7 Simple Steps for a Successful Goal-Setting Process
The New Year is usually an exciting time to set new goals which are a driving force in both your personal and professional development. Goal achievement is important for your success.
The goal-setting process helps you achieve key results, brings you joy, and helps you find purpose and meaning in life. Crafting specific goals and designing actionable steps to achieving them steers you in the right direction and gives you a clear roadmap to follow.
On the other hand, working without a plan creates roadblocks that would otherwise be avoided. No plan means no vision. No vision means no direction. No direction means no discipline. No discipline means mediocre training. A plan is necessary to hit the desired outcome.
These are the 7 Simple Steps for a Successful Goal-Setting Process. This will help you gain clarity in how you can take your big dream and break it down into small steps and doable chunks.
Why You Should Take Small Steps Toward Your Ultimate Goal
People don’t succeed in life or achieve their big dreams by chance. It’s not by chance, it’s a choice. It starts with a decision, then a plan, and finally, taking the necessary steps to work on the plan while tracking progress and making adjustments as necessary.
Do any of you play chess? Confession, I’m not a huge fan because I don’t understand it. I feel like it’s slow and too methodical for me. Or maybe it’s just that I never win. Either way… What chess is, is a game of strategy and persistence.
To be effective, players need to know what each piece can do and also need to create a game plan against their opponents logically.
My boys love the game of chess. They know all the rules and moves in the game, but they still lose to their dad every time. Why? My husband’s an average chess player, but the advantage he has over the boys is that he plans three to four moves. He has a bigger picture of where he wants to go and takes the steps to get there.
The game of life is very similar to how chess is played. Like chess, the first thing we need to develop is a strategy for the vision we set in front of ourselves. The vision has to align with your core values.
The next step is need to know the role of each piece and its advantages, such as our skills, gifts, and talents. These pieces could also be the people we have surrounding us and the resources we have access to.
Once we know the pieces we have to work with, we can formulate a plan – or plans – to effectively advance toward our dream or the larger goals we have. We can lay out a strategy toward one goal, which will lead us to make steady progress toward the next and continue in a stepping-stone manner until we are the victors of our vision.
As motivational speaker Brian Tracy says, “Goals in writing are dreams with deadlines.” A game plan begins with a decision, but it is backed by actionable steps and a plan. Without those two ingredients, a decision is merely a wish.
The Importance of Having A Plan versus No Plan
Whether you’re pursuing personal goals regarding your health, social life, or finances or you’re pursuing professional goals, you need a game plan. When you have a strategic plan you have a clear direction. You are more easily able to see the action steps necessary to obtain your objective.
A plan keeps you focused on the main purpose and keeps you on track. Now, we need to have flexibility, yes, for sure. For example, there will be external factors that are beyond your control that you’ll need to adjust to. But without a thought-out plan, you essentially lose the road map that will guide you along the path to accomplishing your individual goals.
Here’s how I learned this… marathons. And even more specifically, the road to qualifying for the Boston Marathon.
Marathon #1 – My first race was all about finishing with no other expectations attached. Six months after l gave birth to my second baby boy, I decided it would be a great idea to run a half marathon to get back into shape. It was exhilarating, and I craved more. I was already halfway there, so I thought, why not?
I trained to run a full marathon just three months later. My training plan consisted of something I found online that looked appealing. I was training to run with no goals and no preconceived notions. I finished at a respectable four hours and twelve minutes.
Race day came and went, and I still craved more. Since I had accomplished the first milestone, I could expand my dream. My first real goal seemed lofty – to qualify for the Boston Marathon.
Marathon #2 – I had the goal to qualify, but I didn’t have a specific game plan. I just trained and ran with little direction. I trained very similarly to Marathon Number One. I picked a training plan online and went to work. I needed to cut thirty-seven minutes off my finish time.
I didn’t really do anything differently this time around other than pick a goal. Isn’t it funny that my finish time of four hours and ten minutes was similar to my first race?!
Marathon #3 – I had a game plan and a coach. I decided it was time to have a coach who could be objective and challenge me. I trained with a group at a local fitness club, and they quickly became my workout family.
Our trainer was knowledgeable and knew how to push me closer to my limit. I used a new training plan and incorporated speed intervals and hill training, something I was lacking in the first two races.
This time, I ended up slightly closer to my goal with a finish time of three hours and 51 minutes. But I still had 16 minutes to shave.
Marathon #4 – I had a game plan and backed it up with expectations and mental training. This one was different. Before I signed up for the race, I made the decision to do whatever it took. I was decided.
I followed a very specific training plan. I cleaned up my diet and added a strict weight program to increase my strength. However, the more significant difference was applying all the success principles I had been learning up to that point.
I created a clear vision of what I wanted and put pictures in front of me. I wrote down my specific goal, and my focus was un-interrupted. If you asked me if I would do it, I would have told you emphatically, “YES!” I felt it. I believed it with every fiber of my being, and this was the race that defined me.
I crushed my goal of three hours and thirty minutes through pain and tears, but I did it with a clear vision and the action to back it up. The difference maker in this fourth race was that I had a specific game plan supported by action and belief.
