Setting goals is one of the most powerful techniques that anyone can use to achieve what they want in life. But most people have no idea how to do that. In this article, I’m going to share with you the 57 tips on how to set goals and achieve them.
Most people wait until year-end only to set their goals. No, you don’t have to. You can set goals right now and start right away. The best time to set a goal is yesterday, and the second best time is now. Do it now.
Here another thing you need to know – it is never too late or too old to set a new goal or to dream a new dream.
Colonel Sanders started his KFC franchise business at age 65. And Ray Kroc started his first MacDonald’s franchise when he was 52. So, it is never too late or too young to set an exciting goals and to live your ideal dream.
Studies have shown that people who write down their goals have a higher chance of achieving them.
When you write your goals down, you are indirectly telling your subconscious mind that your goals are important. And that is why you write them down. But if you don’t bother to do that, you are also indirectly telling your subconscious mind that your goals are NOT important, that is why you don’t bother to write them down.
It just shows your level of commitment towards your goals.
One more thing, it is free to write down your goals. It cost you nothing. And if it can greatly increase your chances of achieving your goals, just do that, will ya?
Set goals in every area in your life. Financially, spiritually, relationship, health, career, business, personal, etc.
You don’t want to do extremely well in just one area. There are many facets of life. You don’t want to be financially successful but your relationship is in a disaster.
Hence, learn to set goals in these 6 most important areas of life.
If you have no idea where to start, just list down 100 goals you want to achieve in life. It doesn’t matter if your goals are specific or without a deadline at this point. You just want to have an idea of how you want to live your life and what it is that you want to achieve.
Jack Canfield did this too. You can check out his goals list here. Of course, he has more than 100.
This is like a brainstorm session to find out what you want to achieve out of your life. So, do it now. Write down the 100 goals you want to accomplish in your life time.
You can have 100 or 200 goals, but in order to focus your energy, you must prioritize your top 10 goals. What are the top 10 goals that are most important to you?
Do you know that Warren Buffett prioritized his goals too? Check out this article from James Clear and read about how one of the richest men in the world, Warren Buffett prioritized his goals.
Basically, Buffett suggested to write down 25 goals. And of the 25 goals, only focus on the top 5. And the rest – the other 20 goals – you should just ignore them.
Don’t say that your goal is to be happy or to get rich, these are vague goals that are not actionable. Remember, vague goals produce vague results.
What you want is to be specific. The more specific you are, the better. This is because when you are being specific, you are giving clear instructions to your mind and so your mind can formulate a plan of what to do.
But when you are being vague, like you say you want to live a happy life, your mind can’t find an actionable plan to help you achieve the goal. You create confusion in your head.
Read this: Should You Set Specific Goals? The Answer Will Surprise You
Ask yourself, how do you know when you have achieved your goals? Is there something that you can measure?
One of the most common reasons people fail at their goals is they don’t measure their goals. They have no idea if their actions are getting them closer or moving them away from the results they want.
Tell me, what is the first thing you do if your goal is to lose weight? You weigh yourself, isn’t it? Only by measuring your progress, you can know if you are moving forward or backward.
Hence, create a system to measure your progress and track your results. Here’s a good resource to check out:
How to Measure Your Progress to Effectively Achieve Your Goals
Instead of saying or setting your goal as you don’t want to be fat, state it in the positive, such as saying you want to be thin and fit.
Your subconscious mind will only see the subject in pictures. For example, when I tell you DON’T think about the elephant, but the elephant is what your mind will focus on.
This is why it is important to state your goals in the positive.
A goal is not a goal until you associate it with a deadline. When you know exactly when you’re going to achieve your goals, you make it easier for your mind to come up with a plan and schedule your actions accordingly.
And when you don’t have a deadline, you will not feel the pressure from your goals. You will just delay and procrastinate.
Deadlines give you a sense of urgency, help you plan better, and hold you accountable for your goals too.
