Have you ever thought about all the different ways that setting goals helps you achieve things in life?
Think about it. You’ve got something that you wanna get done. So, what do you do? You set a goal. Now we all know that setting a goal will help you do the things that you want to do or get to where you want to be; but are there any other reasons why we should set goals?
But of course there are! Setting goals helps you to discover yourself and become the person that you want to be. Now of course, anything worth doing won’t be easy, but if you set a SMART goal for yourself, that’s half of the battle right there. Read on for 7 reasons why you should set goals.
Setting Goals & Making Things Happen
Motivation
For me, setting a goal is one of the most motivating things that I can do to make sure that I achieve whatever it is that I’ve set out to do. Goals motivate. Set your goal up as a SMART goal and you have milestones built in. As you measure and track the progress you’re making towards your goal you become motivated to keep going.
Also, if you use a system such as my goal planning process one of the things that you build into your goal are rewards. So, as you reach certain milestones, you have a reward connected to the milestone as a way of celebrating and treating yourself for sticking to it. Your reward can be as simple or elaborate as you’d like.
Let me give you an example. A few years ago, I was ramping up my exercise routine to help with stress management and to lose a few pounds. As a way of helping myself to maintain motivation, I treated myself to various things along the way. One was a beautiful new sparkly water cup and another was a new pair of sneakers. They made me happy and gave me the extra umph needed to reach my goals. Which is really important for those days when the going gets rough.
Increased Self-Esteem
As you’re working through your goals and making things happen and seeing the progress that you’re making, you’re gonna notice a natural byproduct of all of that progress – increased self-esteem.
You can give yourself a pat on the back because you’re taking the steps necessary to get to where you want to be.
Break your goal into multiple steps and track your progress. Using a habit tracker or calendar to track your progress will allow you to see at a glance how far you’ve come, so you can puff out your chest with pride.
Design Your Future
"Having goals helps you to become the person that you want to be." Cassandra Martin-Himmons
The goals that you set today manifest change tomorrow. That’s what a goal will do for you. It lets you directly influence your future as the choices you make today impacts every aspect of your future life.
For instance, say you’re interested in learning a new language, so you set a goal and develop a lesson plan. If you stick with it, after a certain period of time (in your future), you’ll be bi, tri, or multilingual. And therefore, your future self will have more possibilities and choices in life.
Achievement Of Dreams
All goals start out being dreams or desires. Achieving a goal is the easiest way for you to be able to make your dreams or desires come to life. Every time you reach a goal, you achieve a dream! That is a marvelous thing to experience and behold.
Achievement of dreams also circles back to reason #2 increased self-esteem. The more dreams you achieve, the better you feel about yourself and the more dreams you want to achieve. It’s a never-ending positive cycle.
Focus/Clarity
Without focus or clarity, it’s hard to achieve anything. Setting goals helps you gain both which makes the going easier. It’s not enough to have a goal if that goal is vague. Vague goals do nothing for you. A properly designed goal will help you gain clarity not only about why you want to achieve a particular thing, but also how to achieve it.
How do you do that? By making sure that your goal is SMART. In doing this, you’re building in clarity around the specifics of your goal and how you’re going to achieve it.
You gain focus because a SMART goal is:
Specific
Measurable
Achievable
Relevant
Timebound
The measurable and timebound portions of a SMART goal are the parts that make it easy for you to track the progress that you’re making with your goal. Tracking goals gives you focus. If you see that you’re not achieving certain milestones within a prescribed period of time, then you know that you’ve got to double down in order to make things happen.
Purpose
So, I ask again, why set goals? To help you achieve your life purpose. Inside of all of us is a longing to do and achieve certain things during your lifetime. Those are your dreams and desires. Setting a goal helps you to achieve those things that you desire deep down inside.
For instance, many people have a travel bucket list. I know that I do! Well, one person may look at their list, dream about being able to go to those places and every once in a while, take a trip that could correspond to that list.
While another person may create a travel bucket list and then set a goal to achieve visiting those places. The setting of a goal leads to the development of a plan which leads to the achievement of purpose when they are aligned.
Growth
Another reason why you should set goals is for your personal development. As you set goals and achieve them, you’ll not only gain a sense of pride because you’ve accomplished the things that you’ve set out to do; you’ll also find that you’ve grown as a person. Each time you learn something new, gain a new skill or achieve something, it becomes a part of you, and you expand in your capabilities.
So, in the end, when everything is said and done, why should you set goals? Ultimately, I believe it’s because setting goals helps you to become the person you were always meant to be.
Let’s talk. What does setting goals do for you? Let me know in the comments section.
Cassandra Martin-Himmons is a trainer, wellness coach and consultant who believes in empowering her clients and providing the tools that they need to make positive changes in their lives to manage their stress and increase their self-care. In her spare time, she enjoys papercrafting, volunteering and travel. Connect with her on Instagram or Linked/In