How to Set Goals: A Guide
- 1). Think about what you want to accomplish in a specific area of your life. Select an arena or category such as personal (i.e. weight loss, physical activity, photography, dance), professional (i.e. designation, job shadowing), spiritual (i.e. Bible study, religious activity) or educational (i.e. learn a second language, get a college degree) and develop SMART goals within it. Write each goal in the first person, active voice.
- 2). Write down a goal that is specific. Strive against vague, general goals. Instead of writing "lose weight" identify exactly how much weight you want to lose and when you want to lose it by; write down specifically how you will lose the weight. For example, "I will lose 15 pounds by May 1. I will accomplish this goal by running 30 minutes 6 times per week and by limiting myself to 1,500 calories per day."
- 3). Examine your goals after writing them to verify that they are measurable, attainable and realistic. Avoid unreasonable goals like, "I will lose 15 pounds in five days by starving myself." Such a goal is unhealthy and unattainable. Avoid goals that can't be measured like "I will get people at work to like me more." Instead, make a measurement part of your goal (i.e. "I will measure my success of learning Spanish by knowing at least 10 new words each week.").
- 4). Set timely goals by making sure your goals are not open-ended. Set a deadline that you will either accomplish, or not accomplish them by. Avoid feeling pressured by a deadline; rather, understand that setting an end point for a goal gives you a clear target to work toward.
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