Goal Setting: Define, Prioritize And Turn Vision Into Results

Are you new to goal setting or find yourself unable to achieve your goals? 

Perhaps you’ve tried various goal setting practices, but can’t seem to figure out what works for you on a consistent basis. It might be that you’re clear on your goals, but have no idea how to put them into practice or remain accountable. Or, maybe you have a goal setting system, but it feels too rigid and controlling. 

If you’re struggling to set and achieve goals, you are far from alone. Millions of smart, motivated people with great ideas and aspirations can’t seem to successfully set and meet their goals.

The good news is that there are tried and true ways for you to integrate goal setting into your life to achieve greatness. 

Successful goal setting requires specific and actionable steps that are incremental and achievable. I like to set daily, weekly, monthly and yearly goals to achieve optimal performance in the three main areas of my life: physical, professional and personal. 

Through utilizing a simple and strategic goal setting process, you, too, can set yourself up for success, taking the important aspects of your growth, development and overall wellbeing to a higher and more fulfilling place. With clarity of values and purpose, action items in place and a system of accountability, it is possible to turn vision into measurable results. 

Why Goal Setting?

The practice of setting goals is incredibly useful for prioritizing and clarifying focus for a set amount of time—making sure that the actions you plan to take match the time frame you set. Goal setting also helps you get clear on what you really want, which then allows you to recognize and say no to things that don’t fall within that scope.

Focus, clarity and discipline are imperative to our ability to accomplish anything, and when we do set and meet our goals—even the very small ones—we build confidence and momentum while honoring and staying true to ourselves. Also, and importantly, when we reach a goal, we get a spike in the dopamine feel-good hormone that generates increased motivation and a felt-sense of accomplishment, furthering the cycle of productivity and growth!

Goals can either be finite, such as training for a specific race, or ongoing, such as maintaining a daily meditation practice or making it to the gym four times a week.

Goals can also be short-term, such as incorporating a new word or mantra into your vocabulary every day for 30 days, or long term, such as building a business over the next 10 years.

Whether finite or ongoing, short- or long-term, it’s important that you get crystal clear on your aspirations and set in motion action-oriented goals that are in alignment with what you value most.

The Three Pillars Of Goals 

I’ve been setting goals for decades. Doing so regularly has helped me maintain focus, stay true to my values, align with priorities and set myself up for success. In setting goals, I break mine down into three categories: physical, professional and personal.  

Physical Goals

Physical goals are anything that has to do with the body. When most people think of physical goals, they immediately think of diet and exercise. While both are important, this category encompasses so much more. Essentially, physical goals are anything that promote health and wellbeing as a whole. For instance, you might include goals that have to do with getting better sleep, practices, such as yoga, massage or meditation that can help reduce stress or heal injuries, or supplements that can improve energy levels, performance and overall body wellness.

Professional Goals

Professional goals can vary greatly depending on what you do for a career and where you are in its development. They could include things such as financial goals, career development trainings, writing a book, developing a new practice or theory, working with a business coach on accountability, and itemizing and prioritizing long-term business goals. They could also include action items, such as getting up an hour earlier every morning to work on a specific project, setting up a white board in your office to help track progress, updating your website or learning a new skill.

Personal Goals

Personal goals include areas such as family, personal development, spiritual growth, hobbies, entertainment, social connections, creativity, play and continued education. Essentially, personal goals include anything unrelated to your profession or physical health. More specifically, these goals could include things such as strengthening relationships, volunteering, re-organizing your home office, learning a new language or establishing a gratitude or meditation practice as a way to better connect with yourself and the world. 

Ten Tips For Staying True To Your Goals And Achieving Results

Utilizing the following ten tips can help you get clear on your goals, prioritize, integrate action items into your life and inevitably enjoy both the process and the rewards and results.

Commit to an Open, Curious Mind. 

I am a firm believer that goal setting should be an enjoyable process. Bringing an open, expansive and playful mind to the practice of goal setting allows you to drop any rigidity or control mentality and, rather, remain open to whatever arises—which can and will likely delightfully surprise and inspire you.

Write. 

The first step to identifying and prioritizing goals is to open your mind and write down whatever arises—and to do so quickly. For instance, once a year I sit down with a notebook and spend 15 minutes writing down everything that I feel called to accomplish in each of the three areas listed above—physical, personal and professional. While the process can be a beautiful brainstorm, it’s important not to overthink this part of the process or judge what is revealed. Trust yourself, be willing to write down wild ideas and don’t be afraid to reach for the stars. But, also don’t skip over the small, simple thoughts that come to mind. Everything is precious and important. Later, you can be more discerning, but in this part of the process, have fun, lean in, listen to your heart and give yourself permission to honor what resides there. 

