How to Set Goals and Achieve Them: 10 Steps to Finally Succeed

How to set goals and achieve them. 10 steps to take to help you finally succeed. Learn what specific action steps you need to take today.

I got an e-mail from a reader. That’s not unusual. I get a lot of e-mail from readers (and read every one, though I can’t respond to them all).

What was unusual was that I didn’t have an answer to her question. Usually, I can direct them to a printable (either a free one here or a paid on in my shop). Or a post in the Inspiration section.

Her question was about her life purpose now that she was retired from teaching. I did my best, but I don’t think my response was up to par. But, after a couple of months of thinking, I finally have an answer for her. It’s two parts. First, find your purpose. Second, set goals in alignment with that purpose. This post help you with the second part.

One quick note: there are links to multiple printables to help you throughout this post. My default for printables is 8.5″ x 11″. If you want to resize any of them to fit your planner, visit the post “How to Resize Printables to Fit Your Planner” for 3 ways to resize them.

What is Goal Setting?
Why Have Goals?
Why Worry About Setting Goals Properly?
How Long is a Short-Term Goal?
How Long is a Long-Term Goal?
How to Set Goals and Achieve Them
Purposeful Action

What is Goal Setting?

Goal setting is picking an outcome you want to achieve and taking active steps to reach said outcome.

Some sources claim that an objective (such as “run 20 minutes a day”) isn’t a goal, but rather a simple process.

I disagree. If that’s your goal, it’s an outcome you want to achieve- 20 minutes racked up on the clock spent running each day. If you simply want to mark it on a chart that you logged those minutes, more power to you. And you take active steps- literally- to achieve that outcome.

Experts love to nit-pick what qualifies as a goal. And types of goals (process goals, performance goals, etc.). But it still comes down to one basic thing: there is something you want to achieve and you take steps to achieve it.

Why Have Goals?

You might be wondering “Why have goals in the first place? Why not just wander through life doing what feels good?”

First, humans are notorious for accepting short-term pleasure at the expense of long-term happiness. Doing what feels good in the moment is usually a horrible long-term life strategy. Examples: overindulging in food, drinking, drugs, sitting and watching Netflix instead of working out, a lot of choices involving sex, etc.

Second, goals are excellent for giving you direction. They help you focus on achieving things rather than getting lost in the hustle and bustle of everyday life.

My husband is military so we get the wonderful {sarcasm} experience of moving every 3 years or so. And as we were planning to move from South Carolina to Washington state about a decade ago, I realized something. I had achieved precisely NOTHING the previous three years. I looked back and couldn’t find one single outstanding achievement or improvement I had made in my life.

It was sort of a mini-preview of lying on my deathbed wondering what I had done with my life. And I realized I didn’t want my life to be like that.

So if you’ve looked back over the last day, week, month, year, or even decade and ever thought “Where did the time go? Did I actually achieve anything?!”, you’ve answered the question “why have goals?”

Thirdly (and lastly), having goals gives you a sense of purpose. And people who report having a purpose in life live longer and are happier (source & source).

Purpose, Fuels, Passion on a wooden sign post

Why Worry About Setting Goals Properly?

This one is pretty simple. If you’re not setting goals properly, you’re setting yourself up for failure. And consistent failure is a recipe for unhappiness.

Take the extra time to analyze, think through consequences, write down your goal, and all the other stuff below. It’s setting yourself up for success.

How Long is a Short-Term Goal?

A short-term goal is something that can be completed anywhere from the next few days to the next several months. Once your goal takes a year or longer, you’re edging into long-term goal territory.

How Long is a Long-Term Goal?

A long-term goal is a goal that takes anywhere from approximately a year to longer. It can take several years to completely accomplish. Often long-term goals can be broken down into a series of short-term goals. (Or even a series of long-term goals, if it’s a particularly ambitious goal.)

How to Set Goals and Achieve Them

I’ll go into each of these steps below in much more detail. But very quickly:

Figure out what you want
Analyze why you want your goal
Know what you’re going to have to sacrifice
Focus on one thing at a time
Dump your self-limiting beliefs
Don’t use the whole SMART goals system
Write down your goal
Pick the right method to achieve your goal
Identify potential problems and solutions
Be willing to make adjustments

1. Figure out what you want

Before you can set a good goal, you need to figure out what you want. Just setting any old random goal because you read that goal-setting is good isn’t practical. This is probably the easiest step as most people already have a mile-long list of things they would like. But if you’re having trouble…

One way to figure out what you want is to imagine your ideal life a few years in the future. Then determine what you would need to do to achieve that life. I have a post “How to Be Your Best Self” that has a printable that will help.

