How to Set Strong Goals that Matter

Goal setting is a big part of personal growth.

Without goals, we don’t know where we’re going.

If we don’t know where we’re going, we’re lost.

However, just setting arbitrary goals isn’t going to cut it either.

You don’t just wake up one day, slap a goal on a piece of paper, and expect it to work out.

I’ve found that having a system for setting goals, one that’s rooted deep in your beliefs is powerful.

I’m going to walk you through my goal setting system and show you how you can create goals that stick.

Here’s my goal setting system:

1. Identify your priorities

2. Identify your goals

3. Identify your daily actions to support those goals

4. Reflect

5. Make changes if necessary

Now let’s take a look at each part of the process below.

Priorities 

Before we can get into identifying our goals, we must figure out what’s important to us so that our goals matter.

How do we identify our priorities?

Where do they come from?

I believe priorities come mainly from two places:

1. Our values.

2. Our beliefs.

If you’re struggling to identify your priorities or not sure if something is a priority, take the time to identify your values and beliefs.

Once you identify your values and beliefs, your priorities should be pretty clear to you.

Therefore, the priorities you identify are powerful.

They are rooted in your values and beliefs.

You see, you can create goals for random shit that doesn’t matter in the end.

Goals should be meaningful and to make sure they’re meaningful, we need to identify what’s most important to us, our priorities. 

What are priorities?

Priorities are your main focus in life.

Priorities are the things that are most important to you.

Priorities come before anything else.

For me, these are family, health, and business in that order.

Do you have a list of priorities?

If not, how do you determine what gets your attention every day?

Again, priorities are like a lighthouse is to a ship; they guide us and keep us focused and on track.

Without priorities you become easily distracted.

If you haven’t identified your priorities, take the time now to list out your priorities. 

I recommend focusing on your top three.

Three main priorities should cover everything. 

Here’s some questions I asked myself to help determine my priorities:

1. What’s most important to me?

2. Where should I be spending my time?

3. What are my values?

4. What are my beliefs?

Goals

Now that we’ve identified our priorities, it’s time to start setting goals that align with our priorities.

The point of setting our priorities before creating goals was to make sure our goals align with what’s most important to us.

Again, what’s the point of setting goals if they aren’t supporting what’s most important to you?

I recommend starting out with one goal per priority.

Don’t overwhelm yourself with too many goals.

It’s better to have one goal that you can work towards accomplishing than to have three goals that you cannot accomplish.

You can always add more later.

There are two main ways to establish your goals that I will discuss in this article.

Now, before I get into the two ways you can go about creating your goals, I want to remind you that whether you go with the first or second method, your goals should challenge you. 

Goals are supposed to make you uncomfortable and force you to grow.

Let’s get into the two ways you can go about creating your goals.

The First Goal Setting Method: Go Big!

Personally, I like what Grant Cardone says, “Go big or go bigger!”

I like to set big goals.

Big goals get me excited to get up in the morning.

However, big goals may be too much for you, and that’s okay.

Here’s what I love about setting big goals; you may not reach the goal in the end, but you’ll be a lot further along than you would have if you set a smaller goal.

Again, when I say big goals, I mean big goals!

Big goals get the wheels turning in your brain.

You start going into problem solving mode and get creative.

This is a good thing.

Now, you still want to use the SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound) Framework for setting big goals.

For example, let’s say I have a goal of making two million dollars in the next 18 months.

Let’s go through the SMART Framework.

Is this goal specific? Yes, I want to make two million dollars.

Is this goal measurable? Yes, I can measure how much money I make by looking at my bank account, investments, or other vehicles I use in calculating this number.

Is this goal achievable? Hell yes! Why the f*ck not? Start believing in yourself! I can achieve this goal, but I must get to work!

Is this goal relevant? It better be! You’ve identified your priorities above, so it should align with one of your priorities.

Is this goal time-bound? Yes. I’m giving myself 18 months to achieve the goal of making two million dollars.

It’s really that simple. Don’t make it more complicated than it needs to be.

