solve current problems. Don't forget to take into account the time spent on rest.

Step 7. Learn to be cheerful

Do not pay attention to minor failures and troubles that occur on the way to achieving your goal. Set yourself up for the positive, look for the positive in everything, here the saying “everything that is done, everything is for the better” will play a big role for you.

Remember that a goal will only be achieved if it carries a positive charge.

Step 8. Praise

As soon as you solve one of the micro-tasks, be sure to praise yourself. Rewarding even small accomplishments helps faster and with less energy. Praise yourself for not being too lazy to work beyond the norm today.

Tell yourself that nothing is impossible for you, and soon you will see that this really is so. Encouraging one's own actions increases a person's confidence and determination. Just in everything you need to know when to stop - don’t over-praise yourself, otherwise encouragement will start to work exactly the opposite.

Is it possible to make adjustments to the goals set?

Absolutely yes. If the final result is planned for a long period of time (for example, from 2 to 5 years), then making small adjustments is appropriate here. This is due to the fact that the world is changing, and there is nothing permanent in it. Therefore, you should not set a goal that cannot be adjusted for a long period.

For example, if you want to buy an apartment in 7 years and decide to save for such a large purchase all these years, but do not take into account that force majeure may occur during this period, then the end result will not please you. Why? It's simple: at some point you will need a large amount of money, and you will use your savings.

To avoid this, make small adjustments to your goal. For example, write that it is necessary to create another, additional financial “airbag” in the form of an open bank account.

What to do if achieving your goal is disappointing?

In the process of implementing a task, some people are faced with the fact that they are not satisfied with the work done, and the goal is no longer of interest to them. What to do in this situation?

Don't give up and think that the work done was useless. Note to yourself that you have gained tremendous experience and still achieved what you once wanted. If you are completely disappointed in your goal, then start implementing a new one. Our whole life consists entirely of an endless series of beginnings and accomplishments, so try to always bring everything to the end. This will instill determination in you.

Remember one important rule - never stop in the middle. Regardless of obstacles, condemnation from people, go towards your goal and believe in your strength. Support yourself in all your endeavors.

We won’t be taught how to set the right goals at school, and our parents won’t be able to explain the process of correctly setting goals for the future. You can understand how to achieve what you want only through your own trial and error, self-diagnosis and work on yourself.