The hardest part, IMO, is not creating the action plan but just coming up with the goals. There is usually so much in your mind when you think of goals. You want to do this and you want to do that, there’s family then there’s business, your bucket lists and just so much. Ooh!
However, I have realized that it is okay. As long as you know what you are striving towards. And, this may not be the case with you. Perhaps you already have a 5 year plan, or maybe you don’t have a one year plan to begin with — I have been there!
But on that note, if you are someone who finds it hard to create goals or are struggling to achieve them, I want you to start thinking about how you can improve. Your goal plan is 100% what you prioritize in life. If you follow this post, it will help you get some clarity on how you can begin outlining your goals.
The Struggle
Trust me, the struggle of coming up with goals — it may seem hard, but once you have it down, it will make your life so much easier. It will make it easy for you to achieve them as well. I mean imagine, you are in a car race but there is no end line — what are you really racing for? And, IMO — you don’t stop at one goal. What do I mean by that? You achieve a goal and you use that to make another goal and then another goal. Think of them as accomplishments — celebrate them, and then move on to another goal. This will keep you going!
Think Deeper
I will explain further in the post on how to really start building that action plan and how to come up with goals to begin with. But, as you are going through this, don’t just think of what you want to achieve to begin with. I want you to think deeper — what is the purpose? Why are these goals important to you?
Purpose, Goals and Objectives
Think about it this way — Goals are “what” you are trying to achieve and Purpose is “why” you are trying to achieve it. You might not know what your purpose is right away, but, if you can begin with outlining at least your short term goals and objectives — then that’s a great start! So don’t worry if you can’t come up with everything — the fact that you are taking a step toward this ‘action plan’ is a HUGE accomplishment to begin with. (Way to Go! Seriously.)
I created this super simplified diagram below and I really hope this makes sense but it breaks down your purpose, goals and objectives.
So purpose is the reason, the why, that you are doing this. The goals are what will help you deliver and the objectives are the ‘how’ — so what do you need to do in order to achieve your goal? Some books or videos that you read might have the setup a bit differently but this is a simplified version of how I setup my own goals.
I will recommend you to go through the book Grit, it is one of the books I personally recommend. Although the book is about perseverance and grit, it does talk a lot about having a purpose and goals and how to really outline those.
Again, the image below is really simple and basic. This is just to provide you an idea, visually, of the difference between three and how to lay them out.
Goal Planning
You can have multiple goals in life and multiple objectives for each but your ultimate purpose is always one. Some people’s purpose is to achieve success, make __ amount of money, help sick people, dedicate their lives to animals, spread joy and happiness, etc. It all depends on what provides you meaning in life.
Your priorities change in life, so your goals might too. Your purpose though, that remains the same. Now, again, you may not know your purpose so your goals and priorities will keep changing. But, ultimately your path will help you realize that aim — what you are aiming towards.
How do I come up with goals?
For all the activities below, you can either use a whiteboard or just simple paper and pen. I usually use whiteboard to brainstorm — I always have my goals and positive affirmations written there (I have a huge 70″ one). This helps in always reminding why I created the goals to begin with.
Remember, this is just ONE way of breaking things down and planning — go through the guide and see what works for you.
1. Brainstorm and Break it down
Take your time here, okay? Start with a blank piece of paper. Write your purpose or leave this blank if you don’t know your purpose yet. It’s absolutely okay to leave this blank for as long as you figure out your purpose (that means if it takes you years, that’s okay too).
We will brainstorm goals next. Start with the goals section (or blank piece of paper with “goals” as heading, think about both short term and long term goals.
What would you like to do 1 month, 3 months, 6 months, 1 year, 3 years, and 5 years from now? List down everything that you can think of in that section.
You don’t have to fill all, just what you can think of and you can always come back to this.
Remember, goals vs objectives — taking graphic designing classes is your objective — your goal would be to learn photography or advertising or something and ONE of the objectives to REACH that goal would be taking graphic designing class.
So, write your goals in the goal section and if you think it’s an objective instead, write it down in the objective section (filling objective section at this stage is optional).