Here’s some questions I asked myself to determine how I was going to set my goals:

1. How many goals should I set for each priority?

2. Should I set big goals, or smaller goals that still challenge me?

The Second Goal Setting Method: Set Smaller Goals

I get it, not everyone is going to want to set big, outrageous goals like me.

However, don’t forget, no matter which path you choose for creating your goals, they should be big enough that they’re going to scare you a little, get you uncomfortable, and challenge you.

With that being said, maybe you don’t want to set a goal of making two million dollars in 18 months.

Maybe, instead of two million dollars, you want to set a goal of reaching six figures in the next 12 months. 

Again, this is perfectly acceptable as long as it’s going to challenge you.

You are still going to use the SMART Format to set this goal. 

I still recommend you set bigger goals and see what you can do!

Quick note:

You’re going to have to reframe how you think about failure.

You have to remove the word failure from your vocabulary and replace it with learning.

Anytime you don’t reach a goal at the set deadline, you’re automatically going to want to think you failed.

That’s false and will keep you stuck.

It’s a lie!

You didn’t fail, you learned a hell of a lot along the way.

Focus on what you’ve learned and how you’ve changed by going after that goal.

Now go achieve that goal!

Let’s get into the next step, creating actions to support your goals.

Actions

Now that we’ve established our priorities, identified our goals for each priority, how are we going to start working towards achieving our goals?

We need to establish actions we can take every day that support achieving the goals we’ve identified.

There are so many distractions out there today.

Our phone is probably the biggest distraction.

If we’re not careful, we can find ourselves scrolling on social media only to realize that it’s been three hours!

This is why it’s important to identify actions that are going to keep you focused on the main thing.

Let’s use the example above, making six figures in the next 12 months.

Your creative mind is starting to work on how you’re going to accomplish this goal, this is great!

Do you need a second job?

Do you need to look for a better job?

Are you going to start a side business to supplement your income?

Are you going to reduce your expenditures?

There are many ways to achieve this goal.

Maybe you’ll be using a combination of ways to achieve this goal.

However, make sure you identify the actions necessary depending on the route you take.

If you need to get a second job, your daily actions should include updating your resume, submitting job applications (set a certain number for each day), networking with people at that company, etc.

Make sure you’re aligning your actions to your goals and eliminating distractions.

Reflection

You’re going to grow, and things may change.

It’s important to review your priorities, goals, and actions on a regular basis.

This will allow you to analyze what’s working and what’s not working.

This is what reflection is all about.

It’s taking time on a regular basis to review your priorities, goals, and actions and make adjustments or keep them the same.

I recommend taking the time to do this at least once a month, but sooner is better than later.

If you wait until the end of the month, you may forget what was working and what wasn’t working.

Even better, if you have daily reflection time you can make notes on these three areas to help you when reviewing at the end of the month.

Make Changes

The point of taking time to reflect on a regular basis is to see if what you’re doing is working.

If what you’re currently doing is working, then great, do more of it.

However, if what you’re currently doing is not working, then you have to find out why and come up with a new plan.

Just because you have a plan doesn’t mean you’re safe from falling back into your comfort zone.

Remember, you’re doing this to achieve some big things in your life, to grow.

Continue to assess and make necessary changes when required, don’t get comfortable.

This is not a set it and forget it process.

Conclusion

I believe having goals is essential to staying focused on what’s most important to us.

However, I don’t think having goals is enough.

We must align our goals to our priorities, which come from our values and beliefs.

If we anchor our goals in our priorities, then we’ll know we’re setting the right goals.

To eliminate distractions and keep us focused on our goals, it’s important that our daily actions align with our goals.

Our daily actions should support the goals we want to achieve.

This alignment is crucial for continued growth.

Finally, take the time to reflect often and make changes when necessary.

If something’s working, great, don’t change it.

If something's not working, then make the necessary changes and get back at it.

Don’t get comfortable.

Comfort is the biggest killer of dreams and goals.

Stay positive and take action!

Mark

Thanks again for reading! I appreciate your support.

I’ll be writing an ebook on this subject. More to follow.