Goal setting can be overwhelming and especially if they’re made as resolutions at the beginning of the year. These goals are often forgotten by end of January or by February. But this time we are going to set them a little differently and make sure we attain our final goals by the end of 2021.
Doesn’t matter what your goals look like in 2021, make sure you achieve them with discipline and with consistency.
Here are a few tips to set your goals effectively for 2021.
SET SMART GOALS
Setting smart goals is key and we’ve spoken about this in the blog before. This is nothing but setting goals which are specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and time-bound.
SPECIFIC
Start by taking a notebook or paper and writing down 3-4 goals which you are determined to achieve and you’ve got that motivation to go for them. Specify your goals. Set real goals with real deadlines. These goals could be something like having 1000 subscribers to your blog by the end of 2021, or being debt free by the end of 2021, or even achieving some health or fitness related goal by the end of 2021. Whatever your goals are, make sure you specify them and write them down.
MEASURABLE
Make sure those goals are measurable. This simply means that you’ve got to set goals which are trackable. Like you know physically it will take you a good 8 months of dieting and exercise to bring your body weight down by another 15 kgs, but if you try achieving that in a month without working towards it then that goal is just not measurable. You cannot spend time achieving goals which are vague or unattainable.
ATTAINABLE
That takes us to the next point which is, your goals have to be attainable. This means the 3-4 or even just 1 goal that you choose at the beginning of the year must be a goal which is possible to achieve. For example, if you set a financial goal and set a target of saving about £10-15k by the end of 2021. But, in reality after paying your bills and debts that isn’t possible just with your full-time job. Then that goal isn’t an attainable goal and you’ll have to work around altering that goal. You could do this by cutting that amount down to a more possible goal.
REALISTIC
Next, your goal has to be realistic. Refrain from setting goals which are out of your league at the moment. If your goal is buying a new house, but you’ve not even started saving for it and you know you won’t so that goal isn’t a realistic one. You will have to work towards setting goals which you are capable of achieving. Be honest with yourself and set goals not dreams. Work hard to achieve your goals.
TIME-BOUND
Lastly, these goals you set should be time-bound. If you set a deadline for achieving your goals, you will have a clearer vision of how to achieve them, of how much work you need to put in to achieve those goals or even if those goals will be possible to achieve within the given time frame or not.
ASK THE QUESTION OF ‘WHY THESE GOALS ARE IMPORTANT TO YOU?’
Just setting smart goals isn’t the job done. You need to ask yourself the question of why these goals are important to you? Why is it necessary for you to achieve these goals?
Maybe by achieving these goals your life will get some clarity, or these goals will help you advance in your career, or these goals will help you live a happy and mindful life. Whatever the reason might be, make sure you mention these reasons at the side of your goals. That will surely motivate you to achieve them with your whole mind, heart and soul.
REVIEW YOUR GOALS EVERY QUARTER OF THE YEAR
Reviewing your goals quarterly will give you the clarity of knowing where you stand after a certain time with the goals you’ve set.
Some circumstances might change along the way of achieving your ultimate goals. You might not enjoy good health, you might not be able to give your goals enough time to work towards them, the world around you might change, etc. Like we all know, 2020 was a perfect example of a year which was so uncertain. Unknown factors like these might affect your end goals. But reviewing these goals quarterly will help you work towards achieving them in a more liberal manner.
You could even set smaller quarterly goals which are easier to achieve. Doing this is a great practice to discipline yourself to achieve your ultimate yearly goals.
DISCIPLINE YOURSELF TO ACHIEVE THESE GOALS
Disciplining yourself is very important in any aspect of life. Whether it is with daily habits, work-related, relationships, etc. you have to discipline yourself.
As for your goals, you can achieve those only if you discipline yourself to work hard towards attaining those goals. Set daily to-do-lists and follow them. Get yourself to get up early and stop lazing around. Set morals and values to move forward in life and in turn ultimately to achieve the goals which you’ll set now.
Maybe you’ve always set goals at the beginning of each year but few months down the line you just forgot about those goals because you were just too lazy to achieve them. Netflix, oversleeping, not enough time, strain on your mental health, anxiety, etc. were the many reasons you gave when you weren’t able to achieve those goals. But this year you are going to discipline yourself and like in the previous point you’ve also answered the question of why these goals are important to achieve. So go for your goals by keeping all your vices away and do not quit. Focus on those goals and only that should be the key focus of this year 2021 for you.
CREATING A VISION BOARD
Another thing which I personally love doing is creating a vision board for myself. You can get very creative with this. Go all out! Add pictures of your bucket list, places you want to travel, motivational quotes, your dreams and wishes, anything and everything you want or aspire for, etc.
I like writing my goals in bold and putting these up too on my vision board. Not only are vision boards pretty and attractive to look at, they also help in keeping you focused.
But remember this~ you can only achieve what you put on your vision board if you work hard towards it. You have to take active steps in pursuing your goals which are tangible.
START USING A PLANNER
This is very very important according to me. This doesn’t have to be a very fancy planner but it can even be an inexpensive notebook or a book with blank pages.
A planner is a good way to track your goals and even to create a day to day to-do-list to achieve those goals. It helps you be more organised with your tasks, thoughts, etc.
You can either have a physical planner. That’s how I like it, something which is tangible. I got my planner this year from this YouTuber, who is also a business coach called Saloni Srivastava from India. I am a proud student of her academy which has really helped me grow as a person and with my work. You can also have a digital planner which is more accessible on the go. It gives you that kind of flexibility.
However you like it, I would highly recommend having a planner to facilitate in working toward your goals.
ALWAYS REMEMBER:
Set a goal that makes you want to jump out of bed each morning.
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I’ve got this free downloadable/printable guide to help you set your goals more effectively for 2021:
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2021 will be your year! Good luck with all the positivity and good vibes!