Goals are a necessary part of our life. It gives us a sense of purpose and direction in times, especially when we see no hope for the future. Before we dive into the best strategies for effective goal setting, it is important to understand some misconceptions.
It must be understood that your dreams and goals are not necessarily the same thing. On one hand, your dreams are what you hope happened, an idea that seems too distant to hope for. Your goals one the other hand, involve carefully planned steps, that you are certain will be achieved through effort.
Following this plan to will allow you to craft goals that are a perfect fit for your situation.
Assess your baseline
It is never embarrassing to find your starting position, wherever it may be. Do not compare your baseline with others, you have lived a unique life, your goals are different. Even if they do look the same on paper, the journey you walk on will make the process of achieving your goals unique. You might find yourself to be hundreds of steps behind your peers, consider this carefully as how you craft your goals will be affected by this. It is better to be more pessimistic than optimistic about your situation (but not overly so) when looking at how much work you must put in to accomplish your goals. While it may be over-exhausted, you must remember that no matter how small a goal you set, you must put in the corresponding amount of work to see results.
Find an overarching desire
Goals are set for a variety of purposes. You need to find a purpose to get the most out of your goals. Get a general idea, some examples may include making a certain amount of money, getting accepted into a prestigious program, or becoming healthier. Goal-oriented behavior comes with having a sense of “overarching” purpose that you can look up to for every decision you make.
Intermediate goals
After finding a main purpose, the next step is to create intermediate goals. These goals are steps that you need to take along your main path. Something that serves as guideposts. It is important to remember that these goals are not meant to be easily accomplished. You should put your mind to create goals that are achievable only if you put some meaningful effort into it. For example, If your overarching goal is to graduate University. Your first intermediate goal would be talking with counselor or expert to help you make a course list that you actually find enjoyable and challenging.
Make adjustments
It is always important to constantly asses your situation. Are the intermediate goals you made still valid? Has your overarching desire changed? Life throws at us countless curveballs and it is unrealistic to expect that a plan you made out will be followed through precisely. Do not worry if you fail or are pushed back from achieving your goals. Think of it as readjusting your starting position.
Do not limit yourself
As you are in the process of attaining your purpose. It is important to understand that there is more to life than just one achievement. If you are hardworking enough to complete your overarching purpose, it is not unusual to find yourself at a loss. What now? As you gain confidence completing one overarching purposes, try finding more, similar ones. The benefit of doing things like this is that you will find that the intermediate goals also overlap to some degree. Be wary of spreading yourself too thin! Do what you can handle and build up the capability to do more.