Goals define your life whether they are unconscious or conscious. They shape your relationships, your education, what you want to achieve at work and how you approach life. Setting goals can give you a picture of how you would like your life to be.
In order for you to succeed at achieving your goals, they should be reasonable, relevant and reachable. Otherwise, you may find yourself feeling even more helpless and hopeless, making it even harder for you to gather the courage to try again.
What to Do
Develop goals to address, manage and resolve the problems you are concerned about. SMART stands for Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant & Time-bound.
Specific: Goals should be specific so that you know exactly what you are working toward. Write down the overall goal you would like to achieve. Break your overall goal down into manageable pieces that are simple and small.
Measurable: Goals must be identified in such a way that you can see, hear, or feel that you have been successful. Plan how you want to measure the goals you have decided to work on. Do you want to use a clock, a calendar, or a behaviour log or chart? Do you want to measure your goal by hours, weeks, or days?
Attainable: Is your goal realistic? Is it possible? It is important to narrow down your goal to something that you can realistically achieve and be successful at. Think about potential obstacles that might impede your progress and strategize ways to address whatever obstacles you identified.
Relevant: Make sure that the goal is appropriate for your lifestyle and will be useful to you. Review your goals to make sure they match the issues you are trying to address.
Time-bound: Make sure that you set aside enough time to work toward your goals. Plan ahead so that you can consider when you would have enough time to take all the steps you’ll need.
Tips
● If you find you have trouble reaching your goal, revise it rather than giving up.
o Break it down even further.
o Make sure it is concrete and simple.
● Even if you accomplish only part of your goal, reward yourself.
o Go to dinner.
o Plan for a movie.
o Engage in any other fun activity you like.
● Give yourself enough time to reach your goals.
o Don’t rush through your plans.
o Take time to plan your strategies.
o Don’t give up if things don’t immediately go your way.
● Be kind to yourself.
o Don’t criticize yourself if you have to revise or change your goals.
o Laugh at yourself a little and resolve to try again.
o Recognize and celebrate the evidence of your resilience and dedication toward making an effort to change.