8 . Without goals, you may feel like wandering through life without a plan, purpose, or sense of direction. Despite knowing the importance of goals, many people fail to set a meaningful goal and successfully achieve it. 1 Others set lots of goals for themselves but end up not achieving them. Read on, and you may benefit a lot from a set of steps as follows.
Set a SMART goal and write it down.
The first step is to figure out what you want or need to change. 2 It is a goal that has the following required elements: specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-bound. Writing down your goal is also important because this simple step is proven to make you more likely to accomplish it.
3
After you identify a SMART goal, the next step is to make a specific plan on exactly how you will achieve it. You should break the goal down into a set of actionable steps you can take. 4 Besides, it’s beneficial to make a list of outcomes or specific milestones that will indicate progress.
Take small, consistent (持续的) steps early on.
Early on, it can be better to make small changes to your daily routine than to make big changes all at once. Consistency is key when it comes to working towards any goal. Research has shown that it takes an average person 66 days to form a new habit. 5 It no longer requires as much attention, time, and effort as before, thus boosting your confidence and keeping you on the track of achieving your goal.
| A．Reconsider your goal. |
| B．Make an action plan to get started. |
| C．You then need to turn this into a SMART goal. |
| D．Some of them don’t know where or how to start. |
| E．Keeping track of your progress helps you stay focused. |
| F．Once this happens, the new behavior has become “automatic”. |
| G．Identify the skills and strategies you need to complete each step. |
