How to Set and Achieve Goals in 5 Simple Steps
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Photo by Meganzii
“Only as far as you dream can you go.” That’s my little twist on an old 70s inspirational poster. A favorite college professor once taught me a similar credo when he said, “The answers you get in life are only as good as the questions you ask.”
Setting big goals is great, but how to achieve them? Ay, there’s the rub!
In my quest for constant self-improvement and attainment of goal after endless goal, I have read a lot of psychology, philosophy, history, and self help books on how to both set and achieve—even seemingly impossible—goals. After a while, I began to see useful patterns and themes emerge. They are summed up below, more or less, in just five simple steps.
FIVE SIMPLE STEPS TO GOAL SETTING AND ACHIEVEMENT
1. Look at the Big Picture.
Whatever your goal is, ask yourself why you want it. What do you really think it will do for you? Because if you don’t know, you will either not be motivated enough to continue going for it, or, worse, you will get there and find out it didn’t really get you where you wanted to go. For example, a lot of people want to lose weight but for different reasons. The contestants on the NBC reality show “The Biggest Loser” are seriously overweight. Doctors warned them that if they don’t drop the excess weight and permanently change their eating and exercise habits to keep the weight loss even after losing it, they won’t live long. That’s a huge motivator. But, what about after they lose, say, 50 to 100 lbs., after months of working harder than they ever did their entire lives on both exercising and dieting (which, by the way, they all miraculously do thanks to their awesome trainers and dietitians)?
Their health is safely out of the danger zone. Many of them swear they haven’t felt or looked as good since they were in high school—or earlier! So, what pushes them to keep working just as hard, if not harder, after they reach that incredible milestone? Well, for one thing, the last person standing gets $100,000. Not too shabby! Even the contestants who are eliminated can compete at home for the title of the “Biggest Loser” among the eliminated ones for another cool $100,000. But, when the contest is over, and everyone has their nice, new, muscular bodies, and the winners walk away with their big, fat prizes, what then? How long will they continue training like athletes and dieting like supermodels? Highly unlikely. Of course, they would love to look that great for the rest of their lives. But, without the $100,000 carrot dangling in front of their treadmills and guarding their fridges and pantries, it’s easy to see why most people would ease up, at least a bit.
This is precisely why so many of us have such a hard time losing the final 15 lbs. There really isn’t that much in it for us. Sure, we would look better. But, not that much better. Nothing that a good wardrobe can’t hide. And, our health is not at risk. So, what’s really in it for us to work so hard to lose the last 15 lbs. and maintain our best beach bodies when we hardly ever go to beach, anyway?
Not much—unless you want to live as long as possible and maintain your brain and body in the best working order you can during all those years. But, most people don’t care about these things. That’s why even celebrities let themselves age gracefully (adding 10 lbs. every decade after our twenties is normal and healthy). But, if you’re like me, you’ll fight for as many extra years as you can get and with as much mental and physical power as possible. Then, eating healthier—and less food in general—and exercising regularly is exactly what you need to do to achieve super longevity. And, these habits also happen to have the rather nice side effect of melting away those last 15 lbs. This is why people who diet for physical or mental health usually fare better than people who diet for weight loss alone.
2. Define the Problem.
What is the problem you are trying to address with your goal? Continuing with the weight loss goal we discussed above, the problem might be:
a. Bad health (e.g., diabetes, back problems, hypertension, etc.)
b. Wedding, reunion, marathon, spring break, or any other short-term event
c. Recently single again and want to look your best for dates
d. Maximum longevity with maximum physical and mental health
Depending on the problem, how much you want to lose, and by when, your strategy should be different. Find the strategy that best serves your ultimate goal and, thus, is most likely to result in success when you follow the program. Also, understand that if your goal is relatively temporary (choices “b” and “c” above), as opposed to something you really want for the rest of your life (choices “a” and “d”), chances are your weight loss will also be only temporary. Temporary weight loss for a temporary goal is totally fine. Just don’t kid yourself that any crash diet that helps you lose 20 lbs. in two weeks for that special event is good for you in the long run or that you won’t regain most of it soon afterwards!
