How To Set Achievable Goals

If you have ever read any advice on goal setting, it probably urged you to start small. If your goal is to save money you may have been advised to put away $100 a paycheck. If you are trying to get fit, you may have been motivated by the statement, “some movement is better than no movement.” The idea behind this strategy is logical. Basically, this type of small goal setting focuses on quick and easy wins. The idea is that those wins will motivate you to continue achieving your goals, and that it will eventually snowball until you have a lot of money in the bank or the body that you want. 

Respectfully, I completely disagree with this approach. 

When I set goals for myself, I start big. Huge. Bigger than you might think is reasonable...and I don’t stop at the goal itself. I think about what it will feel like to have achieved my goal. How I will react, how my loved ones will react, and what it will mean to my family and everyone I am close with. I picture myself at the age of the achievement. I envision the home I want to be living in, the car I want to be driving, and what I look like. I inhabit my future self. I feel the glow, and then I work backwards from there. 

Let’s stick to fitness as an example. If I were to set a fitness goal, I would think big. Let’s say I want to complete an Ironman triathlon. First, I would sit down and choose a race. Having a month, year, and location in mind grounds the entire goal setting process in reality. Then, I would picture myself crossing the finish line. I would try to imagine how tired, yet elated I would feel. I would think about the flight home, and how I could walk around for the rest of my life knowing that I had done something that few ever attempted. I would envision the finisher’s medal, and even pick a display place in my home. Only then would I start to formulate a plan for getting there. I would draft out my milestones, maybe a marathon 6 months before the race and a specific swim time. Then, I would build a training program that would get me into the right shape. It is important to note that the planning phase does not have to be done alone. I am not a fitness professional, so I would absolutely consult a trainer. In business, I hire people with specific expertise to help me goal-set in areas I am not strong in. 

Once I have a training program in place, it is all about execution. Everything I do is in service of crossing the finish line of the Ironman. I do not congratulate myself for going for a leisurely jog. That goal is too small for me. The only way I have been able to achieve anything in my life is by thinking huge, and then working diligently to get there. 

It hasn’t failed me yet.