Setting Short Term Goals for Success
It’s not just you: New Year’s resolutions are doomed to fail
Did you set New Year’s resolutions? Can you even remember what they were? How far have you progressed in terms of achieving them? If you’re like most of us, these questions might spark feelings of guilt, or even inadequacy. Relax, the problem lies not with you but with your approach to goal setting.
Most of us start a new year with big dreams, and set big goals for the year ahead. Unfortunately, many of us forget about them along the way. Part of the problem is that often these goals are too vague. They’re also usually pretty big, and we forget to break them down into smaller short-term goals to achieve along the way.
Benefits of short term goals
We often neglect the smaller goals, but setting short term goals is a great way to spark a positive change in your life. Setting short terms goals and then enjoying the feeling of achievement once you’ve accomplished them is a surefire way to boost your confidence. This also enables you to build momentum and start seeing meaningful changes on an everyday basis.
Setting short term goals: the secrets revealed!
- Set yourself a manageable time frame, such as 3 to 6 months
- Focus on one or two areas of your life where you would like to see change (e.g. exercise and nutrition)
- Decide on goals in these areas that are specific, realistic and easy to achieve
- Remember that your short term goals can be to start a new routine or pattern (e.g. start seeing a personal trainer)
- Write down your goals, detailing where you want to be at the end of your time frame
- Visualise achieving your goals and how good you will feel
- Write out a list of small things that you can do to start moving towards your goal (e.g. contact a personal trainer, buy suitable exercise gear, try a new healthy recipe)
- Complete at least one of these small things every day