Have you met people who, being conscientious, hardworking and even stubborn, can’t really achieve anything? They try all the time, do something, but the long-awaited result does not come. Have you thought about why that is? The problem is most often in goal setting. If it is wrong, then it will not work.
What is a goal
“I want” or “I wish” is not about goals at all. It’s about lying on the couch, dreaming. You may never get started. The goal is about calculations. Don’t be afraid of the scary math, everything will be pretty easy. Nevertheless, it is worth remembering a simple addition formula:
- A wish. Yes, this impulse, which is also about dreams, is necessary. If you don’t need to become a deputy or mayor for nothing, then you definitely won’t go into politics. It is so?
- Awareness. You not only have to want something, but also understand all the conditions and nuances. For example: the dream of being a boss is about nothing. But a conscious desire is also an understanding of the responsibility that lies with the head of the company, a willingness to take it on.
- Action. Until you take real steps to achieve the goal, it will remain either a dream or “projections” – plans that never come true. They will gather dust somewhere in the diary or on the phone, but will not come true.
These three components form the goal and its achievement. You need to answer the questions:
“What do I want to achieve?”
“What do I need to do for this?”
“How exactly should I proceed?”
Sometimes the goals are global. And this is confusing: it seems that they are too large-scale, it is simply impossible to achieve success. In fact, everything will work out if you break one huge and powerful goal into many small steps.
How to check if a goal is viable
There is a whole system that helps you figure out how much you need to achieve anything at all. The fact is that sometimes we are forced to do something. Goals are given from outside, they are alien. Or misunderstood.
I offer another formula. It was created by American psychologists, but I will tell you how to work correctly. The formula is called SMART, from English – “smart”. Here’s what it means:
S is specific or “specific”. Abstraction gets in the way of getting what you want. “I want to be rich” is incomprehensible to anyone, even as the request of the Universe is not good, because the idea of prosperity is one for a millionaire, another for a homeless person. Be specific: you need to earn ten thousand dollars a month.
M – “measure”. Here’s a nuance: in the first paragraph you formulated “ten thousand”. What if it’s 9800? Doesn’t that count anymore? What about 9500? And 8813? In order not to fall into such traps, you need to set the framework “from and to” in any indicators.
A-achievable. “Achievable”. It’s simple: if you set the goal of “a million dollars next month”, when your salary is 30 thousand rubles, then it is unlikely to succeed. Achievability depends on time: in a year, even such an amount is not so unrealistic. Well, it’s worth taking initially realistic goals, because if you want to live on Mars, then for now this is hardly possible in principle.
R-relevant. Trap point. The goal must be yours. Not a wife or husband, not friends, not a boss. When you are told at work to “do ten projects by the end of the quarter,” that is not your goal, but the company. See how you personally benefit. For example, promotion or bonus.
T – time-bound. All aspirations must be limited in time. Not in the sense that “if you didn’t achieve it, then you gave up everything,” but divided into stages: a day, a week, a month, a year, a decade. Implementation can be tracked by graphs. Learning English is again vague. In three months, being able to maintain a conversation with a foreign partner is understandable in terms of deadlines and tasks.
Additional tips: Don’t put it off indefinitely. Start reaching your goal right now. Write down the steps, literally break them down into days, or even hours. Then no dream will become “vague” and unrealizable. Everything will be real, in your hands. Do not forget that the Universe helps hardworking and persistent people.
