How to Define Goals and Reach Them

How to make objectives and how to achieve them.

Let’s speak about setting goals and achieving them. One of the most frequently discussed topics in self-help, personal development, etc., is goal setting. Additionally, it is among the things that individuals do the least. Everyone has heard the advice to make goals and achieve them, but the majority of individuals don’t follow through. I believe there are a few reasons why we don’t make objectives, but I also think there are a few straightforward strategies we may employ to do so.

Why do we not make goals? Why do we shun them if we are aware of their significance? Well, Bobb Biehl wrote a book titled Stop Setting Goals if You Would Rather Solve Problems several years ago. He discusses the notion that creating goals is not typically what motivates people in the book. When you say “set goals,” about 80% of people glaze over and say, “That doesn’t sound fun at all.” However, if you say, “I have a problem. Can you help me solve it?” or “here’s a list of problems we need to solve,” or “can you find some of the problems we can solve,” these people spring into action. They enjoy resolving issues. Instead of setting goals, they prefer to find solutions to problems. Finally, only perhaps 20% of us are truly driven by creating plans. Therefore, if we acknowledge that many of us would solve issues rather than make goals, that frees up a lot of energy because we go, “Okay, it’s not just about goal setting. There are more ways to look at this.”

People also fail to make objectives because they lack the knowledge necessary. They never acquired the skill of goal-setting. And I want to share with you a goal-setting method that I think you’ll find quite helpful here. Most people, when told to set goals or make a list of all their dreams, take out a pen and paper, sit down, and look at the report, saying things like, “Okay, I want to be happy,” “I want to make some money,” “I want to get a raise,” “I want my wife to stop nagging me,” or other similar statements. However, they aren’t thinking about what would happen if they created a vision for their life if they are unaware of all the additional effects that would have on their life.

Using your head and thoughts as a powerful instrument to aid in goal-setting is a much superior approach. It’s crucial to use your imagination once more to see how your life may be different if you had certain goals, relationships with specific individuals, or accomplished certain things before you picked up a pen and paper and wrote down your ambitions. If, instead of pulling out a pen and paper when I say, “Okay, give me a list of all your goals,” and instead of asking, “What do I want?” you just paused, closed your eyes, and began to envision various situations in your head, that would be OK. What if I succeeded in getting this result? What if I was romantically involved with this person? What if I was successful in doing this? What if I experienced this situation? Then inquire as to all the additional events that would follow. What might that result in? What might that cause? What other dominoes in my life, if that were a domino, would that one instantly topple?

And you’ll see that by giving it some thought, simply utilizing your creativity, and thinking broadly, you’ll develop some fantastic objectives. Most individuals assume that if they write down their goals—such as, “I want a new car,”—things will fall into place of their own volition. That is not the issue. What will happen in my life if I get a new car? Is the question at hand? And when you ask if I get a new automobile, you’ll probably understand that I will. I’ll start with it. Driving will be excellent. I’ll be able to brag about it to others. I’ll take pleasure in it. After a month or two, you know you will get used to your new car, and your car payment will increase. Having it won’t be as exciting to me anymore, and all it will indeed mean to me is spending more money. My automobile is in good condition. You may be aware of that.

On the other hand, you can begin to consider the objective of developing a relationship with a specific mentor in your life. What happens if I create a relationship with that mentor? You’ll see that, yes, I’ll advance to the next level, I’ll gain a ton of new information, and they’ll introduce me to other highly effective individuals. I’ll get the opportunity to learn from some of their pals. That will boost both my income and sense of fulfillment. That is a significant objective, you know. That’s something I have to learn how to accomplish immediately.

Therefore, the first step in defining goals is to utilize your imagination to create every possible conclusion. Next, if you want to demonstrate that you are a problem solver, take the objective you have established or the vision you have for yourself and develop a list of all the issues you must resolve to achieve it. Jerry Ballinger, my mentor, once told me that one of the best mental exercises for problem solvers is to look ahead and picture the outcome. Consider that the vision is finished. You have arrived. Then, look behind you and consider all the issues you had to resolve en route. And it can become a beneficial technique for people trying to solve problems to locate a list of things they need to do to accomplish their objective.

Setting goals and fixing problems are thus like two distinct muscles that we need to develop simultaneously. We don’t want to list everything we desire right away. We genuinely want to engage our thoughts to consider what it will mean to us if we accomplish this aim. And after we have identified a goal that will help us achieve more of what we desire and that will just positively burst our lives, we should give it some serious thought. We should give that some serious thought as a target for ourselves. Once we’ve decided on a goal, we often want to change course and declare, “Okay, now I’m going to look into the future.” What were all the issues I had to resolve to achieve my aim if I were to look back now?

Here, I have one more item to add. Ask yourself, “What conditions do I have to set up in my life so that the outcome I want, or the goal I want, is going to happen automatically?” if you want to make it so that you achieve your goals. It will happen automatically if I set up these conditions. It’s one of my favorite questions because it forces you to think critically, zoom out, and take a meta-perspective of the situation. You’re asking, “What conditions do I have to set up in life,” rather than simply asking, “All right, how do I get this thing?”

Additionally, circumstances may be human connections. They may be set up so that when you do one thing, it triggers the occurrence of another. Your physical environment, mental state, and interpersonal relationships can all be conditions. And when you inquire, “What conditions do I set so that the goal happens automatically,” it simply shifts your thinking, which, in my opinion, will hasten the pace at which you accomplish your objectives. So you apply these methods to make goals and see that you perform them more quickly than you ever imagined.

I developed the Wake Up Productive Time Management and Productivity Training Program, Eben Pagan. Go to WakeUpProductive.com, submit your name and e-mail address, and you may see my 47-minute film on managing yourself and your time and becoming noticeably more productive for free. This video is valued at $100.

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