Read this: Why Deadlines Are Important for Your Goals
This is extremely important. Do not skip this step. The reason some people achieve their goals and most fail is that those who fail lack a strong reason while those who succeed have a strong and emotional reason.
Do this for each of your goals. This is one of the most important steps that most people ignore.
The main factor that determines whether you are going to quit and give up on your goals, or persist and hustle until you achieve them is your purpose behind what you do.
So, why do you want to achieve your goals? Why are your goals important to you?
When your reason is crystal clear and is emotional, you become unstoppable. This is what makes the difference between someone who says “I can’t”, and someone who says “I must”.
Therefore, write down your purpose and reasons why you want to achieve your goals. Make them emotional. Make them empowering enough so that you will take massive and consistent actions each day.
And when you are facing difficulties and problems, your purpose and reasons behind your goals will support you to go through the tough times.
Vision board is extremely powerful because it helps you visualize the things that you want in life.
Once, Dr. Biasiotto from the University of Chicago conducted research on a group of basketball players. He divided the players into 3 groups to practice free throws.
The first group was did nothing. The second group did the physical free throws training. And the third group visualize themselves practicing the free throws, without touching the ball at all.
At the end of the study, Dr. Biasiotto found the group who visualized their training had an improvement of 23%, just as good as the second group that did the training physically.
Can you see how powerful visualization is right now? So, create a vision board for your goals and then dedicated time to visualize the achievement of your goals and dreams each day.
Check out this guide below:
Vision Boards – The Ultimate Guide to Creating and Living Your Dream Life
When your goal is too big, you will feel overwhelmed to act on it. So, break down your goals into smaller actionable steps and so that you can work on them.
Always remember this quote:
The man who moves a mountain begins by carrying away small stones.
Confucius
It is impossible to achieve your goal without breaking it down into smaller and actionable steps. This is especially true if your goals are huge and far-fetched.
When you break your goals into actionable steps, you give clear instructions to yourself and you know what you need to do.
I have a great guide on how you can do this. Read this article below:
How to Turn Your Goals into Actionable Plans
Whatever that is out of your sight, will be out of your mind. So, schedule and create a to-do list each day. I do this every morning too.
You can’t leave things up to chances. You need to be proactive and make things happen rather than wait for things to happen automatically.
Trust me, your goals won’t come true automatically. You need to take action and work on them. Thus, schedule the actionable steps. Create a to-do list and follow through your plan each day.
Every morning, before you start your day, sit down and list down the important tasks you must do during the day.
When you do that, you are setting yourself up to win. Instead of being reactive, you become proactive and make things happen. That’s how you achieve your goals.
Read: How To Create A To-Do List: The Top 10 Effective Guides
All you have to do to make sure you produce the result you want is to take at least one action step each day.
I learned the Rule of Five from Jack Canfield. Here’s what the Rule of Five is all about:
If you would go every day to a very large tree and take five swings at it with a very sharp ax, eventually, no matter how large the tree, it would have to come down.
Rule of Five
The principle is simple – you just need to take 5 action steps to move forward each day.
The key is to make progress every day. And no matter how big your goal is, as long as you are moving forward each day, you will eventually reach your goals.
Imagine you take 5 small actions every day. In a month, you will have accomplished 150 small victories. And in a year, you will have 1,825 victories. Amazing, isn’t it?
Never ever underestimate the power of a scoreboard. It can make you succeed or make you fail.
Here’s my suggestion. Read this book called The 4 Disciplines of Execution. It is a powerful book that will transform the way you set goals and 10X your success in life.
One of the key lessons from the book is to create a scoreboard to measure the progress of your goals.
You see, when you don’t have a scoreboard, you can’t tell if you are winning or losing. Plus, a scoreboard is a powerful “trigger” and it can also act as a reminder for your goals.
Imagine a group of basketball players without keeping score. Do you think the players will play seriously? Do you think they will commit to the game?
