Five Steps to Achieving Your Goals

(Originally posted on LinkedIn)

Have you ever planned to do something, whether it’s as small as crossing an item off your weekend to-do list or as big as a career change, and then procrastinated for so long that you never got around to it? Achieving goals can be stressful and can bring up unwanted anxiety because we tell ourselves that they are bigger than they really are. Here are five steps to help you create a plan for achieving your goals!

1.) What Goal Do You Want to Accomplish and Why?

Be very specific about what you want and why you want it and do not hold back. For example, your goal might be to eventually work remotely, but you have to exceed a certain quota to do so. Why do you want to work from home? Well, it might give you more time with your family and less time commuting two hours each day to and from work. The quicker that you establish the goal you want and why you want it, the sooner you can take the steps to achieve your goal.

2. Make Your Goal SMART

Once you've selected the goal you want to focus on, you will want to make it SMART. For those unfamiliar with the acronym, SMART goals are:

• Specific

• Measurable

• Attainable

• Relevant

• Time-based

Part of the SMART criteria is to make sure that the goal is achievable and realistic. When we set ourselves up for potential failure, it can be disempowering and the motivation to continue to achieve that goal could be lost. We do need to stretch ourselves when goal-setting to maximize our potential, however, the goal should not be so far out of reach that, more than likely, it is impossible to achieve.

3.) Check Your Progress Frequently

Use a day planner, an online calendar or notetaking system, a smartphone/app, or a handwritten list are all ways to keep track of your progress. Make sure that you check your progress frequently and give yourself a timeline. It's important to start each day by looking at your goals and then scheduling time or action steps needed in order to move closer to it. If you’re not making progress or feel like you have not made any traction, don't let that bother you or hold you back from achieving your goals. Take a look at your day one, and see how far you've come!If you are sensing any factors that could be keeping you from accomplishing your goal, develop a plan to overcome them. Add these plan steps to your calendar system as part of your goal achievement plan. Here are 35 different apps to help with time management and keeping you on track!

4.) Practice Persistence

In order to achieve success when setting out to reach your goals, it is imperative that you are persistent. You must be persistent not only in following all of these steps but also on your strategies to achieving your goals. Whatever plan you set for yourself in order to achieve your goals, don’t cut yourself any slack. Be persistent in the time you get up, the time you go to sleep, the time you take to plan, and the time you take to dream. Persistence will not only keep you standing firm and tall in the face of failure, but it will build self-control, a crucial ingredient for success!

5.) Be Patient

Success isn't achieved overnight! In today's world, almost everything is achieved with the touch of your phone. Heck, even your food is cooked or ready for you in minutes without actually going through the process of taking the time to cook it yourself! Nothing that is worth pursuing is done in the blink of an eye. When desperation for the lack of success starts to creep into your soul, practice patience, and remind yourself that you have been created for greatness and you have the necessary abilities to succeed in achieving all your goals.

We all have goals we want to accomplish in life and the majority of the time they have been pushed aside because we simply don't know how to get there. Practicing these five tips will help you achieve your goals.

What are some of the things you do to achieve your goals?