Prioritize.

After writing down everything you can think of in 15 minutes, look over what you wrote down for each category and star three goals in each that you consider the biggest priorities in your life right now. You can also determine which of the three categories speaks to you most at this time in your life. For instance, as an athlete who actively trained toward the Olympics for years, physical goals were at the top of my priority list. Now, however, as a mom with family and a focus on continuing to build my businesses, professional and family-related personal goals take precedence.

Align.

Sit with the goals that you have selected. Do they all feel right and work together? For instance, you may have identified wanting a more active social life as a top goal, but realize that it’s in opposition to you wanting to expand your business. If your goals aren’t in alignment, you might need to adjust or put one off.

Frame Goals As Clear, Positive and Actionable. 

Make sure that end goals are framed as positive, specific and actionable. For example, if better nutrition is important to you, rather than setting a goal to “stop eating sugar in the morning,” set a positive goal to eat whole foods, including eggs and vegetables as the first meal of the day. Or, instead of vaguely saying you want to “work out more,” set the specific goal to go to the gym three times a week to do 30 minutes of cardio and 30 minutes of weights, along with two weekly yoga classes. To assure your goal is actionable, make sure you know exactly what you have to accomplish—the what, where and how of the goal—to succeed.

Integrate.

The next step is to determine how to integrate these goals into your everyday life. For example, you might decide that a top goal is to commit to a daily yoga practice, which showed up in both your physical and personal categories. 

Pro Tip: When the same or a similar goal overlaps categories, it’s important to look closely at that as it’s likely a “cornerstone goal”—a goal that has a ripple effect of positive change throughout your life. 

Committing to a daily yoga practice—or any other daily practice—is great, however, it’s important that you get clear on how you’re going to integrate the practice into your life. What studio will you practice at? Or will you design a home practice? If at a studio, how will you budget the cost into your monthly expenses? When will you go? Is it helpful for you to go at the same time everyday and get a set time on your calendar? Do you need accountability support, such as a friend who can take classes with you?

There are no one-size-fits-all answers here. Rather, this part of the process is an exercise in self-awareness that helps you design a plan of integration that works for you and sets you up for success. 

Create Reminders. 

Once you’re clear on your goals and have created actionable steps to help you achieve them, create reminders and reinforcements for yourself. This might take the form of a post-it note in a place you will see it frequently, such as on your refrigerator, at your desk or on the bathroom mirror. Or you might say your goals out loud every morning, write them down at the beginning of each week or keep an ongoing success tracker to monitor your efforts.

Reflect and Reevaluate.

Our priorities and goals often shift when the circumstances of our life change or unexpected events require our attention. Periodically take time to reflect on your goals, how they support each other and how well you’ve integrated them into your life. Build on what has been working well and assess what doesn’t feel good and right for you. In this process it’s important that you revisit your why. Why are these specific goals important to you? Are they still in alignment with your values? I like to review my annual goals and set new goals at the beginning of every month. Checking in periodically can help you stay motivated, connected to your why and, ultimately, on course to build your Inspired Life.

Enjoy the Reward.

When we accomplish our goals—or are actively in the process of integrating them—our bodies inherently award us with dopamine, the neurotransmitter mentioned earlier that is associated with reward, motivation, memory, attention and pleasure. The regular “dopamine dumps” that we get when we stay on course help us train ourselves to continually show up for and trust ourselves. Through this process we can experience heightened confidence, knowing that we are heading in the right direction.

Work with a Coach.

If you continually struggle with goal setting or want to up-level your relationship with this powerful tool, working with a coach can help. An experienced and insightful performance coach or life coach can help you clarify your values, sharpen your focus, prioritize goals and create actionable steps—ultimately leading to fulfillment and purpose in all areas of your life. 

If you’re feeling called to unearth your true calling, put passion into action and bring your soul’s purpose to life and want compassionate, yet firm support and guidance in ascending to a higher level and living your Inspired Life, I invite you to contact me today to set up an initial get to know each other call. I know firsthand that ascending to your highest calling requires clarity of vision and a well articulated plan. Success isn’t one-size-fits-all, which is why in one-on-one coaching, YOU craft your vision. YOU set the objectives. YOU define what success means for you. I help you plot the course. 

If you’re motivated to start building your Inspired Life, let’s connect! 

Consistency, discipline and accountability—as well as practice—are important traits to hone. They’re what help us accomplish both small and great feats and stay true to ourselves. Whether you’re setting goals daily, weekly, monthly or yearly, have fun with the process and stay connected to what feels good, right and true for you! 

Blessings,
Katie