5 Simple Goal Setting Techniques That Work

In order to improve your ability to accomplish more and be more productive, you need to be able to set goals that you can achieve.  Many successful people set goals each day so that they know what they want to achieve for the day, then set out to achieve those goals.  Learn five simple steps you can use below to help you set goals that you can achieve so you can accomplish more and be more productive.

First, be sure to write down the goals you actually want to achieve.  Many people just think about the goals they want to achieve, but never actually write them down.  Some may question what writing down goals will do to help them achieve those goals.  Writing them down (either on paper or electronically via Notepad, an app, etc.) actually creates a record of what you want to do so that you can refer back to it and see whether you have achieved what you wanted to do for the day or not.  

Second, write down realistic goals for the day, week, and month.  These goals need to be ones you can realistically achieve within the specified time period.  If you write down goals that are impossible to reach within the time period, you’re only going to get discouraged over not reaching them and think that goal-setting doesn’t work to make you more productive.

Third, when it comes down to larger goals (especially those that take several days or longer to fully achieve), break them down into more manageable parts and write down each part.  Estimate how long it will take to complete each part, then write down a part per day to help you achieve larger, longer-term goals.

Fourth, at the end of the day, take a few minutes to review how well you do each day when it comes to accomplishing the goals you set out to achieve for the day.  If you fail to achieve a goal for the day, think over why you didn’t achieve the goal; was it because you weren’t putting forth your best effort or procrastinating, or was it due to some external circumstance you couldn’t control?  Determine what it was and, if it was through your own personal fault that you didn’t accomplish the goal, consider what you can do in your actions to help you avoid falling short of reaching future goals.

Fifth, when you review your goals for the day, if you achieve every one of your goals, pat yourself on the back and reward yourself with something- it can be spending some extra time doing something you like, such as listening to music, working out, etc.  If you continue to meet your goals every day and accomplish more longer-term goals, consider rewarding yourself with something even more special- perhaps a vacation, a new item you wanted to buy, more time off, etc.  By rewarding yourself when you achieve your goals, you’ll reinforce the actions you need to take to reach the goals you want to achieve.