The importance of a game plan
The best tip l can give you to have effective goals that help you achieve personal growth is to have a game plan.
A game plan is a pre-worked strategy that you use to attain your goal. Just as in chess, it helps you to think, strategize, and lay out what it will take to move on, thinning a few moves ahead.
This plan aids in discipline and personal development. Being disciplined in one area helps you become disciplined in all areas including your professional life.
I learned this with running which was my discipline maker. The more disciplined I was, the less I fell to procrastination or excuses. It moves you past wanting to wait and instills a healthy proactivity to get the job done.
A game plan gives you focus. You become less distractible, and it’s easier to decipher the good from the best.
When you become decided, believe me, maybe opportunities will come your way, but focus helps you filter them – will they get you closer to your goal or further away? Are they a distraction or where God wants you? You realize you don’t have as much time as you thought so you learn effective time management skills and strategies.
A game plan gives you purpose, ignites your passion, and pushes you out of your comfort zone. It gives you motivation to keep going toward the north star.
You’ve set a finish point and achievable targets and are excited to see them come to fruition. You’re excited to get out of bed every day because you’re in pursuit of something bigger than yourself.
It’s not a, “I wonder what I should do today to hit my goals. It’s now a, “I know what to do, and I’m excited about the possibilities.”
7 Simple Steps for a Successful Goal-Setting Process
In college, you’re given a syllabus with what to expect in each of your enrolled courses. It’s your roadmap to success in the class, and you’re not surprised by the upcoming tasks or tests you need to complete. Think of your game plan like a syllabus to advance you toward your dream.
You will keep your dream in front of you throughout this process, but what I am talking about now is developing each stepping-stone goal along the way to the greater vision. These are the key steps to your game plan, and each is equal in importance.
Step #1: Define your Goal in Writing
You need to first put your dream in writing on a vision board or in your planner or notebook and create a dream mission statement. Then, we will essentially do something similar with our smaller, stepping-stone goals. Your mission is to focus on one of your big dreams at a time, but you may be working on one or more goals as you work toward that greater vision.
These short-term goals are smaller and more believable than your dream is to you at the moment. The dream seems far out of reach, but you need achievable goals that feel more attainable, still challenging, but realistic to what you believe you are capable of right now.
Clear goals are essentially smaller dreams – they’re stepping stones toward the larger vision – but the difference is that it has an action plan attached. Without a plan, it is merely a wish.
An important part of setting goals is to identify some manageable steps that will start the momentum toward your dream. This is something that you can implement immediately.
From there, we will take a look at other things you will need to accomplish along the way so that you have a clear path toward your desired result. Some may be just as quickly implemented, and some may take a little more time to develop.
Some goals may work together, and some may be building blocks on each other and implemented separately. Measurable goals are more real and easier to attain.
Step #2: Define a definite deadline
The second step for a successful goal-setting process is to decide on a time frame for reaching each of your goals just as you defined a deadline for your dream. Use the SMART framework, a powerful tool to set clear and achievable goals. S.M.A.R.T is an acronym that stands for Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, and Time-Bound.
Your dream or long-term goals have a longer deadline, which may be a one-year, 5-year, or even a 10-year timeframe. However, your goals should be challenging but also small enough that they can be accomplished in the near future. This should be within the next few months because it becomes easier to stick to them and creates more immediate results.
Without a deadline, you don’t have a clear understanding of the direction you’re heading. Without a clear direction, you will most likely not stick to your goal because you’re aimless, and you will feel as if you have all the time in the world and no sense of urgency.
According to Napoleon Hill, the most important thing to have is a “definiteness of purpose,” which means knowing exactly what you want, knowing exactly when you want it, and knowing exactly what you are willing to give up to get it. A deadline creates urgency and will get you moving quicker.
Step #3: Create a written plan
One of the most effective goal setting best practices is to get in the habit of writing down your dreams, goals, plans, or vision. This single step will be a game changer for you because according to research people who write their goals have a better chance of accomplishing more than those who do not write down their goals.
This plan will be unique to you and may look completely different than anyone else’s, but one thing is for sure, writing it down is a secret ingredient.
Habakkuk 2:2 says, “Write the vision and make it plain.” This sentence is an imperative, which means it’s a command. It doesn’t say, “Write the vision if you want to, and try to make it as plain as possible.”
It commands us to not only write it but to write it in a way that we understand it, and it is crystal clear. You need to know what you want and how you will get there, and you need to know it in writing.
Make sure you also put your goals somewhere where you can see them so they act as a reminder of where you’re going. This could be on your bathroom mirror, fridge, in your journal, or on your desk if they’re career goals.
To help you get started ask yourself the following questions as part of your reflection as you create your plans:
- What are my most important goals?
- What do I need to do every day to hit my deadline?
- How do I prioritize my responsibilities?
- What habits do I need to develop to see this plan through?
- Am I focusing on only one goal at a time, or do I need to focus on a few smaller goals related to the larger vision?
