Goals… Goals… Goals… What do you think about when you hear the world goals? Does it even have any meaning to you? Do you set goals or do you just move though life without too much thought of where you are going or without any intention?

Often times in life we do not set goals for the things we want in life, we leave it to fate or some other power outside of ourselves to determine what will happen and where we will go.

How do you set goals and what goals should you set? How do you know if your goals will be effective and provide the results that you want?

The biggest question is what will your life look like when you achieve your goals?

The finish line is always in front and the path that is known is behind! The goals you set should always adhere to that statement.

Think about that long and hard and hopefully you will realize that goal setting is a continual process and as you reach your goals there should always be bigger and better goals, higher places to reach and a better self to find.

Here are a couple of things to keep in mind when setting goals.

1) Set goals as high as you can. It is important to make sure you set goals that are extremely high. When you set your goals at a lower level you will hit them quicker and easier but, your progress will be less and more than likely you will loose the drive quicker. It is easy to set small goals that are achievable but you should ask yourself what good will it do you to reach low and then obtain? Why would you not reach super high and then get ride the journey to success.

2) Set goals that are achievable. What good is a goal if it is impossible to achieve? You know know to set your goals as high as you can but it is equally important to remember that any goal you set needs to be achievable. There will always be things in life that just are not achievable. I know we like to say anything is achievable and in truth anything is achievable.

So what do I mean… Do not set a goal that is not realistic like I want to loose 50 pounds in 2 weeks, or I want to ear 50 million today when you don’t make any money today already. It is just not achievable… How about I want to loose 50 pounds in 3 months, or I want to make 50 million in 10 years. Although both goals are lofty they are achievable.

3) Do not set goals to do something you already know how to do. We do this often… We set goals to achieve something we already know how to do. Setting a goal to do something that you already know how to do will keep you right where you are right now! It is easy to set a goal that we know we can accomplish as it helps our ego by knowing you will accomplish it. But there is no accomplishment in that, there is no progress, no growth. The journey, the pursuit is what gives us peace and fulfills us. And a journey that we have already been on doesn’t fulfill this need.

4) Set one big crazy goal that it almost unimaginable then set smaller goals that align with your big goal. Now that you know to set a really big goal, one that is achievable but almost unbelievable you need to break it down into smaller bite sized chunks. It can be hard to continue to achieve success and keep the driving mindset without seeing the success. When you don’t break you really big goal down into smaller sizes it will be hard to see the success you are achieving. May times it will come down to willpower if you do not break it down into smaller chunks. And willpower is a limited resource.

5) Set goals consistently and regularly. People tend to set goals, reach their goal, and then next thing they know they are in a rut! I know because I have been there. It is easy to set a goal then reach it, and if you do not have another goal set you will become complacent and may find yourself stuck. Our greatest moments in life are in the pursuit, the pursuit of a better self whatever that may look like. The achievement of a goal is great but the feeling that comes with that achievement is fleeting.

6) You need to have a strong why. Having a strong why to setting goals ensures that as things get hard or don’t go well, and they will trust me, that you have some strong emotion linked to your success. People tend to achieve success much more when they are emotionally involved. Think about it, passion and feeling play a strong role in desire and how far you are willing to go to achieve your dreams.

Have you ever heard of S.M.A.R.T? It is an acronym commonly used when talking about goals. It can be used to ensure you are setting goals that will produce the desired outcome as efficiently and effectively as possible.

S is for Specific. Your goals should always be very specific. They should have a specific outcome and direction. If you are not specific in your goals it is likely that you will not achieve them as the outcome is undefined and therefor unobtainable. It is important to clearly define the who, what, where, why, and how. The more detailed you can get the better.

Here are two examples of goals and see which one you think is more specific. 1) I will make money. 2) I will make 5 million. Pretty obvious which one is specific right! One is very vague and leaves everything open, while the other is very specific.

M is for Measurable. For you to know if you are on track and making the progress necessary to achieve your goals and desires you need to be able to measure your progress. Many times this is automatically included as your write your goals.

Lets use the following example. 1) I will be better. 2) I will be able to run a 10k in 80 minutes. The first one once again is not specific but how would you measure being better? The statement is too broad and would be hard to measure. The second statement of running a 10k in 80 minutes is measurable. You can certainly measure the distance and the time it takes.

A is for Attainable or Achievable. When you create your goals it is important to make sure they are achievable. If you can never achieve it then there is no point in setting it. Now… you need to remember there are a lot of things that may seem unachievable but they still may be.

So let me give you two examples again. 1) I will run across the pacific ocean 2) I will sail across the pacific ocean. Clearly one just is not able to be done while the other is possible but maybe extremely difficult.

R is for Realistic or Relevant. When thinking about the R being used as realistic I want you to start with something crazy big, realistic but a little crazy! You should dream big and then achieve big. When thinking about the R as relevant it should be relevant to your current situation or thoughts.

Here are some examples of realistic. 1) I will make 50 million tomorrow despite having no income, job, or way of earning money. 2) I will make 5 million in 5 years. One clearly is not realistic while the other is huge for most people but still could happen.

Here are some examples of relevant. We will say your trying to grow your business. 1) I will to work out every day. 2) I will speak with 30 potential clients daily. The first has nothing to do with growing your business (unless maybe its a fitness business). Whereas the second, I will speak with 30 clients a day is relevant to you growing your business.

T is for timely or time-based. For your goals to be a productive as possible they need to be bound to a time frame. Can your goal be accomplished in a few day or weeks, a couple of months, or years?

Setting the time will help you to see if you are on track as you assess where you are in achieving your goals.

Let me give you two examples again. 1) I want to earn earn 5 million dollars. 2) I want to earn 5 million dollars by X date. There is clearly a time constraint on the second goal. With the time defined you can now see if you are on track with your goals as you measure your progress.

Now… lets take a few minutes and I will give you some examples of setting goals for starting a business.

Example 1: I want to start a business selling flowers.

Using the SMART system ask yourself if the goal is specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, time-bound. What do you think? No not really… It’s not very specific, it could be considered measurable but could be better, it is attainable, it could be realistic depending on the circumstances, and it is not time-bound.

If you had to come up with a goal for this scenario, what would you do? What would that goal be?

Here are some example of SMART goals, see if you think they are would be defined as SMART…

Within 1 year I will find a location to rent, open a flower shop selling 100 various kinds of flowers and arrangements, and make this my primary source of income.

Every month for the next year I will work on increasing my health and fitness so at the one year mark I can run a marathon. I will track my daily food intake, and I will track the distance that I am running and increase that distance by ten percent every two weeks.

I will spend one hour every day reading and one hour every day working on my personal development for the next year.

Hopefully these are some good examples to get you thinking about setting goals.

Now… take some time and think about the things in life that you want to achieve. Come up with a really big crazy goal and write it down. Then see if it passes the SMART test. If it doesn’t then just adjust that goal until it does.

After you have done that then you can break it down into smaller goals. Remember your smaller goals need to take you towards your big goals!

As you get closer to reaching your big goals don’t be afraid to set new goals. Remember it is the pursuit that makes us the most satisfied. Set your goals high, revel in the successes you have on your journey and continue to make the game bigger and you will find success.