No, they won’t. There is no telling who is going to win. The game will end up like a normal training session than a competition. This is why you need to have a scoreboard.
Learn how to create a scoreboard here:
Keeping Score: The #1 Reason People Fail To Achieve Their Goals
Yes, practice daily goal setting. It is the action that will separate you from the rest of the people who set their goals.
You have to make your goals a part of your life and install them into your subconscious mind. So write your goals every day.
Scott Adam, the successful cartoonist said in his blog that he wrote down his goals 15 times a day. And he credited his success to this daily habit of writing his goals.
When you practice daily goal setting, you become more engaged with your goals. You consistently remind yourself of what you want to achieve in your life.
What you focus on expands. As a result, your life expands toward the direction of your goals. This is why you want to review and write down your goals on a daily basis.
Well, you can choose to do it every night before you sleep or every morning after you wake up. There are a couple of benefits when you review your goals on a daily basis:
Successful people are successful because they focus on their goals every day. They think about what they want to achieve each moment.
And reviewing your goals every day allows you to do the same.
Here’s an additional guide you can refer:
How to Review Your Life: The 4 Great Methods to Evaluate Your Life
By now, you should know the importance of constantly bombarding your goals to yourself. Like all the advertisements you see in your daily life, the advertisers want to catch your attention in your mind.
Do the same with your goals. Set your goals as wallpaper on your phone and your computer.
Make it easy to remind yourself of your goals.
Your scoreboard is not something you create once and done. It is something that you must update constantly.
The same goes with setting goals. It is not something you do only once. You need to revisit your goals and review them constantly.
This is why I suggest you print out your scoreboard and track your progress every day. If you have no idea how to do that, check out my guide here:
How to Track Your Goals: The 5 Fabulous Ways You Should Consider
Everything happens twice, once in the mind, and once in reality. everything you see is a creation of the mind. The computer you are using, your phone, the cars on the road, the tables, chairs, ceiling fans, etc.
This is why visualization is important. You want to make yourself feel good about your goals every day. Hence, picture yourself already achieved your goals. Feel good about your accomplishments.
If your goal is to have a new car, imagine yourself driving the car every day. See yourself walking to the car. Hear the engine rev. Feel the steering wheel and smell the new car smell. Visualize yourself sitting on the driver’s seat and press the pedal with your foot.
The more vivid your visualization, the more driven you can be. Use the pictures in your head to motivate you to success.
Check out this step-by-step guide about visualization from Jack Canfield.
You can’t set only long-term goals. You need short-term goals too. This is why you need to create quarterly, monthly, weekly, and even daily milestones to hit.
For instance, if your goal is too far away from your present moment, such as a yearly goal, it will be difficult to stay focus and keep yourself motivated throughout the entire year.
Instead, you should create milestones that align with your longer term goals.
You don’t want to wait until a year later only to celebrate your success. You want to feel good and get inspired after you made progress.
Furthermore, when a target is too far away, it is difficult to relate it to your daily life. And this is where people lose their motivation and why they give up. What they want is too far away and when they don’t see any significant result, they feel dejected.
Read: Short-Term Goal VS Long-Term Goal: Which is Better?
There are plenty of benefits to meditation, including helping you focus better and relieve your stress.
Read: 12 Science-Based Benefits of Meditation
If you’re not into meditation, just practice visualization. But meditation helps improve your visualization to another level.
Act as if you have already accomplished your goals. The saying, “Fake it until you make it” is true.
More importantly, as I mentioned in my guidebook, Reach Your Goals, you need to activate your goals. You must be fully engaged and make your goals active. By the way, if you haven’t download the book, please do so now.
Talk about your goals, take actions and work on them, discuss them, and do everything you can to make them a live through them as part of your daily routine.
Affirmations are powerful. You become what you think about most of the time. And that includes your self-talk. In other words, affirmations can change your life.
But I know a lot of people don’t practice affirmations because they have done it and it is not working for them. Is it true?
