7 STEPS TO ACHIEVE YOUR GOALS

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September 22, 2024

Staying focused to achieve your goals might be challenging when life throws obstacles and distractions our way. That’s why I follow a structured seven-step outline for any goal I set.

Anytime when you may feel stuck or overwhelmed on your journey of goal achievement, returning to these seven steps will help you regain your focus.

Table of Contents

Dreams Vs Goals

“A goal without a plan is just a wish”

Dreams and goals are often used interchangeably but they are quite different from each other. While dreams are more abstract and driven by imagination, goals are more concrete with clear steps attached.

Dreams are the vision and inspiration behind your goals. Goals help you make the dreams into reality. You may dream of writing a novel, but your goals help you turn that vision into reality by creating an action plan you can actually work on.

So, if you are looking to build your dream life, setting goals will help you turn it into reality.

The combination of doing the work and believing in yourself are two essential ingredients needed for success.

This article deals with helping you curate a structured approach to achieving your goals.

Steps To Achieve Your Goals

1. Setting clear and SMART goals

The first and foremost step is to set your goals. When you are setting your goals, you must be able to articulate with clarity what is it that you want to achieve.

You can easily get this done by writing down your goals in a SMART format. SMART means; Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound.

Setting a SMART goal will help you have a clear idea of what you want to achieve and when you want to achieve.

For example,
“I will complete the first draft of my 80,000-word novel by writing 1,000 words per day, five days a week, for the next 16 weeks. I will track my progress by updating my word count daily. My target completion date for the first draft is February 1st, 2025.”

How is this goal a SMART goal?

Specific: The goal is to complete the first draft of an 80,000-word novel.
Measurable: Progress can be tracked by counting words written each day.
Achievable: Writing 1,000 words per day, five days a week, is a manageable and realistic target.
Relevant: The person is working toward a specific, meaningful goal of completing their novel.
Time-bound: The deadline for the first draft is set for February 1st, 2025, with a structured plan for consistent progress over 16 weeks.

Also read: 100 Personal Goals Examples to Set for Yourself

2. Be clear with your why

“People don’t buy what you do; they buy why you do it. And what you do simply proves what you believe.”

Simon Sinek, Start With Why

The clarity of your goals begins with having clarity of your ‘why’. Your why guides you throughout your journey by giving a sense of purpose to your goals. It acts as an anchor to help you keep going when things get tough.

Your ‘why’ shapes your vision. For example, if your goal is to inspire others, your writing may be more focused on creating relatable characters or teaching valuable lessons. If it’s for professional growth, you may focus on high-quality, marketable writing.

Achieving any goal doesn’t happen overnight, it’s a long process with many ups and downs. At such a time when you feel overwhelmed and stuck, simply ask yourself this question, “Why did I start this in the first place?”

Let’s add a why to the SMART goal we earlier discussed;

SMART Goal with Why:
“I will complete the first draft of my 80,000-word novel by writing 1,000 words per day, five days a week, for the next 16 weeks. My target completion date for the first draft is February 1st, 2025. I want to write this book because I’ve always dreamed of telling this story that has lived in my mind for years, and I believe it can inspire others to find courage in their own lives.“

Whenever you feel discouraged, your ‘why’ will act as your personal mantra to help you regain your focus.

3. Create an action plan and prepare your tools

The next crucial step to help you achieve your goals is to create an action plan. This action plan will serve as a blueprint and provide you with a step-by-step guide to reach the desired outcome.

An action plan will give you a structured breakdown of your goals into smaller and manageable steps. This process is made easier by setting monthly, weekly, and daily targets for your long-term goals.

Having an action plan will help you stay on track as you will know what to do next and how each small step builds towards the larger objective.

Once you are ready with an action plan, it’s important to make sure you have the right tools and resources you will need to achieve your goals. For a writer, it may be enhancement of the writing skills, having a system for organization, learning new features of an app, or researching about topics to keep you well-informed.

One common trap is spending too much time perfecting the tools which leads to not doing the actual work. One helpful tip here is to schedule time for assessing the tools and systems you need for your goals.

I’ve been prone to this trap as a research scholar that I have spent longer hours just collecting reading materials instead of just reading them. The process felt productive but I wasn’t moving closer to my reading goals.

My supervisor reminded me that I don’t have to read everything, but I just need to read the right things. As I made an action plan and scheduled time for different activities, the work seemed to have progressed.

