Setting Goals

November 16, 2021

Want to accomplish some goals? You just have to know what you want, how to attain it, and when you want it.

You’ll notice a couple of highlighted terms in the post below: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound. These are the S.M.A.R.T. principles used when creating goals.

Yes, you’ve likely heard of this before, but bear with me - it does work if you are committed to it.

Feeling Down and Empty?

We’ve all been there: the feeling of being lost in our lives, and wondering why the world is moving forward, while it seems as if we are just standing still.

Sometimes it’s a lack of opportunity, sometimes it’s a lack of motivation, but more often than not, it’s a lack of clear vision: knowing what we want in general, but not knowing exactly how to get there.

Sure, we all want to be goal oriented and successful. To be financially stable, well regarded and the best at what we do. Goals like these are the end results we want. How to start, what to do, and how to stay on track often evade us, leaving us with a view of the finish line, but not knowing where the path is in order to start.

What Do You Want?

Let’s start with the end goal. What do you want?

You have to know what you want. It has to be specific, and it has to be realistic. You can’t just say, “I want a job that has meaning to me”, or “I want a job I love”. What gives you meaning? What do you truly love to do?

Research. Answer these questions first, then look for jobs that best match these criteria.

Let’s say you love programming, and that creating applications gives you a sense of purpose. Great, after some research you see that a web developer job fits the bill. Now you know what you want to do, it’s time to identify how to achieve it and when you want it.

Research. Figure out what you need to achieve your goal and how long you’re willing to work at it.

Your goal could be as follows, “I want to learn how to be a Web Developer in 1 year. I want to build applications using PHP, MySQL, HTML, CSS and JavaScript”. A goal like this is specific, it’s relevant, measurable and it’s time-bound.

Is it all encompassing?

Research. No, your research shows that there are many facets to being a web developer, and that you can’t learn everything in the timeline you’ve set for yourself. Instead of learning everything, you’re being realistic with your timeline and focusing on what is achievable within the time you’ve set for yourself. The other things are important, but you have to pick and choose what you can and can’t do with the time you have.

Time Requires You to be Specific and Realistic About Your Goal

Not properly defining what it is that you want means that you won’t be able to identify what you need to get there. Being realistic about what you can and can’t do will help you stay focused on what you can do.

If you don’t know what you want, how to identify when you have it, or set aside time to do it, you will find accomplishing your goal a lot harder to achieve.

What Do You Need to Get There?

Okay, you know what you want. It’s specific, it’s relevant, you can measure it, and you have a timeline for achieving it. The next task is to ask yourself what you need to achieve this goal.

Let’s continue with our example, Web Developer in one year’s time. From your research you’ve found out that you need a good grasp of PHP, MySQL, HTML, CSS and JavaScript.

A goal must be achievable within the timelines you set (or close enough to the timelines). If what you need to do overwhelms you, try and break it up into chunks and focus on one chunk at a time. In our example, keep the big goal in mind, but break it up into smaller goals — start learning one or two languages at a time; or, learn them all in general and then specialise in each, one at a time. The only rules are the ones you set for yourself to achieve your goal.

So you know what you need to get there. The next step is how to start.

How Do You Start?

You have your goal – it’s specific, it’s measurable and there’s a timeline to it. You also know what you need to do to achieve that goal. Great!

Figure out your schedule. There’s no point planning for an hour each weekday learning and 4 hours each weekend practicing if this isn’t realistic for your lifestyle.

Be honest with yourself about how much time you can, and are willing to, spend towards your goal.

Once you’ve determined your schedule, go back to your goal and verify that the timeline is still realistic. If so, then set up allocated time slots for learning and practicing each item in your list. This will help ensure you can measure your progress.

Timelines are important here; a timeline encourages you to outline what you need to learn so that you can stay on track to meet your target.

How Do You Stay on Track?

Outline what you need to learn within the timeline you’ve given yourself. This outline should clearly identify what you are learning, what times of the day you’re learning it, and how that ties back to your goal.

A Timeline will keep you honest. If you missed your timeline, you know you’re at risk for missing your time-bound goal. If you find that you’re missing your timelines, ask yourself why you’re missing these timelines; are you finding it hard to stay motivated? Are chores or other activities getting in the way?

Remember the start of this article where we talked about, “... being lost in our lives, and wondering why the world is moving forward, while it seems as if we are just standing still”?

Don’t fall back into this.

Identify what is holding you back and face it. If you really want to attain your goal, you have to work for it and overcome the obstacles in your way. Not doing so means you will have to revise your goal to suit your situation.

Goals can be achieved if you know exactly what you want, how to attain it, and when you want it. Best of luck.