5 Ways to Make Your Goals Happen

1. Break it into Pieces: Write it Down

When you start wanting to achieve something, making it a goal only allows you to look at its entirety– that is your endgame. It can make you feel inspired and excited to venture on a new journey. But it can also make you feel overwhelmed. Looking at the farthest point can shock you because you are not thinking about the details that can come your way.

Writing down your goals is one step to start working on them. It may seem like extra work for some, but it would help you map out everything you need to do. Writing is believed to improve memory retention. While mostly associated with students taking notes, Neuropsychologists discovered its “generation effect.” This is where people better remember information they have written down or generated themselves; making you remember bits of your progress and the game plan, and be able to review it better. 

When all is laid out, you should also know if your goals are realistic enough for your current situation. Sometimes, when people are too hyped up to a new interest, they tend to forget the rest of the details. How much work does it demand? Is this the perfect timing to do it? Is it realistic to pursue? These criteria can help you identify your goal’s features so you can plan  them out better: 

• Frank L Smoll’s ABC of Goals
• George T. Doran’s S.M.A.R.T. and 
• S.M.A.R.T.E.R. goals

These three should display the characteristics of your goal. It can also eliminate other aspirations that may not fall into the criteria as they can appear ineffective. Preventing wasted effort and opportunities in the future. 

As you go on, breaking your big goal into attainable pieces one at a time will help. Tracking your progress is also beneficial to see how far you have reached, which practices worked, or which should be ditched. Documentation can be a key to constant improvement. 

2. Train your Mind and Body

In the words of Benjamin Franklin, “By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail.”

Getting riled up on a new adventure is not a great idea. When it comes to making your goals happen, preparation is key. Take time to sit down and identify your strengths and weaknesses that can affect your progress. 

Training your mind is equal to making a change in your mindset. At this point, you are entering a new space. Rapid changes towards goal achievement may overwhelm you at some point. Mind conditioning allows you to modify your reaction towards something or shifting mental state to maximize your performance according to the situation. 

Training your body, on the other hand, may include physical fitness. But most importantly, you need to enhance your skill set to get what you want. For every goal, list down your strengths that can contribute to its success and the weaknesses you may find. This way, you leverage what you can and further improve it along the process. Use it well to accomplish something little by little. 

Your weaknesses do not define what you cannot do, but simply, identify where you should put more effort. Say, you want to be in an executive position in your chosen career, but you lack leadership skills. Knowing that it is a vital element to your goal, you should practice leading. Learn how to take initiative, stand for yourself and others, and know when to take control. Practicing the intricacies of your weakness can help you gain another strength. 

Preparing your mind and body during the process improves your performance. There is also a higher chance of reaching your goals when you commit to making improvements about yourself. Try to practice or make it a habit– humans can make something a habit after doing it consistently for 21 days. Level up your game and consider this getting into the zone for a new version of yourself. 

3. Practice Reflection

Putting your heart and mind into doing something helps you stay consistent on moving forward. In your journey, you may find yourself constantly driving your way towards success. And you forget how to stop and smell some flowers. Sure, you are excited to get to the finish line. But how will you know if you are still on the right track?

Reflection allows you to understand possibly underlying truths, see your progress, and analyze the situation. This is an important aspect of achieving your goals. Because It makes you aware of what’s currently happening so you can decide what comes next. According to the University of Edinburgh, under their reflection toolkit, they defined “reflective habits as a powerful tool in increasing your learning, development, and self-awareness based on your experiences. 

Practicing reflection regularly helps you assess your progress and its pace. This can help you with decision-making or applying alterations to your actions. To do this, you can sit down and ask yourself questions. Is this skill good enough or do I need to improve? Am I satisfied with what I have achieved in a certain time frame? What should I do next? Should I stop this habit? 

Consistent reflection increases your awareness, tracks your progress better, recognizes hindrances, identifies opportunities to leverage, and plans out your next moves that stem from realistic experiences. It can also address your expectations, fears, and a time to reward yourself. After all, it should not be a daunting process. You should be able to enjoy your journey.  

4. Look Into Backups

Your goal is your blueprint and writing them down is how you can do it, why do you need backups? The past few years proved that the most unexpected things can happen at any time. When it comes to your journey towards success, we are not taking any chances. A backup plan does not mean a different goal– that works too– but only a reroute to the finish line. 

Consider backups as an aspect of preparation. No matter how dedicated you are, how all else are perfectly lined up, how sure you are with your plan, life can get in your way. There are a lot of internal and external factors that can affect your present actions. While there are more things you can control, those that are out of your hands can make a bigger impact. 

Backups are simply another way to the end of the road. It is not getting in the way of positive thinking, rather, embracing an open mind in considering another perspective. While you curate your ultimate plan, have other options– even if it requires plan Z.

5. Take your First Baby Steps

What more can you do after planning and preparation than take action? 

Since you have reached this far, it is about time to execute that plan with all your might. Do not be scared to take the first step. You are backed up by your knowledge and experiences. Also equipped with a blueprint you created yourself. You are ready to make your goal happen. 

Before you get too excited, keep in mind that taking baby steps will be more beneficial. Just like breaking your goals into pieces, your actions should also be small. It is about incorporating gradual yet consistent changes in your routine. Do your first task now, do another two for tomorrow, and so on. This is also the time to reward yourself before a bigger reward of goal achievement. 

This practice can help you go through the process smoothly. And spark excitement as you progress. After all, this journey should be fun right?

Final Words

Goal setting is a great way to own your aspirations. But more than the aim, crafting your way through it is more important for your development. As you go along in this journey, you will discover a lot more about yourself. How do you respond to certain situations? How do you plan something out? Your mindset, skillset, etc. It may even remind you that you are capable of gaining a better understanding of yourself. 

Taking action towards something you desire can overall improve your character. In times that you may feel lost along the way, take a look back at this guide. Continue with planning and revising your blueprint. And soon, find yourself at the finish line– even holding bonus prizes.