This is a rough section so don’t worry about aligning anything right now. Just jot down whatever is coming in your mind and then start putting it down where you think it belongs — goals or objectives. You will probably have more to write in goals first and then objectives, and that’s fine.
2. Now start prioritizing
Now, take different color pens/pencils or perhaps place different symbols around each goal. If you only have three — five goals there, keep them and move to next step. But, if you have 15–20 goals, goal is to bring it down to 3–5. How you will do this? Prioritize. Think about what’s most important to you and how much time it will take to achieve these goals.
For example, perhaps one of your goals is that you want to open a small business, a cafe perhaps, and one of your goals is also to save X amount of money because currently you are in $30,000 debt — you will probably want to prioritize the saving money part first so you can also save up for cafe in the future. It might be the other way around, but it’s up to you — what is your priority? What is most important to you and how you want to get there?
Place all your prioritized goals on another piece of paper and label this one as “Vision”. List your goals here. List your purpose (if you know it — listing the goals sometimes provides one with an idea of what their purpose might be). Write a note to yourself underneath each goal, this is affirmation, such as “I will achieve the goals above by _____ (this time, this way, etc.)”. You can write whatever you want here, positive affirmation that you can look at.
Don’t try to fit everything on one sheet — use more than one or as needed based on how many goals and objectives you may have. Then, staple or stick these sheets together so you have them all with you. You can use your own sheet or charts to create this or the whiteboard.
Lastly, by the goals list your objectives that you came up with. Now is the time to add all your objectives that you think are necessary for your goals. But think about it — which objectives do you think you can achieve in the short term vs long term. List them accordingly. You can always come back to it and add a few more. The list might be long and that’s okay. We will tackle one thing at a time. Now there is also a section for tasks and you will be able to fill this easier for short term goals vs long term goals. What do you need this for? So, think about it this way:
So as you can see: one purpose > multiple goals > each goal has multiple objectives and > each objective has multiple tasks.
This will really simplify things for you. You will have an entire plan laid out in front of by, by you! All you have to make sure is that you place a timeline around it.
Now…how do I achieve these goals?
You have all the goals laid out. So, how do you make sure you achieve them?
The breakdown that you have so far is a great start. Now, you have to make sure that you are dedicated towards these goals.
Positive Affirmation
Think about why you created them? What will these goals help you achieve? Write it down: “This goal will help me provide for my family”, “This goal will help me get a promotion”. Reading through these will provide you with everyday motivation that you need.
Write Down Your Accomplishments
Make sure that you have a plan in place everyday, whether it’s through your journal or a planner. Write down each day what you did today that brings you closer towards your goal? Setup a reward system perhaps!
Remember, one step at a time.
It’s not a race and that is why we prioritize. Have your plan in place, and take everything one day at a time. I always think about it this way: (BTW, this is how I changed my mindset through the book Power of Now, I swear by this book) It talks about how past is an illusion, it has gone and I can’t change it. I can only learn from it. The future is something that I don’t know so is it really worth my time to dwell or overthink about something that I don’t even know is going to happen or has happened yet? What’s true and real? It’s now, the present. My action today can influence tomorrow — me thinking and overthinking about it will not. We can plan for the future but we can’t define it, you know? Anyway, I will stop with getting too philosophical here (promise) but I hope it makes sense. Just take everything one step and one day at a time!
You know what else helps? A Friend (Optional)
Based on a study by MSU’s psychology professor Dr. Gail Matthews, results of their study showed that 76% of people who participated in the study successfully achieved their goals. And you know how they did that? By writing down their goals, actions and providing a weekly progress to a friend.
Persistence is the key!
Shit happens — so don’t worry about it! Just write down — what happened? what did you learn from it? what will you do moving forward? Failures and Roadblocks can sometimes be a blessing! Take it as a lesson learned.
Everything does not go as planned and that’s okay — your life events do not describe you. Learn from it and keep going! Nothing can stop you from reaching what you put your mind towards.
*Disclosure: I only recommend products I would use myself and all opinions expressed here are my own. This post may contain affiliate links that I may earn a small commission from, at no additional cost to you.
