Monday, July 15, 2024

Mastering the Art of Goal Setting | Strategies for Success

 How do we spend our Life?

Are you driven by your passion to accomplish what you want to achieve?. I believe you are on the right track in Mastering the Art of Goal Setting, if you do that. The strategies and successes of goal setting are in the Action Plan. They all go together. From Idea to Planning and Implementation. That's how you can really master the art of goal setting.


Every day is an opportunity to do the task. As you wake up each morning, start the day with a daily devotion. Have a little prayer and some song of praise, thanking God for a beautiful day. Before taking that coffee, you can take some time thinking about spending your time and energy doing the activities for the day that will bring you results going towards your goal. You may include what you have done in the previous days and think about the day ahead to be a continuation of what you have accomplished so far. 
It would be a good starting point to create a systematic approach to your daily living which is molding you into what you want to become in parallel with what you want to achieve in life.

What are the useful Goal Setting Tools you need?

You can really monitor your progress with a proper tool used in Goal Setting. You need to have this handy tool so you can monitor your progress. Make an assessment and if necessary, revise or update your plans. If you don't have one yet, I suggest that you have one.



Goal Setting Exercise 

  • Visualize your Goals - Imagine your desired outcome and visualize your success. Its better to feel the emotions ahead of time and see yourself one year from now or five years from now.  

  • Write Down your Goals -  the way ahead is to write your goals on a paper to make them tangible and reinforce your commitment to do them regularly. Be more specific and use positive language. 

  • Break it into smaller tasks - Devise the big goals into smaller tasks to make it manageable when you are implementing them. Focus on a one task at a time so that you will not be overwhelmed by it. 

  • Set a Defined Action Plan with Timelines -  this will become your roadmap to success. Each step of the way helps you keep on track and ensures daily progress. This will also help you maintain your own accountability for your actions. Remember, you are what you become with the decision you will do now and take the necessary action that will produce result.

Planning with Goal Setting

Planning your goals involves several key steps to ensure your success. These steps are;

  •  Clarify your Goals first - the more specific you are about what you want to achieve, the more clarity you will have. As you write down you goals, set a target date at the top of your list. 

  •  Break down into actionable steps - the action plan helps you manage the tasks. Be more relevant and set an achievable tasks. 

  •  Create a Timeline - a goal is a dream with a deadline. Becoming real and relevant, you must set a specific time frame to acheve your goals. 

For example:

You want to reach a certain time when you need to pay-off you debt. Determine how much you need to pay and how long you can pay it? Setting a certain goal in this instance is to know how much you can achieve to raise the amount you need to meet that goal. Say if you need to pay $5,000 in a period of one year. You need to raise an amount of $417 per month. Do you think this will be a realistic amount based on what your income generating activity? if not, then adjust your goals and your timelines perhaps to two years, three years, depending on what you can raise to achieve that goal.

Goal Setting Questions to Asks

Relevant to your Planning is asking yourself a question or sets of questions to be able to make a clear and well defined goals. As for the example above, questions you can ask are:

  • Is the amount of money you need to raise in one month achievable? 

  • Will it be acceptable to increase the number of years you need to pay-off your debt? 

  •  What will be your means of generating the income you need to raise? 

  •  Do you need to look for an extra source of income if you are currently working and the income you are getting is not enough to raise the amount you need to pay your debt?

The list will go on and on when you are targeting a specific goal and put them into actionable steps that are more realistic so that you will not overwhelm yourself as well as discipline yourself and make extra effort to achieve that goal. This way you are able to maintain a specific step each day and make yourself accountable for your actions. Positive actions will give you positive results. If you are aiming for the result you need to achieve in a particular time, you will become focused and determined to achieve that.  

Goal Setting Workshops

 The accountability is a good motivation to your actionable steps. This will also help you become proactive to what you want to achieve. But sometimes you need the help of a community to oversee what you want to achieve. It can be a friend, a family member or a colleague. 

At Learn and Build Vision community, we are conducting a regular workshop online or offline. This reinforces the accountability to help each other grow and achieve their goals. When you have this type of community, you can share your journey with us. You can also share your difficulties, your challenges and your successes. 

