Setting goals and actually following through with them can be two very difficult tasks.
Sometimes, it just takes a bit of inspiration to get started, while other times it requires a TON of motivation to make it to the end.
However, never fear! This post is your complete guide to creating achievable goals and the top tips you’ll ever need to meet each and every one.
This post combines every goal-related blog post and resource I’ve ever created to allow you to easily succeed in your goal setting process. Ready to take a deep dive into goal setting? Let’s do it!
This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure policy for more information.
What is A Goal?
Let’s start as simple as possible to ensure you’re on the same page as me. When I say the word “goal,” I am referring to an objective you set for yourself to meet in a specific time period.
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What is a S.M.A.R.T Goal?
Okay, now let’s get a bit more specific. I HIGHLY recommend you turn each of your goals into a S.M.A.R.T. goal. I’ll reference this quite a bit in this post. S.M.A.R.T. goals are goals that meet each of the following requirements:
- Specific: Is your goal defined enough to pursue?
- Measurable: Can you easily track your progress?
- Achievable: Will you easily know when you’ve achieved your goal?
- Realistic: Is this goal something you can realistically achieve?
- Time-Bound: Do you have a deadline for this goal?
To better understand S.M.A.R.T. goals, I want to do a detailed example. This is the example I often refer to in my goal-setting blog posts, so you might see it come up again when reading through my goal-setting material.
Let’s say you have decided you want to purchase a home. So, you’re intitial goal is:
Initial Goal: Buy a House.
How can you turn this into a S.M.A.R.T. goal? Well, let’s start out by making it Specific. Purchasing a home is an incredibly complex process, you can’t just go out and buy one (unless you’re wealthy, then I guess you can…). Really, your first step is to save up for a down payment. So, let’s change your goal to be more specific: Save up for a downpayment on a home.
Next, let’s make this Measurable by adding a dollar amount. Let’s say you do some research and conclude that you will need $30,000 for a downpayment (this is a completely random number I’ve pulled out of thin air…). So, your new Specific and Measurable goal is: Save $30,000 for a downpayment on a home.
Now, let’s add in Achievable. Will you know when you’ve saved up $30,000? Yeah I think so. Especially if you keep this money in a separate savings account. So I don’t think we need to modify it just yet. Next, Realistic… is $30,000 a realistic amount of money for you to save up? If not, you might want to change up your goal and expectations.
Finally, Time-Bound… Let’s add a deadline to this goal: Save $30,000 for a downpayment on a home in three years.
Final S.M.A.R.T. Goal: Save $30,000 for a downpayment on a home in three years.
I hope you can also see the importance of turning your goal into a S.M.A.R.T. goal here. You’ve really narrowed down on what is important about your objective and, in the process, have created ways for you to track your progress and have easily broken it down into smaller chunks. This is key to turning your goals into reality! For example, now you can break this example goal down into:
- Yearly Goals: Save $10,000 for a downpayment on a home I will purchase in three years.
- Monthly Goals: Save $833.33 each month this year for a downpayment on a home I will purchase in three years.
Related: An Ultimate Guide to Budgeting: How to Create and Stick to A Budget (+ Freebie!)
Supplies for Goal Setting
Many people choose to set their goals inside their planner or journal. Personally, I complete all goal reviews in a goal binder with my printable planner. Whichever way you choose, here are some great supplies to help you along the way:
- The Olden Chapters Goal Printable Planner: This is the ultimate goal printable planner! With over 25 different workbooks, calendars, trackers, goal worksheets, and more, this planner includes everything you might need to reach each and every goal this year.
- Bullet Journal: Many people use a bullet journal as a planner, list holder, or personal journal. I personally use it as the latter two paired with my printable planner. Bullet journals make amazing notebooks because they have dot-grid pages and a specific index area. If you want to learn more about how to use a bullet journal efficiently, check out Rider Carol’s fabulous book The Bullet Journal Method.
- Project Planning Free Printable: This is my free project planning printable that is perfect for starting your goals of on the right foot! It helps you create an attack plan for any large goal, with space for notes, a task list, reward, and more!
Related: Master the Project Planning Process in 10 Easy Steps
- Coletto Pen and Refill: These pens are absolutely my favorite to use when color coding tasks and notes. They are fantastic multi-pens that don’t feel too bulky and have amazing ink quality! Be warned, the pen itself doesn’t come with ink (because they are so customizable) so you have to purchase them separately.
