Today I want to talk to you about the importance of setting goals.
If you want to achieve your desires in life, be it work success, improved relationships, or saving money, you must have a mindset that is focused on success.
I never understood the importance of setting goals until recently, because I was not raised that way and none of my friends set goals either. No one to learn from. Sigh.
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Are You Ready To Set Some Goals?
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When I started blogging I kept reading about goal setting.
So I bought some books, followed some YouTube videos and signed up for every free resource I could find. I was so clueless about goal setting that I wanted anything and everything that anyone could teach me.
My big question was how do you set goals when you don’t know what your goals are? I mean “making a ton of money” is just not a realistic goal because it is too vague.
I know this because it was the first thing I tried…and it did not work.
So I signed up for yet another free goal setting course
“Crushing It” is the name of the goal setting course from Living Well, Spending Less.
After I bought a planner from Living Well (you can see what it looks like here), I was invited to join the Crushing It community and I was super excited.
This will help for sure! And actually it did help me.
I went through the course using printables that match the planner pages. As I started setting weird and random goals, because I was new at this, I started to get it.
The key to successful goal setting is to just start and learn as you go.
My last planner was too generic and vague and was not designed for goal planning.
But this new shiny one from Living Well was born for goal planning! As I set my goals each month, it gets easier to figure out what goals to set. That is because in the beginning you have a lot of goals to reach for and it can be hard figuring out which ones are the most important.
(PS. If you want a $5 off coupon for one of the Living Well planners, send me an email. The coupons are time sensitive)
You can develop a goal-setting mindset
It takes practice to focus on attaining your dreams, overcoming obstacles, and realizing your true potential.
A goal-setting mindset is one that focuses squarely of the target, remains focused in spite of setbacks, and understands that hard work and determination will see you through to the finish line.
This is where I used to fail at goal setting. Setting vague goals or having too many and getting overwhelmed.
Why is goal setting important?
Goals give us something to reach for. We use each goal that we achieve as a stepping stone for the next goal, always moving forward.
This is how people become “successful”, by having a plan and going for it.
To quote the ball player Yogi Berra:
If you don't know where you are going, you'll end up someplace elseClick To TweetI am sure that you do not want to end up far away from your desires, so let’s look at what we can do about creating a goal-setting mindset.
Related Post: How To Set Goals In 5 Easy Steps
Ideally, as a blogger you would set 1 to 3 business goals, focusing on one or two of them each month. Then set at least one goal for each of the other parts of your life:
- Relationships
- Health & wellness
- Home
- Finance
Your goals can overlap but it is important to only work on up to three goals at any one time to avoid overwhelm.
For example, have one blog goal, one health goal, and one home improvement goal. As you complete one goal, add in a new one in to the mix.
Setting several types of goals helps you develop the “habit” of goal setting and makes setting future goals easier.
And you have the added benefit of improving more than one area of your life. win-win!
Understanding the Goal-Setting Mindset
If you want to attain a goal, your actions and habits will get you there eventually. But it’s your mindset that sets the stage for what you do.
When your mindset is focused on goal-setting, you are much more likely to engage in actions that lead to goal achievement.
Whether your goal is to be healthier, get a new job, reach a monetary savings target, or graduate from college, be clear about what you want to achieve.
Even if you are not quite sure what you think is the right goal, setting and working to achieve goals can help you to decide. This is why it is best to start right away and figure out what you really want as you go along.
Decide what your end goal should be
If you decide to start improving your health, brainstorm all the ways that you can achieve this goal (drink more water, eat more vegetables, go for a daily walk).
Then pick one of these as your first goal.
You may discover that a daily walk is out of the question right now because of all the construction in your neighborhood, so you adjust your goal.
Instead of a daily walk you vow to take the stairs whenever possible for 30 days.
If that goal did not give you the results you were looking for, try it again for 30 days.
Every time you have to adjust your goal based on new information, you have learned something about yourself. And what you really want.
Eventually, you will know what activities you actually enjoy, what kind of limitations are acceptable (jogging through road construction), what you don’t like (this is important), and what you can tolerate.
At some point, you will know if you utterly hate jogging or love it.
What you learn from setting goals will help you in your future goal setting (i.e. I hate jogging!).
