Planning for Goal Achievement
Using Direction, Possible Steps, and More Goal Achieving Tips
People achieve goals in different ways. Some people like to envisage the end goal and take all the opportunities life presents that will move them towards their goal. Some people like to plan what they want in great detail, determine the steps they can take to get there and then deliberately take the steps necessary to achieve the goal.
Although an awareness of both approaches and exploiting each at appropriate times may be helpful. It is always essential to take action toward successful goal achievement.
Check Priority and Life Direction
It is important to understand the relative importance of a goal. If a goal has been set, but something else in life is really more important then it will be very difficult to achieve the goal until the higher priority is resolved. Of course, one can work toward achieving more than one goal at the same time, but being aware of what is really most important can help ensure success.
One way to uncover life priorities is to use a coaching tool called the Wheel of Life. The wheel helps assess satisfaction in eight life areas (for example, satisfaction with career, satisfaction with health) and clearly shows whether there are any areas with lower satisfaction scores than others. These lower satisfaction areas are the higher priorities which can make achieving goals in other areas more difficult. For example, health may score lower than career and it may be better to work on the most important area (health) first, to help ensure eventual achievement of the original (career) goal.
Possible Steps to Achievement
There are usually many ways to achieve a particular goal. It is important to consider what actions could be taken to improve the chances of achieving the goal. Find out who else has achieved the same thing (e.g. books, websites, magazines, etc.) and determine what the steps they took toward achieving that goal.
Consider the following when examining a goal:
- Think of small possible steps towards success
- Think about big outrageous steps towards achievement
- Think about who could help
- Think about what resources might be needed and how to obtain them
Write down the goal and all the different ways to achieve it. Write down the main actions which will result in movement towards achieving the goal.
Plan the Route to Goal
Choose one of the routes to achieve the goal and answer the following questions:
- What small steps can be taken to achieve this option?
- How soon could these steps be taken?
- When could each small step be finished?
- What else needs to be done in order to achieve each step?
- What’s stopping the step from being completed (and what other things need to be done first)?
Write down all these steps and actions based on date in order to plan a route for achieving the goal. Make sure that every step is important and moves closer to the goal.
Motivation can be kept at a high level if a reward is also planned for when each main step is achieved.
Review Goal Progress
Reviewing progress regularly is essential to goal achievement. There’s no point planning out how to achieve a goal and then never reviewing the plan. Plans need to change as life changes, so review regularly (monthly is a good timescale) to make sure there is movement in the right direction and that the plan still fits. For example:
- Sometimes it may be possible to complete (or even skip) a step much faster than was originally planned and this could be used an as an opportunity to revise the plan and achieve the goal sooner.
- Sometimes things don’t go according to plan and the plan will need to be changed to account for the new circumstances.
Reviewing the plan is the only way to know whether goal achievement is on track and thus, reviewing progress is vital when it comes to achieving goals.
Goal achievement is more likely to be successful when one follows an effective process, which includes setting direction, making a plan, following that plan and reviewing progress.
Successful Goal Achievement
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