Want to Get Things Done Effectively? How to Successfully Set Goals in 3 Steps

Setting goals is something that we all have to consistently do in our lives. Whether it be academic, extracurricular, or another area of life, goal setting is necessary for one to do. Read this article now if you are ready to learn how to set your goals quickly and efficiently!

Step 1: Plan

Tran from Pexels

Planning your goals is extremely important for determining which ones are the most important for you. With so many goals to choose from, it can be hard to zoom in on the ones that need to be focused on the most! However, planning out your goals is the easiest way to do avoid this annoying and irritating problem.

To plan out your goals, you should start by thinking about what you would like to accomplish in the upcoming days, weeks, or even months. These accomplishments can be school-based, such as with improving a grade, or they can be extracurricular, like starting or joining a club. By categorizing your goals, you will be easily able to pick and choose which goals to work on.

You can also set goals for personal needs, such as making sure to brush your teeth twice a day or wearing a dressy outfit once a week. In fact, I like to set goals in terms of fitness. This can be exercising for an hour each day, or trying a new exercise routine every week.

Enjoyment is key to fulfilling your goals, so make sure you are setting ones that excite you, too. These kinds of goals can help you feel more confident in your day to day life, as well as allow you to feel more accomplished.

Step 2: Zone in on Three

After compiling such a long list, it can feel impossible to pick just a couple of goals to work on. To alleviate this stress, you can work on picking one goal from each of your categories: school, extracurricular, and personal. In doing so, you are able to work on all areas of yourself and become a more well rounded individual.

Picking a goal from each category can be simpler than you think. You don’t have to choose a hard one from each area. For example you don’t have to choose to start a club, and learn a new hairstyle, and get straight A’s. This is basically impossible for one to successfully do in just a few weeks, which is why it may feel overwhelming. Instead of this, you should aim for one hard goal and two easy ones. You can try to start a club, but that might mean earning some B’s in classes or putting off your hairstyle for a few more weeks. Honestly, juggling so many kinds of goals can be beyond stressful and worrisome. Those kinds of emotions are true reasons as to why you don’t want to set too many intense or hard goals. And, while this may seem frustrating, it really doesn’t have to be. Patience wins the race, and you, too, will cross the finish line soon.

Step 3: Track Your Progress

The best way to ensure that you are doing well and staying on track with your goals is to track them. This can be by keeping a log in your notebook, or it can be more detailed, such as on an online spreadsheet. However you decide to track them though, make sure you are detailed.

Staying detailed is so important because it will allow you to trace your steps back and analyze where you went right and where you went wrong. This is essential for determining where you want to go next in your goal setting journey, and it will also allow you to see where you might have messed up, too. Understanding your mistakes will help you not make them again.

This will allow you more opportunities to grow in your goal setting journey. Tracking your progress, and your mistakes, is beyond crucial when setting goals that are not just momentarily, but rather eternally effective and positive.

Step 4: Repeat

After you accomplish all these steps, you should aim to do them again. This means that once you fulfill your current goals, you can set new ones! This is crucial for personal growth and when done repeatedly, will allow you to become the best version of yourself. We are never done improving, even if we think that we are.

A great way to set new goals is to think of areas you haven’t strengthened yet. This can be academic or social, or even something totally random. Nonetheless, the goal should reflect your desires for personal improvement. You don’t want to be working toward something that isn’t going to make you happy in the future, which is why your goals should be rooted in your life journey, or at the least journey that you are trying to go on.

Overall, don’t worry about if your goals seem too easy or too hard. As long as you are accomplishing something, you are ahead of the game. Pick yourself up when you feel down, and remember that when you fulfill your goal, you will feel invincible!