Well, like setting goals, affirmations work. The reason it is not working for you is because you have done it wrongly.
Read my article here to learn how to practice affirmations the right way and make your self-talk work for you:
How To Make Your Affirmations Work – The 5 Simple Rules To Follow
You can change your strategies, but not your goals. When things don’t work out, improve or change your strategies.
Many people give up and quit no their goals when they fail to create the results they want. You have to understand that success doesn’t come overnight and most likely, you’re not going to succeed in your first attempt.
Hence, try out more. Be willing to improve your plan and upgrade your strategy so that you can perform and do better.
When you face with difficulties or problems, upgrade your game plan. Improve yourself and learn to become someone stronger and more worthy of success. Remember this quote below:
When a flower doesn’t bloom, you fix the environment in which it grows, not the flower.
Read: 7 Powerful Steps How to Overcome Failure in Life and Bounce Back
Do you know what is the number one reason people fail to achieve their goals? Well, it is because they are not fully committed.
Most people want to achieve financial success. Some want to build an internet business and make extra income. But when they get back home from work, they don’t seem to be working on their online business. They choose to watch Netflix and enjoy the day.
This is why people fail. They say that they want to be successful, but their actions say otherwise.
When you are 100% committed to achieving your goals, you will do whatever it takes. But when you are not you’re not, you will make excuses.
Read: 10 Powerful Steps How to Fully Commit to Goals That Terrify You
I bet you have heard it over and over again, “You become who you spend the most time with.”
Hence, if you want to achieve great success in life, follow the movers and shakers in your industry.
Learn from other successful people who have done it. Read their blogs, books and follow them on social media. Network and build relationships with other successful people. Let their energy and positivity inspire you.
Make it a commitment to meet with at least 1 new people each week so that you can grow your network in your niche.
By the way, have you LIKE and FOLLOW me on Facebook yet?
The only way to become better is to become a master in what you do. And reading is one of the easiest ways that you can do.
I read about 2-3 books a month. And I can tell you that my reading habit has completely transformed my life.
Think about it, if you read a book a month, you will have read 12 books in a year. And in 5 years, you will have read 60 books. What if each book give you an idea about changing and improving your life? You will have 60 ideas.
No matter what goals you want to achieve, you can upgrade your skills and improve your knowledge through reading. There are a ton of great books that can change your life.
So, make it a habit to read every day.
Read: How Reading Can Change Your Life – The 10 Ways
People often say that motivation doesn’t last. Well, neither does bathing – that’s why we recommend it daily.
Zig Ziglar
Yes, you have to do something to pump up yourself each day if you want to maintain your momentum.
You can’t just sit and do nothing and wait for inspiration to struck. You need to be proactive and get things moving. Be the one to inspire yourself out of the rut.
Here’s a guide to help you motivate yourself:
52 Best and Easy Motivation Tips You Can Actually Apply to Your Life
One reason you want to attend seminars and workshops is that you want to learn directly from the people who have done it.
When you read, you are only learning passively. But when you attend a workshop, you get to learn hands-on, and this the most powerful experience you can gain.
It is like getting yourself a mentor or a coach. You get people to show you how to achieve the goals you want rather than having to discover everything by yourself.
Personal development is important. And I believe that if you want to achieve extraordinary success in life and accomplish your big goals, you need to focus on developing yourself.
This is why I attend seminars, workshops, and enroll into courses on a regular basis.
You don’t have to be a passionate seminar-goer, but you must be a passionate learner. Soak up as much knowledge as you can. Your success depends a lot on your applied knowledge.
The more you learn, the more you know. And the more you know, the more places you can go.
How many times do you network with successful people who shared similar dreams and visions as you do?
You’re the average of the five people spend the most time with.
Jim Rohn
Jim Rohn was right. You become the person who you spend the most time with. This is why you must break out of your comfort zone and get to know new people who are better than you.
If you can’t find a mastermind group, create one. A mastermind group is a group of people who shared similar visions, dreams, and goals. This group of people help and inspire each other.
Just like a Facebook group that I joined recently. The people in the group are extremely helpful and positive. When one faces a problem, others come to offer their help and advice.
As a mastermind group, you can grow faster. Of course, mastermind group tend to be smaller and the members are committed to each other’s success.
Read: 7 Reasons To Join A Mastermind Group
The fastest way to achieve results is to get someone to show you the way. This is why every professional athlete has a coach.
And in business, you can get yourself mentors to guide you in your journey to success.
A mentor doesn’t need to be someone who is better than you, but it has to be someone who believe in you and able to guide you through.
If you want to fly with the eagles, don’t swim with the ducks. Yes, get rid of all the negative people who are not helping.
The more you mix with negative people, the more likely you’re going to become one of them. So, get rid of negative people and start spending time with positive people.
You can’t litter negativity everywhere and expect to have a positive life. The same applies to your mindset. You can’t get rich thinking poor.
Hence, spend time with successful people. You will eventually end up becoming one of them.
One way to create a commitment is through making a public commitment. Meaning, you make your goals and progress public.
When you share your goals with someone else, you are putting yourself on the line. You are making a public commitment.
Imagine you told yourself boss the sales target you want to hit this month. Do you think you will become more committed and more likely to take more actions? You will.
Making a public commitment will make you more committed. It creates eustress, or positive stress.
However, make sure you only make a public commitment to someone who supports and encourage you.
Read: Should You Keep Your Goals Private or Public?
According to research done by Dr. Gail Matthews, she discovered that people are more likely to achieve their goals when they shared their progress with an accountability partner. You can read about her research in my guide below:
7 Easy Ways How to Hold Yourself Accountable for Your Goals
When you have someone to hold you accountable, you become more committed to your goals.
Just like if you have someone waiting for you in the gym to exercise together, you’re more likely to show up than to procrastinate.
So, get an accountability partner to hold you accountable for your goals.
Mark a big red “X” on your calendar after you take action each day. Keep the “X” chain going. This is a very powerful technique to build a habit. Read more about this technique from my guide here:
How To Be Consistent With The Jerry Seinfeld Calendar Method
The Calendar Method is a powerful way to help you keep your consistency. It is easy to implement, and hence, making it a great way to build a routine.
Stop giving excuses and start working seriously on the things you want. Stop saying you don’t have the time.
Achieving your goals isn’t something easy. I know, it requires sacrifices.
The best way to find time is to get up an hour earlier and work on your most important goal the first thing in the morning.
This is a very effective method to get things done. So time-block the action steps that will produce the results you want and get you to your goals.
When you time-block, you don’t do other things except the task you scheduled.
For example, I time-block my article writing at 10 AM. And when it is 10 AM, I will be on my workstation and write articles. I don’t do other things like replying email or checking social media.
Time-block is a very powerful method you can use to get things done. Thus, time-block your tasks to achieve your goals.
Read: Time Blocking: The Technique For Better Focus And Productivity
Stick to your schedule and take action for at least 30 days to grow the action habits. Motivation is what get you started, habits are what get you going. So grow the success habits in you.
You want to build the habits that will move you toward your goals. When something becomes a habit, you will do it automatically.
One great way to make something a routine is through developing keystone habits. Check out my previous article here:
What Are Keystone Habits and the 7 Most Common Examples
And if you want to learn more about building success habits, you should read this book:
Don’t get distracted and never lose sight of your goals. You want to make sure you are going in the right direction.
You see, if you run in the wrong direction, like chasing sunrise by running to the west, you’re not going to make it no matter how fast you run.
This is why you want to constantly review your progress and your goals.
When there is a will, there is a way. When you face problems or are having some difficult times, don’t lose hope.
Search around and ask those who have done it before. Or turn to Google and seek help.
This is going to be a long journey, so don’t get burnout. Rest and take a nap when necessary, but don’t overdo it.
In fact, taking short breaks throughout the day is important:
The Importance of Taking a Short Break According to Research
Therefore, take regular short breaks. Recharge your energy and willpower from time to time.
When you have the energy, you can perform at your best.
Watch your words and never let them stop you from moving forward. Words are powerful and they can change your and your life.
When things become difficult or you don’t know how to do something, don’t say “I can’t”, instead, look for answer. Search for ways how to do it.
Remember how your self-talk can influence your thinking? Change your self-talk and believe that you can do it.
The first step is you have to say that you can.
Will Smith
Celebrate success. Celebrate your wins and feel good about the progress you have made, no matter how big or small they are.
The more you celebrate life, the more there is for you to celebrate.
Adopt Reverse-Gap Thinking. You don’t have to feel happy only when you achieved your goals, you can feel happy now for all the effort, progress, and hard work you have put in.
Don’t stop until you have accomplished your goals. And don’t keep on starting new projects or new goals. Instead, finish what you have on hand right now. Adopt the finisher mentality.
Most people set goals, but they don’t get to see their goals to the finish line. Don’t let this happen to you.
Adopt the finisher mentality and get things done before you move on to another project or goal.
In internet marketing, there is a term called “Shiny Object Syndrome”. This is where you are constantly distracted by other opportunities.
You started a project, but then you discover something interesting and decided to abandon your first project and went into another one. And cycle keeps going.
So, finish what you started. You can rest when you’re tired, but you can’t quit.
We all only have 24 hours a day. So spend these limited hours doing the work that will yield you the most result.
Your goals are the most important. Focus most of your time working on your goals. As for other less important tasks, try to delegate to someone else or hire someone to do it for you.
What if you successfully accomplished your goals? Well then, congratulations. But there is always another mountain to climb.
Set another goal and go for it again. You can rest, but you must not be complacent. When you become contented and complacent, life becomes difficult.
What if you fail to achieve your goals? What should you do then?
Basically, there are only 3 options:
I believe you know what you should do, right? Take your failure as a lesson, learn from it, and gain experience to do better.
Read: 3 Fundamental Principles How to Turn Failure Into Success
Let’s face it, you will have tough times and there will be days where you want to give up and do nothing at all. but it’s normal.
Motivations are emotions. The key is to learn how to manage your motivations well.
So, what should you do when you have no motivation? Well, one way is to revisit your purpose. Understand why you want to achieve your goals is the best way to keep your motivation going.
This is why your purpose is important.
Read: 16 Effective Tips How To Have More Energy And Motivation Right Now
Being successful is living a few years of your life like most people won’t so you can spend the rest of your life like most people can’t.
There are sacrifices you need to make. You can’t spend your whole day binge Netflix or YouTube and then hope that your goals will come to you.
It doesn’t work that way.
For everything you desire, you need to pay the price to get it. As what oil billionaire H. L. Hunt once said…
To be successful, you must decide exactly what you want to accomplish, then resolve to pay the price to get it.
H. L. Hunt
Keep improving and take action until you succeed. A quitter will never win and a winner will never quit.
This is the kind of character you need to adopt. If you want to achieve your goals, you must be relentless.
Let’s put yourself into action right now. Take a minute to leave your comment below and share your opinion with me.
Empowering others is one of the most inspirational ways to boost your energy and get you going.
So, if you like this article, share it with others so you can inspire them to achieve greater success in life as well.
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Lots of good tips here. But I think that some people might struggle with a few. It is so easy to intend to watch one YouTube video and the next thing you know it is five videos later.
Though I think your 55th tip (be relentless) is vital. If you don't continue to improve, you risk stagnating.
Hello David, you are right. It's easy to get lost and to watch those tempting videos if we're not careful. :)
By the way, talking about being relentless, it reminds me of Jeff Bezos, Amazon's founder. Try to visit relentless.com and see what happen. Heh