Back to Work and School: New Goals

With the end of Summer and September just around the corner, many people are preparing to get back to school, work, and even both. While it is important to get everything you need, it is just as important to set goals for the upcoming year! A fresh start is the best time to set goals. A strong mindset and setting goals allows us to create an achievable path to follow to reach where we want to go. More importantly, one must know what they want to achieve in order to make progress towards these goals; whether this is done by setting smaller goals in between, or just taking that time to create a goal overall and sticking to it! No matter how one goes about it, setting a goal is the most positive way to achieve change.

What stops a lot of people from even thinking about setting a goal to achieve, is the overwhelming feeling of failing. No one wants to set themselves up for failure, so why even bother thinking of something impossible... right? WRONG! If one doesn’t have something they are working towards, it becomes hard to even find motivation. When one has a goal, they have something to work towards, they are able to track progress, and overall track self-improvement and realign whenever needed. The simple act of setting a goal puts a tremendous effort towards the actual goal. Being goal-orientated is proven to have higher success rates overall.

Another reason people tend to not even set a goal is because they don’t know how to. It sounds like a simple task, but as mentioned earlier, just the thought of a goal can be overwhelming on its own. That being said, you can use a template to help set these goals. SMART is an acronym for the 5 elements of specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-based goals. The starting point is making a specific enough goal to follow, something you can work towards. The next step is making sure goals are measurable. Without this, it is nearly impossible to see progress. This helps you assure yourself that you’re on track. It is key to have a goal that is achievable. This can simply be telling yourself whether a goal is realistic or not. This one may seem obvious, but the relevance of the goal is significant. There is nothing more disappointing than setting yourself up for something that is unattainable. An inevitable set up for failure. Lastly, a time frame is essential. This can even weave out into making smaller goals in between. Setting a time scale for goals is the final step to creating an actionable plan.

With these guidelines and tips, you can pave the way to your own goals! It is important to recognize the significance of each step along the way in order to have attainable goals. As discussed above, the more thought put into setting goals, the easier it becomes to actually follow the plan created to achieve them. That being said, take your time to visualize your goal, align the steps that come along the way, and create the plan to get there.

What are your goals for this year?