- Is my written plan a daily, weekly, or monthly plan—maybe it’s all of those?
Each goal needs to be broken down into smaller, more achievable steps. These goals are the stepping stones toward that big dream. In essence, we are creating the road map to your dream.
I like to do this by reverse engineering your goals, and creating a clear roadmap that connects your big vision to daily actions. This is a great way to ensure focused and steady progress toward the end goal.
Need some help creating your roadmap?
The “My Game Plan Workbook” will walk you through creating that deep rooted why for a goal you may have and then creating a plan for stepping-stone goals and habits to bring that goal from the start to the finish in a stress-less, no hustle kind of way so that you can be present in your everyday life as well.
A bonus reflection journal is included that will help you reset each week and determine if there’s anything you need to start, stop, or keep doing so that you’re not just working hard and going around in circles. You can download the workbook at https://redhotmindset.com/game-plan
But there are four other steps in the game plan that we’ll be working through in future blog posts, and those are:
Step #4: Taking action
Taking action is one of the key steps for a successful goal-setting process. You can’t steer a parked car, can you? Creating an action plan is the first step, but the next step is to implement it to see things happen and achieve key results in your professional and personal life.
Step #5: Evaluating and adjusting
Tracking your progress and then determining what’s working, and what’s not, and adjusting as necessary. This is the piece many forget to implement, and without it, I see too many quitting on themselves and their goals.
Step #6: Association matters
Who you spend your time with matters. They can be a driving force to achieving your goals or a distraction. Make sure you’re surrounding yourself with cheerleaders, mentors, or even subject matter experts in your area or field. They will build you up and make you a better person.
If you’re a young entrepreneur spend time with those who already run successful businesses. Accountability and support are huge for achieving your desired result and realizing your dreams.
Step #7: Seeing it through
This is the last step in a Successful Goal-Setting Process. People don’t succeed by chance, it’s a choice. And it’s a daily choice. Seeing your vision through matters not only to boost your own morale, but it’s how God uses you to build His kingdom in so many different ways.
What happens without a game plan
In the fall of 2017, the year after my first Boston Marathon, I chose to run the Marine Corps Marathon in Washington DC. We formed a family vacation around that race, which was one of my favorites! I planned to have no plan. At that time, I thought this was a brilliant idea.
I had run multiple marathons and was confident in my ability. I trained for mileage, but I didn’t have a specific time goal or training plan. I felt fairly healthy since I wasn’t training hard, so I was hopeful for a solid race.
Race day came, and I ran with no expectations, no mental training, and no wristwatch. Not wearing a watch meant I couldn’t track my pace, my overall time, or my heart rate. I had nothing tangible to evaluate my progress and had to depend solely on how I felt to get me through.
Side note… if we depend on our feelings to get us through, we’ll never hit our goals. Those things sway all the time, right?! Anyway… I even ran without music for the first 18 miles just to see how far I could go without it.
The Marine Corps Marathon is known for its scenic route through the National Mall and finishes at the Marine Corps War Memorial. The most emotional part of the course, around the halfway point, is the “Wear Blue Mile” where American flags and pictures of fallen service members decorate the roadway.
I consider it the mile of silence because not a word is uttered throughout the memorial to these fallen heroes. With all these moments to look forward to, I just wanted to enjoy the experience and take it all in.
I started too fast – first mistake. What I quickly realized was that, even though I wanted a casual race without pressures, no plan was ultimately a bad choice. I didn’t have a plan for time, so I ran quicker than I should have. Without a watch, I couldn’t really tell how fast I was running, I just knew it was probably too fast.
I didn’t have a plan in place if an issue arose, and, of course, problems arose! Not only did I have bathroom issues, but my right leg went completely numb, which made for a miserable final eight miles. I walked more in that race than I ever have before.
That race, though a memorable experience and a wonderful family vacation, was the worst race I’ve ever had and made me doubt my future in racing.
Working without a plan creates roadblocks that would otherwise be avoided. No plan means no vision. No vision means no direction. No direction means no discipline. No discipline means mediocre training. A plan is necessary to hit the desired outcome.
Setting goals and achieving them is important for personal and professional growth and success. SMART goal setting specifically gives you clarity, and focus and steers you in the right direction.
Following these 7 Simple Steps for a Successful Goal-Setting Process will help you turn your dream into realistic goals because you have a game plan. The main steps include defining the goal in writing, defining a definite deadline, creating a written plan, taking action, evaluating and adjusting, associating with the right people, and seeing it through
You can be flexible – and you need to be – as you live out the plan and allow God to lead, but without something written down, it will be difficult to bring your dream to fruition. The other four steps are just as valuable as you work on the plan.
Are you tired of quitting on yourself and your goals? What if you could create a personalized game plan that works in the season you’re in with the capacity you have without sacrificing precious family time?
In Finish Line Goals, Gabe will show you how to think backward so you can spend less time worrying about where to start and more time taking action that works. We dive even deeper into these 7 steps of a game plan inside the course. You can learn more and join us at redhotmindset.com/flg.
