Why Is It Important to Set Realistic Goals?
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Goal setting is being proactive. It’s identifying what it is you want and making a plan consisting of a series of actionable, achievable steps that will help you get closer to, and ultimately accomplish, your goal.
Goal setting can happen in any sector of life, from athletic goals, to relationship goals, to career goals, to emotional and personal goals. What all goals have in common is they set you on a clear path to your desired objective.
Why is Setting Realistic Goals Important?
When setting goals, it’s easy to get overambitious and aim for something that may be too lofty or out of your reach. It’s important to be honest with yourself and understand your abilities, level of commitment, and the effort you’re able to put forth. Realistic goals can keep you motivated, but an unattainable goal may have the opposite effect. You must really consider whether a goal is achievable, because setting an unrealistic goal can be more harmful than not setting a goal at all.
If a goal is too big, or too unrealistic, your inability to achieve it can discourage you from trying or from setting goals in the future. You may easily become frustrated, lose motivation, or give up. To avoid this, if your ultimate goal seems too big, consider breaking it into smaller, more realistic pieces that you can check off progressively over time.
What does Realistic Goal Setting Look Like?
Before you can know whether or not a goal is realistic, you have to be crystal clear about what type of goal you are setting. There are generally three types of goals that people set. Knowing what type of goal yours is will help you understand how to accomplish it.
An immediate goal is something that you want to and can realistically achieve of the course of days or weeks. These are typically smaller goals, or goals you’re already well on your way to accomplishing.
A short-term goal refers to anything you’d like to accomplish in the next several months to a year. These goals can be slightly bigger or more involved. The key is understanding they won’t happen overnight – it takes months of work to achieve a short-term goal. However, the payoff often makes the effort well worth it.
Finally, long term goals are things you hope to accomplish over the course of several years. To stay on track with long-term goals, it’s often helpful to set related immediate and short-term goals along the way to keep you focused, motivated, and working toward your desired outcome.
A key component of realistic goal setting is knowing which category your goal falls into, and having the patience to know that it may take a while. Knowing how long something may realistically take to come to fruition will prevent you from losing interest and keep you on the path to success.
Another important part of realistic goal setting is managing expectations. Others may have expectations about how long it should take you to accomplish something, but this isn’t your concern. If need be, you can explain your goal and the time frame you’re giving yourself to accomplish it, but no one needs an explanation from you if you don’t want to give one. More importantly, you should manage your own expectations. Being honest with yourself about the time and effort it will take to get where you want to go is paramount.
Types of Goal Setting Techniques
There are four main ways to set goals.
SMART Goals
A smart goal is specific. To be specific, you must clearly answer the who, what, when, where and why of what you’re trying to accomplish.
It must also be measurable. There must be a way to measure progress, and keep track of how far you’ve come, and how much further you need to go. This can be attained through a series of smaller goals, or a tracking system that monitors your progress.
Perhaps most importantly, a SMART goal has to be achievable. You can work as hard and as diligently as possible, but if your goal isn’t achievable, it won’t matter. This goes back to being honest with yourself about what is realistic, and what isn’t.
In order to stay focused on a goal, it has to be relevant to you and your life in some way. It has to matter to you. If you don’t care about your goal, why would you put forth the effort required to achieve it?
Finally, a SMART goal is time-based. This means you’ve laid out a clear timeframe for yourself about when the goal should be accomplished. You should set a deadline and stick to it. Otherwise, goals can continue to be delayed until eventually you’re no longer working towards them.
HARD Goals
A hard goal is a goal that is easy to measure and easy to know when it’s been achieved. It usually has a concrete, measurable metric that leaves no room for ambiguity. Either you’ve hit your goal, or you haven’t.
A HARD goal is heartfelt, meaning it adds value to you and your life, relationships, or career. This is all about caring about what you’re trying to achieve.
A HARD goal is animated, meaning you can easily imagine a vivid picture of what reaching your goal will look like. It can be helpful to regularly set time aside to really focus on what achieving your goal will look and feel like. This will help to keep you motivated.
HARD goals should feel required. The best kind of goal is one that you feel is absolutely essential to moving your life closer to where you want it to be.
Finally, HARD goals should be difficult. Difficult does not mean unrealistic or unattainable. Difficult means the goal gives you a healthy challenge and motivates you to change in order to accomplish it.
WOOP Goals
Another way to approach goals is through the WOOP method. WOOP goals are like a wish, meaning they are meaningful, challenging, and attainable for you. To stay focused using the WOOP method, think about your outcome and how it will feel when you accomplish your goal. In order to be successful with this method, you must identify any internal obstacles that may be holding you back and address them. Finally, you should have a plan of contingency of what you will do if things do not go according to plan to get yourself back on track.
OKR Goals
Finally, the OKR method of goal setting is simply the process of setting an objective and measuring progress through key results.
How Can You Start Creating Realistic Goals?
In order to start setting realistic goals, take advantage of the methods above to make sure your goal is something you care about, can achieve, have a plan for, and will stick to a deadline for. As long as you can measure your progress, stay focused, and have a backup plan in case things go awry, you’ll be well on your way to setting and achieving meaningful and impactful goals in your life.
Ready to Start Setting Goals?
The best way to start setting goals for many is by working with a life coach. A life coach is not a therapist, rather they’re someone focused on helping you identify your goals and formulating a plan to reach them. They can help you focus on your core values, which can make it clear what matters to you and what goals you should work towards.
Finding the right life coach is essential in successfully completing goals. Jonette Dyer has years of experience using her personal coaching services to help people from all walks of life achieve important life goals, both big and small. Reach out to her today to get started on your unique journey.
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