- Tombow Duel Brush Pens: These fantastic brush pens are great for goal setting, journaling, and project planning. The lighter colors are great to use as highlighters and the darker colors are perfect for sketching out ideas. They are super popular to use with the bullet journal!
- Poster Board: When you’re working on your goals, it is important to print them out and post them somewhere (even better to create a vision board!). Poster board is one of the cheap essentials needed in this process!
- Glitter Glue: Another great craft supply to always have on hand is glitter glue. It just adds that extra bit of flare to any project, don’t you think?
- Command Strips: Command strips are perfect for hanging up your goals and poster board onto your wall. I use these ALL THE TIME to hang up my vision board and goals (which I keep in a picture frame on the wall near my desk). Command strips make it so easy to hang anything you need and ensure you don’t damage you walls!
- Mod-Podge: Finally, mod-podge is great when creating your goals, especially if you are going to hang up a list of your goals or create a vision board on your wall. Just add a layer of mod-podge and it will last forever!
Check out my Ultimate Goal Printable Planner today! It will skyrocket your productivity, explode your GPA, and help you reach all your goals!
Project Planner Free Printable
This freebie is perfect to kickstart your goals on the right track! It helps you turn your goals into actionable steps, with space to add a task list, notes, ideas, rewards, and so much more! Download it today to get started!
The Ultimate Guide to Goal Setting
Alright, let’s dive in! Below I’ve listed each and every step to take in order to reach your goals. If you want to learn about one of the steps, take a look at the blog posts I’ve written about each one. There, you will find every single detail you’ll need to be successful!
1. Create a Personal Mission Statement
The very first thing you should do before goal planning is to create a meaningful personal mission statement. This is a one-to-two-sentence phrase that embodies your values, priorities, and overall mission in life. This will help you remember what is most important in life and ensure each of your goals are aligned with your beliefs, giving you even more reason to reach them. Learn how to create your perfect personal mission statement HERE.
Related: Discover How to Create an Effective Personal Mission Statement
2. Create a Motivational Bucket List
Next, start your goals out looking at the BIG picture. This means creating a bucket list, or a list of goals to achieve and experiences to complete before you die. Creating this list will help you understand where, in the very long term, you want to end up, and what steps might be necessary to get there. Learn how to create your perfect bucket list HERE.
Related: Create a Bucket List Today to Live Your Best Life Tomorrow (+ 50 Ideas to Get You Started!)
3. Write Out Your Long-Term Goals
Now it is time to start to narrow down your goals just a bit by creating long-term goals. When I say “long term,” I am referring to 3-, 5-, 10-, and 25- year goals. Start by looking at your bucket list as a starting point. Then brainstorm more goals from there. For a more detailed look at how to successfully create long-term goals, check out my ultimate guide HERE.
Related: Achieve Your Long-Term Goals in 8 Simple Steps
4. Create Your Yearly Goals
Now that you have a solid, goal setting foundation, it is time to really focus in on your yearly goals. Take inspiration from your long-term goals and begin brainstorming goals you want to achieve this year. Utilize categories to organize your thoughts (such as health, family, personal, business, etc.) and narrow them down until you have a good, solid list of S.M.A.R.T. goals to achieve this year. Then, break them down into monthly or weekly goals (whichever you prefer). If you’re ready to create your yearly goals, check out THIS ultimate guide, and for more information about S.M.A.R.T. goals, scroll up to the top of this post. Also, if you’re serious about your goals this year, I HIGHLY recommend checking out this book!
Related: A Complete Guide to Creating the Perfect Yearly Goals (12 Foolproof Steps!)
5. Create a Motivational Vision Board
Now that you have your yearly and long-term goals all written up, it’s time to start building up that motivation for the year by creating an effective vision board! A vision board is a place where you add motivational phrases and quotes that represent your goals this year. This might be a place where you put your dream home, favorite vacation destination, motivational quotes, and more. I personally like to create a physical vision board and place it near my desk or as my binder cover, while others create a digital board and use it as their desktop background. Read more HERE on how to create the best vision board for you this year!