Aligning with your beliefs and values will help you figure out the steps necessary to attain it.
As well, it can keep you motivated to do the work required for achieving it.
And once you know that something is not acceptable for you, you know to turn down invitations to join the local jogging club. You can move on from that.
So, how can you develop a mindset that is more focused on goal setting?
Developing a Goal-Setting Mindset
The first step toward having a goal-setting mindset is to embrace the power of growth.
A positive mindset that embraces change and challenge in life will help you to set lofty but attainable goals, learn from your mistakes, and consider all kinds of possibilities for yourself.
This growth-oriented mentality helps you see that life is a never-ending process of growth and change, whereby you are constantly setting new goals for yourself.
The next step is to look for all the ways you are already successful in life:
- What are things you are already doing that are putting you closer to realizing your dream?
- Do you have strengths that you can build upon to get where you want to be next?
- Is there something about these successes that give you positive feelings about your life?
- How did you achieve this success and did you learn anything on the way?
- Did achieving this goal give you the desired results?
If you do not get the results you were hoping for, do not consider this failure.
Instead, see it as feedback and use it to decide what you really want.
In the above example, you may have discovered that jogging is tedious and not your idea of improving health.
Instead you decide to start swimming three times a week.
You not only adjusted your goals, but you learned something about yourself so that you can course correct in the future.
Look for ways to learn from people
Seek out the people in your life who are successful or who have attained similar goals. If you don’t know people like this in real life, join groups on Facebook or other forum.
Start looking for people who are just a bit further ahead; they can help encourage you to get to the next step.
Talk to them about what worked for them and their thinking or tips on the importance of setting goals.
Focus on what is currently working well, and use these to further your work toward setting new goals and reaching them.
Watch out for negative self talk, and if possible, avoid people who are negative about your goals.
You may want to set a goal to say something positive to yourself each day to cancel out any negative thoughts.
Choose positive affirmations that are aligned with what you want your life to be like:
- Success is my birthright
- Money comes easily and frequently
- I am living my dream life
While you want to be realistic about what you need to do, you don’t need anyone, including yourself, telling you that you can’t do something.
As well, you do not have to share your goals with anyone. Try to find positive thinking people to talk to about goal setting.
Be clear about your vision and objectives
And be clear about how attaining your dreams will affect your life.
Visualize your life when you have reached your goal.
- How will you feel?
- What will be different?
- Why is this important to you?
Visualizing the result is helpful for staying motivated while you are working toward a goal.
Visualization is a great way to figure out if this goal is what you truly want.
An example of this might be visualizing living in a mansion.
You may want a mansion because this is what you think success looks like. In reality, what will really make you feel successful is a house full of friends and family and the free time and money to spend with them.
Visualizing and goal setting help you to gain clarity about what you really want.
The other benefit to visualizing your goals that you will often discover things that you did not know that you wanted.
You may discover that you are motivated by how you want to feel above all else, and that is what is driving your goal setting.
My word for this year is “freedom” and I am motivated by feeling free of everything – clutter, debt, unhealthy relationships, health issues etc.
My goals are based on helping me achieve this freedom.
Take Care of your health
Cultivate healthy habits of body and mind that will help you focus on the importance of setting goals to achieve your dreams.
When you neglect your health, you won’t be able to fully enjoy the fruits of your hard work toward your goals.
And if you have brain fog, you will not be able to set good goals because you cannot focus on what you really want.
- Get enough sleep
- Watch your stress levels
- Eat a healthy diet
- Get outside for some fresh air and sunshine.
These healthy habits will allow you to reach your goal and thoroughly enjoy what you have accomplished.
Conclusion
A goal-setting mindset keeps you focused on what is important to you as and gives you the mentality and motivation to pursue your dreams. Mindset plays a crucial role in success, and the importance of setting goals is one that can propel you to achieve just about anything you want in life.
Please share this post with others who may benefit and sign up for my FREE weekly newsletter of exclusive content, tips, and free stuff for bloggers, including my Goal Setting checklist, Branding with Canva cheatsheet, or my Passive Income Checklist.
Until next time, happy blogging and follow me on Pinterest!
-Irma 🙂