3. Brainstorm Solutions.
Brainstorming solutions is a matter of throwing open the gates of the universe of possibilities and not rejecting any ideas at first—no matter how absurd or ridiculous they seem. Jot everything that comes to mind. If you type faster than you write, type instead. Typing is easier to edit later anyhow. But don’t edit anything at this stage. For example, the thought of not eating anything at all might suddenly occur to you. If you had put it down on your list and later researched it a bit, you would have learned that fasting is an excellent weight loss method and good for a lot of serious health problems, as well. See “5 Simple Ways to Lose Weight and Keep It Off” for more about fasting and other weight loss methods. Also, a diary is great for brainstorming and goal setting in general. See, “10 Reasons to Keep a Diary.”
As you jot everything down that comes to mind—without rejecting anything—you will find that your mind opens wider and provides you with many more possibilities than if you allowed yourself to self-edit from the beginning. This takes practice, so don’t be discouraged if it doesn’t happen quickly. Just keep at it. All new skills require practice to develop. Believe you can do it if you work at it hard enough and long enough and you will! Remember “Change Your Mindset to Change Your Life?”
Keep brainstorming for at least a couple of days. Add to the list whenever any new ideas pop into your head. Add them even if you’re not sure if they’re too similar to some of the things you already put on the list. Don’t worry! You don’t have to show this list to anyone, and there will be plenty of time later to pare down the list. Just accept gratefully and graciously every idea that floats into your mind. This will train your subconscious mind to keep working on the problem even when your conscious mind is busily at work on something else.
When you feel—after at least two days—that you have brainstormed enough and no new ideas have been coming to you for a while, then it’s time to sit down with your list and look at it with an eye toward eliminating the impractical ideas. But, you have to explain why they’re impractical and jot those reasons down, too. The purpose of this is to avoid reinventing the wheel later when you might forget why you rejected all these other methods to solve this particular problem. It helps you stay focused on the method you are pursuing and why, especially when times get tough and you are tempted to look back at other methods and can’t really recall exactly why you chose the one you did, which seems so unpleasant now that you’ve actually embarked upon the tedious task of mastering it.
Research all options you don’t know much about yet. Keep narrowing your choices with each pass through your list—always recording why you are rejecting each one—until you get down to your last three, best choices. Now, it’s to consult with your team of trusty positive supporters. If you don’t have one, do more intensive research on these last three options before deciding which is best for you.
4. Monitor Progress.
First, quantify your goal, meaning put a number to it, so you can check you progress regularly till you reach your goal. For example, if your goal was to lose 10 lbs. in 10 weeks, you could walk 2 hours a day—without consuming any more calories than you usually do—to lose at least 1 lb. per week to achieve this goal. (One hour of walking burns about 300 calories and 3,500 calories burned equals about 1 lb. of fat loss.) Whatever your goal is, find the simplest and most reliable way to measure your progress. Then, adjust your program accordingly.
Don’t abandon the program if you don’t see immediate results or if the results suddenly plateau for a while. For example, weight loss is unpredictable and fluctuates depending on factors as varied as race, age, gender, geography, season, and different types of food consumed (even if it’s the same number of calories) and times of day when they are consumed. Just keep at it for at least 30 days.
5. Identify Barriers.
Anticipate obstacles by writing about them and planning your best strategy to overcome each of them when they occur—because they probably will. Your first strategy to any obstacle should be: “Don’t give up.” Identifying these barriers to your goals will help you deal with them less emotionally and more rationally when they do happen. Just tell yourself, “Oh, yeah. I thought this might happen. Good thing I have strategies ready for this. Let me just take a look and start using them, one by one, until I can overcome this obstacle—for now.”
Accept that obstacles and barriers are actually good for you because they help you keep your program on track to reach your goal. It’s like when you’re driving. You may not realize it but, even when you are driving down a long, seemingly straight road, you are constantly adjusting the steering wheel to keep your car on the road. If you took your hands off the steering wheel and somehow locked it in place, you car would drive completely off the road! Only in overcoming the obstacles and getting past the barriers will you finally get to your ultimate goal.
So, the next time you encounter a big obstacle to your goal, go ahead and get mad, frustrated, or discouraged—for a minute or two. We are, after all, human. Then, get over it and start to look at it as a unique opportunity to improve your problem solving skills. Then, when you’ve licked it—and, you will, if you hold fast to this belief—you can feel proud that you didn’t quit and, more importantly, confident that the next obstacle, and the next, and the next, won’t stop you, either.
CONCLUSION
Follow these five steps to achieve any goal you set for yourself, whether it’s weight loss, health gain, extended longevity, or something else altogether. Remember to be realistic, finish what you start, and see yourself as a can-do person. Above all, use your most precious success tool: your growth mindset.
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