How to Set Effective Goals
Whether you’re saving up to buy a house, aiming for a promotion at work, or trying to get the relationship you’ve been dreaming of, you’re working toward goals every day.
It can be exciting and energizing to set new goals, but if you aren’t able to reach them, it can leave you feeling unmotivated and defeated.
As a therapist at KMA with over seven years of experience in helping clients set and work towards meaningful goals, I’m here to help you learn how to select the right goals for you and offer you proven tools to help you reach them!
After reading this article, you’ll know the benefits of setting goals, how to set effective goals, and what to do if you aren’t able to reach your goals on the first try.
What are the Benefits of Setting Goals?
Setting goals enables you to clarify what you want to work towards and can provide you with a structure within which you can organize your time and efforts.
Having a specific goal can help you to focus your energy and develop a strategy.
It’s one thing to know you’d like to be more active, but once you set the goal of taking 10000 steps per day, you have something you can actually implement and track.
3 Ways to Set Effective Goals
When setting goals, you want to make sure you’re using the right strategies.
Follow these three tips to set meaningful goals you’ll be able to reach.
1. Set SMART goals
Focus on setting SMART goals.
This acronym stands for:
- Specific
- Measurable
- Attainable
- Relevant
- Time-bound
For example, setting the goal to “improve your health” is pretty general.
In what ways do you want to be healthier? How would you measure this? What’s your timeline?
Now, compare this to the following: “My goal is to get my cholesterol levels within a healthy range over the next six months.”
This is specific, measurable, attainable under the guidance of a health professional, relevant to your desire to be healthier, and time-bound.
2. Make sure your goals align with what you really want
Set goals that are relevant to your values and what you really want. This is where the R in SMART goals comes in.
If the goal you’re setting doesn’t align with your values, priorities, or actual objectives, it’s going to be much more difficult to implement and stick to, especially when you’re faced with setbacks.
We’re generally more consistent when we can connect to the reasons behind what we’re doing - when it aligns with who we are and what we consider important. So take some time to reflect on this when deciding which goals to set.
3. Track your progress
Develop a system for tracking your progress. This can be helpful for a number of reasons.
First, it enables you to evaluate whether or not your initial strategy is working or needs any tweaking.
Second, it allows you to explicitly see your progress, which goes a long way toward keeping you motivated and encouraged.
Third, logging the steps you’ve taken towards your goals helps you keep up a sense of momentum even during the inevitable plateaus in progress.
How Can I Keep Track of My Goals?
There are many ways in which you can track your goals, from various downloadable templates to tracking apps you can use on your mobile device.
The spreadsheet nerd in me has always been a big fan of Excel, but there are many great habit-trackers and apps for monitoring every goal imaginable available through your app store.
I’m personally a big fan of Loop Habit Tracker for its simplicity.
Once you’ve set a SMART goal, play around with different ways in which you may be able to measure and track this.
For instance, say you want to get back into reading on a consistent basis.
Here are three ways you may wish to measure this goal:
- You can aim to read one new book per month
- You can measure it in terms of time spent reading (e.g. 30 minutes per day)
- You can opt for a certain page or chapter count (one chapter per night, 10 - 20 pages per day, etc.)
How Can I Avoid an All-or-Nothing Mindset When I’m Working Toward My Goals?
Here are three things to keep in mind in order to avoid an all-or-nothing mindset for your goals.
1. Progress isn’t always linear
Remember that working towards your goals is a process, and that progress can very often be nonlinear.
Consider reframing setbacks or shortfalls as learning opportunities and a vital part of the growth process as opposed to signs of personal inadequacy, ineptitude, or failure.
2. It’s okay if your progress fluctuates
Your capacity or output is going to fluctuate from day to day and week to week, so work within a range as opposed to a fixed target.
Setting a range can ensure that you’ve accounted for the various things life throws your way that affects the realities of your schedule or abilities.
Examples of ranges include:
- Writing 250 - 500 words per day
- Working out 3 - 5 times per week
- saving 5% - 10% of your income every month
Ranges allow you to be more flexible with your time and make allowances for situations in which you may not be able to match the previous day or week’s efforts.
3. It’s a marathon, not a sprint
Remember that reaching your goals is a marathon, not a sprint.
Every milestone you reach is going to come with its own set of challenges and rewards. Every bit of distance you cover between where you started and where you’re headed counts.
When you start feeling doubtful and discouraged, remind yourself why you started in the first place. Look back and take stock of how much ground you’ve covered so far.
Take note of all the ways in which you’ve already evolved over the course of this process.
Speaking of which…let yourself fall in love with the process. Check out Atomic Habits by James Clear - he does a great job of highlighting why it’s really about the journey, not the destination.
What Can I Do if I Failed to Reach My Goal?
If you weren’t able to achieve your goal, see if the issue was with the strategy or with the goal itself.
Ask yourself these questions about your goal:
- Was it specific enough?
- Was it actually realistic?
- Was it relevant?
If the goal itself isn’t an issue, then have a look at the process you used and evaluate its effectiveness. See if you can pinpoint where things may have gone wrong.
Were there any unforeseen obstacles that you didn’t account for? Is your timeframe reasonable?
Sometimes our priorities shift over time, and sometimes our system for reaching our goal just wasn’t ideal.
See what you can learn from the experience, and work that into your approach moving forward!
Next Steps for Reaching Your Goals
After reading this article, you know how to set, track, and reach effective goals.
As a member of KMA’s team of passionate therapists, I have helped many clients set and reach meaningful goals to achieve the level of progress they want to see in their lives - on their own terms!
You can check out my blog for additional articles on overcoming the personal and professional hurdles that can often get in the way of living the life you want.
Register online for more information or download our Therapy 101 Guide to learn more about how therapy can help you.
If you’d prefer to keep reading, explore these related articles:
- What is Perfectionism? (& 8 Signs You May Be a Perfectionist)
- 10 Signs You’re a People-Pleaser - and How to Stop
- Why Burnout is More Than Just Stress
About the author:
Elizabeth is a Registered Psychotherapist with the College of Registered Psychotherapists of Ontario, and a Canadian Certified Counsellor through the Canadian Counselling and Psychotherapy Association. She holds an M.Ed. in counselling from Acadia University and a BA in Psychology from Concordia University.
Currently, some of her specialties include issues such as depression, anxiety, stress, relationships, challenging life transitions, grief and loss, low self-esteem, trauma, and chronic pain and injury.
Book an appointment with Elizabeth to start your therapy journey today.