It is better to have a community who have the same mindset that you have and will cheer you every step of the way.  

You can join our workshop by connecting to our facebook group . We are holding a regular zoom meeting every Tuesday 10:00 pm Uae Time. You can join our discussions and training program. 

Useful Goal Setting Models

What are the useful tools for Goal Setting?  

Goal Planners are the best tools you can use to set your goals into a cleas and specific goal. A handy tool you can always bring so you can read what you have done and monitor your progress, and write or rewrite your goals to be more relevant and realistic in your daily tasks. Even though we are now in an advance digital technologies, writing down in a piece of notebook helps you enhance your brain and productivity.

Better ot have one and keep it. Set a certain time and day to write what you want to achieve each week for your smaller tasks. Each month for a bigger tasks relevant to your daily tasks and your Yearly Goals in connection to your monthly goals. Breaking down your bigger goals into smaller task in this notebook will help you get organized. This will also set a discipline from your daily habits. Get used to it and you will find out later that it is changing you. Your perspective, your daily routine, your character and your achievements. 

 

How to know What is A Good Goal Setting?

Good Goals are those that provide direction for your life and help you develop your talents, skills and character. It will motivate you to have a positive outlook that will align your good values. This will lead you to positive outcomes and facilitates success.

Bad Goals  are the ones that you don't truly want and carry an emotional baggage. Leads you to unrealistic expectations due to incorrect information or set of unrealistic standards. You can determine bad goals if this will cause you difficulties and introduce complexities. 

Remember, Goals should inspire you, align with your aspirations and should contribute to your Growth.

Goal Setting Exercises and Activites

Starting your day and ending your day with your goal in mind. As you start the day, set aside a certain time about 5 to 10 minutes to think of what you need to do that will align to your biggest goal. Preparing your mind, your energy for the daily tasks is the first motivating factor to keep you doing the aciton. Then close the day with looking back to what you have done. A self relfection on what you have done and what you have not done will be able to help you determine what works well and what dit not work. Learning the mistakes of the past actions will help you think of better ways to achieve what you want to achieve in the most practical and realistic way.

Keep these exercises consistent. Develop a habit of doing things repeatedly. At the end of the day, or weeks, even months will definitiely produce a good result on your specific goals.  

 

Helpful Tools 

Goal Setting Planners



Tuesday, July 2, 2024

SMART Goals | A Practical Guide to Achieving your Dreams

 What is a SMART Goal?

A smart Goal is a framework or a program for setting what you want to achieve in a particular time whether it will be a short-term or a long-term goal. It can be personal or professional goals. The more specific you are in identifying your goals, the better you can create a realistic objective based on your ability to work on it every day. This will lead you to create a constant and consistent activity, the more you become comfortable with the task, the more you can add to your capabilities. To measure what you can and what you cannot do, so that the program you will be doing will be more realistic and attainable. Remember to work smarter rather than work harder. This does not mean you will not be putting more effort into your program, but you need to make a better decision on how to do things right. The end results should be the deciding factor in your process.  




It would be better to achieve smaller daily goals towards the bigger goal.

You can break down your goals into different types as follows:

Types of Professional Goal:

    1. Skill Development Goals - There are two types of skillsets: the soft skillset and the hard skillset. Both skill sets are key elements in determining what you want to attain. Soft skill is a skill that is geared towards personality development. These are the behavioral and interpersonal skills that have a significant impact on individuals' ability to effectively interact with others, particularly in handling challenging situations. A hard skill set is a technical skill required for a specific job or task acquired through education. A certain level of skill is needed to achieve your professional goal. Like learning new software to help you improve your career development. 
    2. Project-based Goals - This type of goal is about improving a specific project handling and scheduling system. The earlier you can finish the job, the better without compromising the quality of workmanship. 
    3. Performance Improvements Goals - are based on what you are doing constantly. Repetition is a good training ground to develop a more efficient system. The better you can perform the task effectively and efficiently.
    4. Leadership Goals - This is part of a hard skill set which is specifically gaining more knowledge and skill in handling people. How you can improve to effectively communicate and delegate command responsibilities to your subordinates.
    5. Personal vs. Professional Goals

Timelines for SMART Goals:

    1. Short-Term Goals - weeks or months
    2. Mid-Term Goals - Months or Years
    3. Long-Term Goals - Thinks Years or even a Decade

Goal Examples

    • SMART Goals - 
    • Long-Term Goals-
    • Short-Term Goals -

What are the Challenges Faced when setting Goals?

