Many Americans vaguely know how to set goals, but they stray away from them because they don’t want to face the possibility of failure. Perhaps they tried to do something in the past and failed. Or maybe they see how important the goal is to them and fear the massive letdown should the critical mission be unsuccessful. The risk of failing to set realistic goals is that you may end up settling for habits, people and situations that are not good for you. So often people stay in destructive relationships and work dead-end jobs just to avoid the process of setting goals. It’s time to stop procrastinating; here’s a guide to setting goals that you can and will achieve.

Once you learn how to set goals, you’ll need to break down your goals into smaller, achievable steps. You must set short term and long term goals in order to be successful. If you are in your first year of college and your goal is to be a WBTV reporter, you must write a list: 1) finish college, 2) work at the college TV station, 3) write up a resume, 4) intern at a local TV station, 5) buy professional clothes for job interview, 6) read up on job interviewing skills, 7) apply to WBTV. Your short term goals may be to make your resume and work at the college TV station: these are things you can immediately work on now to feel a small sense of accomplishment and progress. Your long term goals, then, will be finishing school and working at WBTV.

Once you learn how to set goals, the trick is to create an organized life goal list. For instance, your overall goal may be to clean your room — which, over time, has become a disaster area. On your list, it doesn’t make sense for you to “put away laundry” before you “pick up laundry off the floor and wash it.” You won’t be able to “dust the dresser” until you have “thrown out paperwork on dresser” and “put away clothes sitting on dresser.” If your list is organized, you will be better able to meet all your short term goals, which will eventually lead you to your long term goal of having a clean bedroom.

After learning how to set goals, some people find it hard to pursue the plan. Often times, they have set far too many goals for themselves and don’t know where to begin. Perhaps you hate your retail job, your partner is aggravating you to no end, you want to be more involved in your guitar playing hobby, you know you need better time management skills and you want to spend more time visiting with your family. All these impending goals can actually make you feel unhappy if you feel swamped by them and overwhelmed. Instead, try to focus on which particular area is making you most unhappy. Maybe your job has you ready to pull your hair out each and every day, whereas your partner is a mere annoyance for now. Start with pursuing your job change and begin to work your way toward the other areas once you achieve your first goal. You may find after clearing up one area that the other parts of your life fall into place and you are much happier.

The first step in determining how to set goals is to do an honest assessment of your life. Once you’ve faced the struggles and disappointments in your current situation, you will find the motivation to set short and long term goals and make the necessary adjustments. You can ask yourself, “Is smoking, drinking, drug using, binge eating or failing to exercise bringing me down? Am I working a dead-end job that pays too little, does not challenge me enough or causes undue stress? Is my poor time management and disorganization stressing me out? Do I need a new hobby or skill to keep me occupied? Is my partner causing more unhappiness than happiness, or am I treating my partner unfairly?” Once you’ve spent some time being introspective, you’ll be ready to begin.

Technorati Tags: , ,