How to Set Goals and Actually Achieve Them (Template Included!)
Statistically, most people commit themselves to a goal on the ‘first’ of something - the first day of the month, the first day of spring, and, of course, the first day of the year.
I am “most people.” I love a fresh start; it’s the only reason I’m a morning person.
Naturally, with the allure of a fresh new year, I sat down to set some goals for 2022 and I thought I’d share my personal goal-setting process with you. It evolves a bit each year, but this is the foundation. These aren’t fluffy tips like, ‘Set SMART goals’ and ‘commit to it publically’ (but I’ll include those in another post since it’s helpful).
This is my working process, step-by-step, on how I set goals to actually achieve them.
So grab a fresh notebook or better yet, use this simple template, and set some 2022 goals with me!
01. Define 10-12 annual goals
Reflect on the year ahead. Write down all the things you’d like to accomplish in the next year. Pretty simple.
You can stop there and go to Step 2 if you’d like, but if you want to dig a little deeper…
Take a step back and review your long term goals
Work your long-term goals backward to re-inform your annual goals. Then scale it back and focus on 1-2 major goals plus 5-10 minor goals that get you towards your larger or longer-term goals.
02. Identify key motivators
Now, this is important. This sets your WHY.
It also helps you suss out whether your goal is important to you personally or if you’re feeling pressure from irrelevant external factors (like the societal pressure to lose weight but I digress). It prevents you from chasing a carrot, only to realize once you catch it, that you don’t even like carrots.
Go through each goal, one by one, and ask yourself why you’re setting this goal. Financial freedom? Better health? Build your business? Leave a legacy?
Get really specific. Dream about what it would mean and how your life would be impacted if you reached that goal. If it would just add work, noise, or stress to your life or business, instead of enriching or improving it, scratch it.
Put it into bullet points so that you can easily come back and review it multiple times throughout the year.
03. Decide how you’ll celebrate each one
Oftentimes we reach a goal and it’s anticlimactic. You wouldn’t expect fanfare from your family for reaching 100 days without hitting the snooze button. But that doesn’t mean you can’t reward yourself.
Take a look at each of your goals and decide how you will celebrate each and reward yourself; it sparks motivation and builds discipline. It’s also great psychological manipulation. We all need that sweet, sweet carrot.
04. Break it down into general action steps
Time to brainstorm.
What are all the major steps you’d need to take to make each goal a reality? Work backward if you need to. It shouldn’t be an exhaustive list, bullet points are great; we’ll drill down in the next few steps.
05. Break it down into Quarterly Big 3 (max 3)
Now we’re really getting to work. I warned you this wasn’t fluff.
Break your ‘capital G’ Goal into 3 subgoals.
Let’s focus on the year, quarter by quarter. For the next 3 months, Q1, what are the three big tasks or actions that would move the needle or establish the groundwork for your Goal, based on the action steps you listed?
Do not go beyond three. If you feel the need to go beyond three, you’ve probably gotten too specific; you’ve jumped a step ahead.
This completes the ‘pre-work.’ The next two steps you’ll do at the beginning of each week (Weekly Big 3) or day (Daily Big 3).
06. Weekly Big 3
You’ve broken your Goals into subgoals, and now you’ll determine your weekly objectives (and then daily tasks).
Annual Goals > Quarterly Subgoals > Weekly Objectives > Daily tasks
You’ll revisit your Quarterly Big 3 at the beginning of each week and determine what you need to accomplish that week to move towards your subgoal/Quarterly Big 3.
For example, say you wanted to start a blog, your Weekly Big 3 might be:
Decide on and secure a web address
Research and choose a hosting platform
Create a mood board for the design and style
07. Daily Big 3
At the start of each day, decide what three things (only 3!) you need to do to move the needle forward towards one or a few objectives. Focus on nothing but those tasks and accomplish those three things before moving on to anything else, or schedule them in.
The truth is, there is no quick & easy way to accomplish your goals. The trick is getting sh*t done, period.
Keep a notebook beside you to write it down thoughts/tasks that pop into your head and get back to it later, once you've accomplished your Big 3.
08. Set time in your calendar to revisit your Goals quarterly
Recalibrate often. Revisit your Quarterly Big 3 every few months (even briefly each month if you can) and reset your plan. This will keep your goals top of mind and help you stay on track.
If you’ve fallen off track, don’t stress. Reset, recommit.
If you’re finding that something is too difficult or unreasonable, adjust your plan. Maybe you need to hire someone to help, update some skills or knowledge, or cut your losses and move on.
I've included a really simple, fillable Google doc if it's helpful. Click the link, make a copy and edit. Easy peasy.
You did it! Or, you will do it
Now you have a tangible, proven system for setting, planning for, and reaching your goals. I know you can do it and I’m cheering you on.
Now go get ‘em big goals!