Another way is to figure out your overall purpose in life. It just makes sense that your goal would be related- or compliment- your purpose. If you have no idea what your purpose is, check out “How to Find Your Purpose: 9 Questions to Ask (& 2 to Avoid)”.

One quick note: make sure your goal is something that YOU want, not something that someone else wants for you. Or something you think you want because society says you should have it (I’m looking at you, thighs that don’t touch and McMansion.)

2. Analyze why you want it

The second step is figuring out exactly WHY you want to achieve this goal. In my Goal Achievement Binder, I have worksheets to help you with this.

First, your reason(s) why are going to motivate you. There is going to be a moment when you just don’t want to keep working at this. Whether it’s saving money, losing weight, or achieving a work goal- you’re going to want to say “f*ck it” and give up. Knowing your fundamental motivation…the deep down reason you really, really want it…can help keep you motivated.

Second, in a future step we’re going to make action steps for your goal. Knowing your fundamental why might help determine those steps. For example, I really want to weigh 150 pounds. But it’s not (just) the number on the scale. I want to lose weight for my kid. I want to be able to go to the zoo with my kid and walk all day long without it being an issue. So- in future action steps- I’m going to incorporate walking regularly. Even though I know I could probably lose weight from diet alone.

Third, this gut check can help if you start wandering down some unhealthy paths in pursuit of your goal. For example, let’s say another lady- not me- got a little crazy and started working out for 3 hours a day and spending another 2 hours doing food prep and started ignoring her kid all the time. That’s kind of fundamentally AGAINST the part of the why she wanted to lose weight- for her kid.

3. Know what you’re going to have to sacrifice

This step is going to save you a lot of time and effort in the future. Especially if you’re honest.

Thanks to Mark Manson for this sentence, which has altered my thinking:

What determines your success isn’t, “What do you want to enjoy?” The relevant question is, “What pain do you want to sustain?” The path to happiness is a path full of shitheaps and shame.

Looking back, I realized that all my major accomplishments DID involve a crap ton of sacrificing. It was small sacrifices- done day in and day out for months (or years) on end- that added up to major achievement.

So, before you go any further with your goal, get realistic about what you’re going to have to sacrifice. Write it down. Then decide whether this is something you want to do.

Is it important enough to put in hours, days, and weeks of effort and sacrifice? If yes, go for it.

If not, save yourself the effort. Save yourself inevitably failing. And save your significant other from having to hear about how the latest diet failed.

4. Focus on one thing at a time

One of the biggest obstacles to your success at a chosen goal is going to be your other goals. You might be saying “huh?” Let me explain.

You only have so much time, energy, and willpower. You can’t pursue everything. Yet that’s often what we try to do. We try to get super-healthy, get our finances in order after years of neglect, succeed at work, be a great parent, etc. etc. All at the same time. We usually choose to do this right around January 1st.

You’ve probably heard a lot about “balancing” and “doing everything.” I know that as a woman it seems like we’re expected to be a full-time employee and full-time mom. At the same time. Never mind pursuing personal goals and having a religious life.

We hear about balance so much we automatically assume it’s exactly what we should be seeking. It’s not. Purpose, meaning, significance—these are what make a successful life. Seek them and you will most certainly live your life out of balance, criss-crossing an invisible middle line as you pursue your priorities.
Gary Keller in “The ONE Thing”

The next step on how to set goals and achieve them is to figure out WHICH goal you really, really want. Focus on that one and eliminate the rest. At least for now. Once you’re well on the path to achieving this goal. And the daily habits needed to achieve it are ingrained and a part of you, then you can pursue the next goal.

James Clear has a quick, short article “20 Slot Rule” that talks about limiting your focus to what is truly important.

5. Dump your self-limiting beliefs

If you have self-limiting beliefs, now is the time to identify and re-work them. There is a post “Self-Limiting Beliefs & How to Overcome Them” that has a free printable that can help you.

6. Don’t use the whole SMART goals systems

You’ve probably heard about SMART goals if you’ve done a bit of reading on goals. In fact, I think 8 of the top 10 search results for “how to set goals” talked about it in their articles.

I’m going to go against the advice here, and tell you NOT to use the whole SMART goals system. Parts of it are good; others not so much.

When you’re setting your goal, it’s good to be specific, measurable, and set a deadline (to some extent). Example: “I will get out of debt, have student loans paid off, and be putting 10% towards my retirement within 2 years” is a great goal. “I will fix my finances” is not.

If you want to know more about SMART goals, what parts work, and what parts don’t, check out “Why SMART Goals Don’t Work; Try This Solution.”

If you just want to keep on the path of making your goals, just remember to keep it specific, measurable, and put a deadline on your goal. Then go to the next step.

7. Write down your goal

Write down your goal. It’s not just a daydream. This is something you’re planning on actually achieving. And you’re 42% more likely to achieve your goal if you write it down.

Put your goal where you can see it often. In the next step, I’m going to direct you to printables to help you. I suggest putting the filled-out printables where you will see them often. Mine are in my planner.

8. Pick the right method to achieve your goal

Now that you have your goal, understand your motivations, have decided the sacrifice is worth it, and have written down your specific, measurable, deadlined goal, it’s time to start taking some serious action.

You need to decide which type of goal you have:
1) Milestone goal- has specific milestones that may result in a change in action or strategy.
2) Non-milestone goal- actions to achieve the first part of goal are similar to achieving the last part of the goal.

For example, a milestone goal might be starting a website and making money on it. There are multiple different milestones- actually building the site, writing content, learning SEO, e-mail, marketing, etc. that are going to have their own sub-steps and changes in strategy.

A non-milestone goal might be losing 100 pounds. Because your actions- tracking your food (and probably eating healthier) and exercising- are going to be the same to lose the first 10 pounds as to lose the last 10 pounds.

For a milestone goal, sign up in the box below and grab the Free Printable Goal Workbook. It’s going to have multiple sheets to help you (plus instructions and an example). With those worksheets you’re going to go from a big giant goal and break it down until you know exactly what you need to do this week to start taking action.

For a non-milestone goal, you can still grab the workbook (it has a non-milestone worksheet in it). Or you can visit my post “When Your Goal is Different: Non-Milestone Goals” to grab a free printable to help you. With that printable, you’re going to decide on habits (systems) that you’re going to start. Specific actions you’re going to take daily to achieve your goal. Once you’ve decided on your habit, check out “Free Printable Habit Trackers” to keep track of those habits (systems).

9. Identify problems & solutions

Both the free printable goal workbook and non-milestone goal worksheet have spots for potential problems and solutions. Identifying problems and solutions is going to be vital for long-term success. You can do this before you begin action or as you progress and discover what things continually trip you up.

This is an important step because no great goal is ever achieved without hardship. There are going to be circumstances in your life that just seem to get in the way of achievement. Some are self-imposed (keeping those cookies in the house while watching what you eat, for example). Others are environmental circumstances that might be beyond your control (the vending machine at work, for example). But what IS in your control is identifying those problems and coming up with multiple solutions.

10. Be willing to make adjustments

As you progress, be willing to make adjustments. Both to the actions you are taking (if they’re inefficient or aren’t resulting in results) or in your final goal. Flexibility is a fundamental part of success.

An example of flexibility in actions is a system/habit that isn’t working. For example, let’s say you’re using Instagram to market your website & aren’t seeing results. It’s completely appropriate to give up on Instagram instead of spending more money on Instagram courses if that’s not where your audience is at. (For example, you’re not going to find ME on Instagram! haha).

An example of flexibility in final goal is retirement savings. Let’s say your goal was to get out of debt, pay off student loans, and get 100K in retirement savings in the next 5 years. If it’s clear after 3 years, you’re only going to hit 85K or so, that’s not a complete failure. It would be appropriate to adjust your final goal- either to 85K or give yourself a few extra months. Rather than giving up because “you’re going to fail.”

Purposeful Action

I cannot emphasize enough the importance of purposeful action. Analyzing, filling out worksheets, and writing the perfect goal isn’t enough. And just taking any old actions aren’t enough. It’s a combination of setting goals and taking the appropriate actions that will get you results that you’re amazed with.

Do you have any advice on how to set goals and achieve them? Which of the tips above did you find helpful? Did anything surprise you? Did you disagree with anything? Comment below letting me know.

Could you do me a quick favor? If you found this useful, could you share it with your friends? Share buttons are at the top.

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