Related: Discover How to Create an Effective Vision Board
6. Schedule and Complete Monthly Goal Reviews
Monthly goal reviews are vital in tracking your progress and boosting your motivation throughout the year, eventually leading to goal completion before your deadlines. A monthly review is a quick checklist you complete at the end of each month that allows you to reflect on your progress, set up your next monthly goals, and reward yourself for your monthly successes. Take a look at my monthly goal review process HERE to get started in creating your own.
Related: Smash your Goals this Year with Monthly Goal Reviews (A Step-by-Step Guide)
7. Complete Quarterly and Yearly Goal Reviews
Quarterly and yearly goal reviews are similar and just as important as monthly goal reviews, but offer you a bit more insight into the bigger picture. Quarterly reviews help you take a deep dive into your progress each quarter of the year (or over the course of four months) and help you reevaluate your yearly goals. This helps you decide which goals no longer apply and which goals might need more focus. Yearly goal reviews are a time when you review the entire year and setup your goals for the next year. HERE is my complete guide to quarterly and yearly goal reviews and HERE is my ultimate guide to planning an entire year in advance.
Related: An Ultimate Guide to Yearly and Quarterly Reviews (an Essential Part of Achieving your Goals this Year!)
8. Ensure Your Goal Success By Following Best Practices
Finally, the last piece of achieving your goals each year is to follow the top tips and best practices for goal achieving. I have created a comprehensive list of my personal top tips HERE for you to check out. But also looks for other places of inspiration too! Such as goal-setting books (my top list of books is listed below).
Related: 12 Genius Tips to Follow This Year to Ensure You Reach Your Goals!
Top Books on Goal Setting
The entire goal setting and achieving process can be overwhelming and difficult. There are absolutely right and wrong ways of going about it and these books have helped me achieve my biggest dreams (and continue to lead me in the right direction today!). I am sure they will lead you on the path to achieving your largest goals in life.
The Compound Effect: Jumpstart your Income, Your Life, Your Success by Darren Hardy
If you haven’t read this book you are seriously missing out. It is a complete game changer and should be sitting on everyone’s shelf. This Wall Street Journal and New York Times Bestseller covers the powerful yet surprisingly simple principle that little everyday decisions will either help you achieve greatness or end up in disaster naturally, and how to steer them in the right direction. It covers how to win at everything, abolish bad habits, maintain motivation and more. It is an absolute must read!
Your Best Year Ever: A 5-Step Plan for Achieving Your Most Important Goals by Michael Hyatt
As the title suggests, this is book covers a phenomenal 5-step plan that guarantees you set and reach the most important goals in your life. It covers tips that help you when you get stuck, how to quit-proof your goals, and so much more. As an added bonus, it is a quick and easy read!
Measure What Matters: How Google, Bono, and the Gates Foundation Rock the World with OKRs by John Doerr
This New York Times Bestseller explores the secrets of the famous and wildly successful goal-setting system of Objectives and Key Results (OKRs) that has been proven time and time again to be effective. This system ensures you maintain focus and stay on track until your goals are being met!
Goals! How to Get Everything You Want – Faster Than You Thought Possible by Brian Tracy
This is a fantastic book that helps distinguish the people who reach their goals from those that just dream of having a better life. It then dives into a simple yet powerful goal setting method that is incredibly effective. Tracy also focuses on specific goals in different areas in life, such as finances, health, and family. A fantastic read!
Related: 21 Life-Changing Books You Must Read in Your 20’s!
The Goal Setting Series
This blog post is the final of my goal setting series. I’ve listed each related blog post above, but here is the list one more time for your easy reference:
- How to Create a Personal Mission Statement and Why It’s So Important
- Discover How to Create a Motivational Bucket List (+50 Ideas to Get You Started)
- The Ultimate Guide to Long-Term Goal Planning
- How to Create Short Term Goals in 12 Easy Steps: An Ultimate Guide
- Create the Perfect Vision Board in These Simple Steps
- How to Complete a Monthly Goal Review
- An Ultimate Guide to Completing a Personal Mid-Year Review
- Steps for a Successful Quarterly and Yearly Goal Review
- 12 Secrets to Ensure You Reach Your Goals This Year
Well, that is a wrap on all things goal-related! I hope this ultimate guide to goal setting has given you some great ideas and resources to start your goal setting and achieving journey. Good luck and happy goal-getting!
Ready to have the BEST year yet? Check out this Ultimate Guide to Planning the ENTIRE Year in Advance… it truly is a game-changer!
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