It’s also crucial to remember that you need to allow yourself to be flexible. Sometimes, you may miss your daily or weekly targets. And that’s okay!!! But you must get back on track as soon as you can and catch up on your goals.

4. Take Action

No matter how talented, prepared, or knowledgeable you are, nothing happens when you don’t take action.

The greatest separator between those who accomplish their goals and those who don’t is simple: the willingness to begin. You don’t need to know every detail, have everything figured out, or be 100% confident—just start.

You will start understanding the process and improve your skills once you start taking action. You start understanding what works, what doesn’t, and how to adjust your approach.

When I started my blogging journey in 2023, I was too amateur to know about SEO strategies, how to write and structure my blog, affiliate marketing, or how to monetize my blog. But as I started taking action, I learned along the way, and the learning doesn’t stop.

You don’t need to know everything to begin. The most important principle is that action creates momentum.

A powerful trick to overcome inertia is to commit to working on something for just 5 minutes. Often, the hardest part is starting, and once you’re engaged in the task, you’ll find it easier to continue.

Establishing a daily or weekly routine for working on your goals makes action a habit rather than a struggle. Once something becomes part of your routine, you’ll do it automatically, without needing to convince yourself to start each time.

Because in the 3^rd step, you have an action plan ready, your task now is to focus on the next step. The more you practice taking action, the easier it becomes. Start with small actions to build confidence, and then tackle bigger challenges.

5. Remain focused and consistent

To successfully achieve your goals, you need to be focused. When you don’t have a clear goal, you’re likely to be distracted by every new opportunity causing you to jump from one project to the other without ever completing anything.

To stay focused, you need to protect your time. Identify the key distractions in your environment and actively work to minimize or eliminate them. This might mean putting boundaries on your social media usage, saying “no” to unnecessary meetings, or creating a dedicated work environment free from interruptions.

As humans, we are naturally wired to be attracted by quick wins, and working for the goal that seems invisible for the longest time can feel truly challenging.

Instead of focusing solely on the big results you hope to achieve, shift your attention to being consistent with your efforts. Consistency is a simple concept but it can be the most mundane things that you do every day that will lead you to reap the benefits of your efforts.

One of the most important principles of consistency is the compound effect.

You show up every day, and do the same things every day. Athletes are champions because they show up every day for their training sessions and running drills.

The more you commit to consistent actions, the stronger your discipline becomes.

6. Remember to take breaks

The last step is a reminder to you that we are all humans with feelings and emotions, unlike machines. Life throws challenge our way; stress, frustration, doubt, burnout, or even boredom—and these emotions can derail our efforts, even when we know that consistency is the path to achieving our goals.

Sometimes, emotions affect our efficiency because we’re simply burnt out. Pushing too hard without rest can lead to emotional exhaustion, which makes it hard to stay consistent. Rest and recovery are essential parts of staying productive in the long term.

Incorporate regular breaks into your routine. Schedule days off or rest periods to recharge mentally and emotionally. Even a short break during the day can make a huge difference in preventing burnout.

It’s okay if you miss a day or don’t give your best effort on certain days. What’s important is getting back on track as soon as possible. Missing one day doesn’t undo all your progress—it’s quitting altogether that does.

7. Regularly Review Your Progress

Make it a habit to review your work on a daily or weekly basis. This simple step helps you stay on track and make adjustments if needed. It will tell you how far you have come from the starting point.

Reviewing your work helps you see what strategies are helping you move forward and what might be slowing you down. Maybe your writing sessions are more productive in the morning than at night, or you notice that certain distractions are hindering your focus.

You might discover that working in 25-minute Pomodoro sprints helps you get more done. By identifying this, you can adjust your daily routine to include more of what works and less of what doesn’t.

By writing down your weekly progress in a journal or updating your progress in a habit-tracking app, you create a visible record of your achievements. This serves as both motivation and a form of self-accountability.

Each of these steps feeds into the others, creating a system that helps you maintain clarity, motivation, and focus as you work toward your goals.

You can’t take consistent action without a clear goal and plan. You can’t sustain action without breaks and recreation. And you won’t stay motivated if you don’t have a deep connection to your “why.”

By combining goal clarity, a strong “why,” an action plan, consistent daily action, and taking time for breaks and recreation, you’ll achieve a sustainable balance that leads you to meet your targets. The balance of focus and rest is what makes long-term success possible.

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