Lack of Clarity

Poor Time Management

Lack of Resources and Support

Loss of Motivation

Not accounting to External Factors

What are the Strategies to Achieve SMART Goals

Set Manageable Goals

Continue Learning

Take Advantage of the Flexibility of Remote Work

Mind your Words and Thoughts

Cultivate Resilience and Mindfulness for Long-Term Success

What are the tools needed to achieve your Goals? 

Goal Planner


One of the Best tools you need to achieve your goal is to have a Goal Planner. A goal planner is a handy tool that you can record your goals and action plans then monitor progress. It can be daily, weekly and monthly basis so that you can develop a habit. 

 

This will be your guide to help you get organized. Writing down your goals and break down it into smaller tasks makes it easier for you to stay on track and focused. This will develop a sense of accountability and responsibility where you can become systematic in your approach. This will also help you allocate time wisely and effectively ensuring you work toward your goal consistently.

How to use a Goal Planner?

Just in case you don't know what is inside a goal planner, here's an example of what you can see inside. 

 Goal Setting Monthly Worksheet - This is one of the pages inside the Goal Planner. This is a specific guide to help you get organized. It is better to have this handy guide and write your goals for each month. As discussed earlier, this will set a small task you want to achieve every month. 

Starts with your Major goal for the Year. To help you stay focused on your goals, the starting point is your ultimate goal. 

Then on the second box, write your most compelling reason why you want to achieve this goal. The deepest why will give you the motivation and inspiration to achieve what you want to achieve.

The third column helps you list down the possible problem you might encounter along the way. Anticipating this will help you create a solution. 

The last one will be your Action Plan. This is now the program you can set for the whole month leading towards achieving smaller task for this particular month. Together with the checklist at the bottom.

Repeating the whole process for the following month creates a habit that will become your discipline. Keep doing it till it becomes automatic. Consistency is the key to achieving your Dreams. When you develop that certain discipline, you are not only achieving your Dreams, but it is also changing your Character. 

Selfcare Weekly Checklist - This is another page inside. Basically, a checklist to remind you of what you need to do for the day within a week. It can help you develop your skills personally and professionally.

The self-improvement checklist at the bottom is just some of the items you can consider listing. It is rather a self-awareness aspect of monitoring your progress. This will prevent you from procrastinating. Use this as a guide not as a means to punish you. Our main goal is to help you make a SMART Goal.






 This is the Goal Action Plan. The GAP (Goal Action Plan) is the missing link to your plan and your end goal- your Dreams. The GAP between is the "A" - The ACTIONable Plan. Plan without Action is Dead. What will keep you going is your action plan. With those that you have written from the first two pages, this page will give you even more specific task every day. This is where the battle begins. 

The most challenging part is your discipline and determination. Many fall short of this. Some have a good start but poor finisher. The goal is to help you start good and smart and to end up with a good result at the end of the year. 

This will help you develop a good management of your time. You can identify and prioritize your action. Actions that will produce result and actions that don't.  At the end of the day, you will gain so much using this tool. The next page is an assessment page where you can review your past actions and think of ways you can improve your system.

Make it a point to start your day with your daily planner and end it with self-reflection. 

  • How well did you perform following your goals and action plan? 

  • Have you done the best way or is there new discoveries on how to do it better?

  •  Is there any problems you encountered? 

  • What Solutions did you do? 

You can write as many questions as you can to do a self-assessment to prepare you for the next day. 

 


Where can you get Goal Planner?

This Goal Planner is available at Amazon. You can get this here.

This is a 126 pages Goal Planner that starts on July 2024 to June 2025. If you are aiming to start your Goal setting for July, you can avail this now. 













Related Articles: