Learning how to achieve your goals like a boss is a valuable experience I gained over the years. I’ve always been ambitious at heart. Setting goals and accomplishing these objectives challenges me to grow as an individual.
Having this growth-oriented mindset helps me experience life to a fuller extent. As much as I love staying at home, it is also nice to do things such as developing new skills, traveling to places I’ve never been to before, and improving my wellbeing overall.
Even investing in one ongoing goal takes precious time, effort, and patience. With an open mind, you can learn how to turn your dreams into a reality.
Know and understand what a goal is
Before we dive into anything, I would like to elaborate on what a goal really means. I’m sure many people know what a goal is, but there are some things I need to point out.
A goal is obviously something you want to achieve in the future. It is your vision. Your mission in life. It is significant and personal to you.
I asked people what their goals were in the past. I wanted to learn about their most important priorities.
They mentioned things such as:
- “I want to lose weight”
- “I want a new car”
- “I want to move”
- “I want a different career”
Those are common desires. What I noticed is that while people are clear on what they want in life, they often do not mention a time-frame of when they want to make their dreams come true.
Time is the deciding factor which differentiates a goal from a desire. When you add time onto your desire, then it starts to look and feel more like a goal.
Here is an example:
Instead of saying “Okay I want a new car”, what if you said this: “Okay I want a new car by December 24th. I will get a new electric car since the holidays are coming up. And I will treat myself as an end-of-the-year present.”
Do you see how adding a date or a time frame transforms your desire into a goal? It provides a sense of urgency, and the end-date will make your desire much more believable and realistic.
Many people are afraid to add the word “when” because they will feel disappointed if they do not get what they want.
I understand why people would think in this manner. I can relate to having negative thoughts sometimes, but I do not want to feed a mentality of expecting failure and heartache. There is no benefit to holding on to worries and anxiousness.
I believe it is good to factor in when you want this dream to come true. If you are serious about your goal, adding the timeframe will push you to make it happen. Even if you do not have your desire by your intended date, you will have already made progress and be closer to your goal.
This is what I wanted you to understand about goals in general.
Now let’s move on to the framework I’ll provide. Honestly, there are many methods on how to achieve a goal. I am just sharing what works for me. Use whatever is applicable for you.
Think about what goals you want to set
The first thing you can do is to think about what goals you want to set. Before embarking on your achievement journey, you must figure out your destination and decide where to go first.
I will share some more examples below if you are having trouble coming up with goals to strive for.
One aspect you can focus on is health. Health is always one of my top priorities since it dictates all of the other areas of life. If you do not take care of your mind and body, it becomes increasingly more difficult to survive and to go through your day-to-day routine.
I live in a country where people are prone to health problems such as obesity and heart disease. I do not ever want to experience them or any kind of life-threatening illnesses, so I take extreme measures to give myself the love and care I deserve.
Some aspirations I set in regards to health are: drinking lots of water, eating plenty of fruits and vegetables, exercising for at least 15 minutes everyday, and sleeping properly every night.
Aside from health, another aspect you can create goals for are romantic relationships. We all need someone to share our lives with. Over time, a significant other becomes more prominent compared to family members and friends.
This person is your life partner. Your husband. Your wife. This is the one individual you can count on when life weathers storms. Your spouse is also the person you celebrate blessings with whenever they occur.
A few examples of relationship goals are: checking on your significant other everyday, going to fun events with them, spending less time on your phone and being present with them, and having a weekly date night together.
If you are single, you can think of ways to build a relationship with someone else. You can do things such as getting to know your crush, attend events your friends invite you to, and spending time with your romantic interest.
Besides health and relationships, one last thing you can work on is your career. In my perspective, I consider a career to be different than a job. Even though they both are technically jobs.
Google defines a career as “an occupation undertaken for a significant period of a person’s life and with opportunities for progress.”
I agree with that statement. While someone can have a full-time job, the company they work for may not even offer benefits and there is not much or any room for advancement. It always helps to try and improve your career just in case life throws unexpected curveballs at you.
Some career goals include: obtaining more knowledge about a specific industry, training to get any necessary certificates, negotiating for a raise at your current job, and getting a higher-level position in the company.
Those were some great examples anyone can use for their life goals. Feel free to tailor them, and use whatever is suitable for you.
I do recommend setting up to 5 goals for this year. It does not have to be 5 exactly. Even if you have 1 or 2 goals, that’s fine. Do what works for you.
I emphasize 5 goals as the max. Oftentimes when people set goals, they tend to be long-term and ongoing.
For example, someone has a goal of making new friends. For many people, it takes time to make new friends. It’s not always an instantaneous process.
If you are a student in school, maybe you don’t know anyone and you’re tired of sitting alone in the cafeteria. You can try talking to your classmates and build a connection with them. The more you talk to them, the more likely you guys will be friends with each other.
That’s what I did when I was in school. For college specifically, I chose to go to a school which was farther away. A reason why I did that is because many of the people who went to my high school all went to the same college.
I’m not saying it’s a bad thing to go to the same school. I personally wanted a fresh start, and I did not want to see the same people anymore. I needed to be in a new environment.
So in my college classes, especially freshman year, I remember sitting there at my desk and staring at my classmates. I did not know anyone. Which did not scare me. It’s not the first time I’ve been in this type of situation. I just started talking to people and became friends with them pretty quickly.
Some of my classmates are my friends to this very day. I’d say the first year was kinda challenging. Afterwards, my classmates and I got to know each other so there was always someone to talk to.
Even if you’re not in school, you can still make friends. I know older adults complain about how hard it is to have new friends or to even spend time with their current friends.
I don’t dwell on the circumstances. There are always opportunities available as long as you have an open mind.
You can try befriending your co-workers. Maybe there are co-workers who always say hi to you, and they seem like nice people. You can join a gym and ask people about their workout routines. Or you can go to a cafe in order to talk to people.
The key is to put yourself out there. Be present in the moment.
Like I said before, it usually takes time to make new friends. Try not to be disheartened if you don’t get what you want right away.
Back to thinking about your goals, you will also need to assess your current situation and give each goal a time frame.
So your goals will either be short-term or long-term. This is subjective, meaning that people view these periods of time differently from one another. Short-term from my perspective is one month or less. I don’t consider a month to be a long time. As for long-term, maybe your goal could take 6 months or a year to complete.
Your timeframe does not have to be perfectly accurate. You may not actually know how long it takes to accomplish something until you try it out and finish your goal. Just give it your best estimate and adjust along the way.
Think about why you want to achieve your goals
Moving on, after you figure out which intentions to set, you have to think about why you want to achieve your goals.
This is where you define the benefits you will receive once those goals are completed. Even if it takes time to accomplish one of them, another way to look at this is to also think about what you will gain along the way.
I will elaborate about the goal of someone wanting new friends. People want new friends because they don’t want to feel lonely anymore. They want company to hang out with. And those are the main reasons why.
In this case, you could start thinking about events you can go to with your friends. It could be a concert, a festival, a trip to the beach, or anything else that comes to mind. If you want to see a movie or go to a restaurant, you can go with your friends. You can also ask your friends for help if you are experiencing a rough patch and need support.
Even if you have not made any friends yet, going out of your way and talking to people will influence you to become more confident. Confidence is one of the most attractive traits ever. People want to be around someone who has good energy.
You should always be yourself, but at the same time, smiling at people and talking to them does make a difference.
So clearly defining your why will help motivate you to achieve your goals. Think about why you want this particular thing whenever you feel like you’re losing interest.
Make a specialized plan for each goal
After you set your goals and define why they are important, the next thing to do is to make a specialized plan for each goal.
For most people, your goals will most likely be different from each other.
A good example would be this:
Let’s say we have someone who has 2 distinct things they want to accomplish. The first goal is to be closer to your significant other. The second one is to save money every month.
For the first goal, there are many things you can do to bond with your partner. You can ask your partner how they’re doing and talk to them everyday. You guys can have a date night every week. You can plan a romantic getaway in a few weeks or a month from now. You can start preparing for your vacation together.
You can also learn more about your partner’s interests. So if your boyfriend or husband has a hobby such as gardening, maybe you’ve never gardened before, just ask him to show you how to grow plants. It could be your guys’ new thing you do together.
When you make efforts to be closer to your significant other, they will appreciate it and reciprocate love back to you.
For the second goal, let’s say you want to save money every month.
First you figure out how much you want to save. We’ll set a milestone of saving $300 a month.
If you do not have an income coming in, then most likely you will have to find a job and then set aside money for your goal.
If you do have income from your job or career, but you’re having trouble saving that specific amount, you will have to do certain things to be able to save $300 a month.
You will have to figure out what’s taking away your money. It could be bills, debt, expensive hobbies, or you’re spending money on things you don’t really need. Then you have to get rid of these factors. Or if you can’t get rid of them so easily, such as bills, then you have to find ways to lower the cost.
When those circumstances are gone or there are less of them, it becomes a lot easier to save the amount of money you want.
Keep in mind you could be in a situation where you don’t have many liabilities. The problem is that you’re not making a livable income. In this case, you’d have to find a better job or switch to a different career.
These 2 goals I mentioned are very different from each other, and you can see how each of them requires a unique process in order to complete.
If you’d like to learn more about developing plans for your goals, you click on the button below to read my other blog post. It is packed with information and can help you further in your goal-setting journey.
Do something small everyday
As for the final step in how to achieve your goals like a boss, you will have to focus and do something small everyday.
One of my favorite quotes is a Chinese proverb which says: “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.”
Even when the journey seems long and tiring, you won’t get anywhere unless you take your first step and keep walking. It’s important to do something everyday because daily effort builds momentum.
I’ll give you one last example. So I will circle back to the saving $300 a month goal. What you can do is open up an account you won’t be able to access easily. Ask your bank, credit union, or financial institution if they can make one for you. Or you can do this the old-fashioned way and use a piggy bank.
Most months of the year each have 30 days in them. If you do the math, 300 divided by 30 equals 10. You can focus on setting aside $10 a day. If you can do this successfully, you will meet your goal by the end of the month.
Little changes like this build into something greater over time.
Alrighty let us recap for quick. I listed 4 steps you can do today to help you achieve your goals.
The first thing is to think about which goals you want to set.
The second step is to think about why you want to achieve them.
Then you make a specialized plan for each goal.
Afterwards, you focus on doing something small everyday.
So yeah that’s pretty much it!
Anyways, thank you for reading my blog post! I hope you enjoyed it! 💜
Comment down below if you have any goals for this year. Have you thought of ways to make them happen?
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