A Girl’s Guide to Setting Goals for Success (in 10 Steps)

Have you ever written goals that seemed like they were someone else’s for your life or too long that it looked like a wish list? I know mine has. Run a mile daily, drink a gallon of water a day, lose fifty pounds, have clear skin all in a few months’ time. Achievable goals don’t work this way. Let’s discover a different approach for setting goals for success in 10 simple steps.

A Girl's Guide to Setting Goals For Success
Image by Young Women’s Essence on Pinterest

Step One: Set Goals to Impress Yourself, Not Others

An image of a woman sitting on a couch whilst writing in a notebook.

Effective goal-setting requires that your goals be your own, not someone else’s. Too often, we choose goals that please others and not ourselves. We set goals that’ll bring us validation from our family, peers, and even social media, but deep down we know it’s not what we want.

As a result, we become burdened, stressed, and resistant to that goal. They become a performance rather than progress.

Hence, your goals should be yours and yours only. You don’t owe anyone a certain lifestyle; you owe it to yourself. Your goals shouldn’t be based on what your friends, family, or followers on social media want you to do.

Before committing to any of your goals, ask yourself, “Is this goal deep down truly what I want to accomplish for me or someone else?” “How would I feel when I accomplish this goal?” “Do I have any personal or emotional connection with my goal?” “If no one praises me for accomplishing my goal, would I still want to accomplish it?”

For each of your goals, ask yourself these questions. If your goals were created to impress others, then it’s time for you to make ones that are for you.

Step Two: Focus on Your Why, Not Just the Outcome

When it comes to setting goals for success, your Why is just as important as your outcome. Your why is what keeps you going on days when you feel like giving up. Your why is what fuels your engine to keep operating. Your why is what pushes you to take action.

Most people quit on their goals because they don’t have a why. In other words,  they don’t have a reason for achieving their goals. As a result, they abandon their goals when the excitement dies down and times get rough.

What is your Why? Why do you want to accomplish your goals? Your why is important.

Moreover, your why must be strong enough that when your goals become rough and unglamorous, you still push through to execute them.

Every time you feel like giving up, remember your why.

When you connect your goal to a why, you make it personal.

So, ask yourself, “What is my why?” “What is my reasoning behind my goal?”

When you focus on your why as much as your outcome, your goals feel more connected to you.

Step 3: Set Three to Five Goals That’s Meaningful to You

It is much better to have a few meaningful goals than to have a bounce that isn’t. The secret to setting achievable goals is to focus on a few significant ones. You don’t need a whole bunch of goals, just a few that are truly meaningful to you.

Having too many goals can feel overwhelming, which  can result in you quitting them altogether.

Moreover, when you have too many goals, your focus is everywhere at once, causing quicker burnouts and not really accomplishing anything.  However, with fewer goals, you can focus on one goal at a time, resulting in quicker progress to reaching your goals.

Having about three to five meaningful goals helps you build consistency and focus, which promotes progress and growth. As a result, you are more likely to follow through.

Step 4: Turn Your Big Goals into Atomic Goals

Your big goals might seem too vague to accomplish, causing you to not know where to start. That’s why you should break them down into atomic goals. When our goals seem too big, we tend to avoid and procrastinate on them.

So, for example, if your goal is to make healthier eating choices. Your atomic goals can be to eat one healthy meal per day or swap out an unhealthy grocery item for a healthier version monthly. These small achievable goals will feel more doable and make it more likely that you’ll take action.

Step 5: Match Your Goals to The Seasons of Your Life

If you want to achieve your goals, align them with the season you’re currently in. The truth is, our lives have seasons. It has burnt-out seasons, productive seasons, busy seasons, healing seasons, flourishing seasons, etc.

To make your goals work for you and not against you, work on your goals based on the seasons you’re in. For instance, try to work on your high-output goals in your energized seasons. On the other hand, work on your low-output goals in seasons you feel burnt-out, and less energizing.

When your goals match the season you’re in, it is more likely that you’ll accomplish them.

Step 6: Create Systems that Makes Your Goals Achievable

An image of a laptop and headphones on a desk
Image by Ruby Reyes on Dupe Photos

Achievable goals are built on structure. This is where systems come into play. Systems are the habits and routines that make your goals possible to achieve. They are what help you take action when you don’t even feel like it. Systems eliminate the need for you to think about carrying out a specific action and do it immediately.

Step 7: Make Your Goals Visible

An image of a woman wearing black boots, a vision board on a wooden floor
Image by Claire Lewis on Dupe Photos

Create a vision board. Write a vision statement. Write your goals in your planner. Make your goals visible. When your goals are visible, they keep you on track. They remind you of what truly matters.

Many of us make the common mistake when setting goals for success is typing them in our notes app and not reviewing them again. However, when we put our goals in front of our faces, we are more likely to take action on them.

Moreover, with so much going on in our lives, from work to family obligations, it is easy to lose focus on our goals, but when we have them front and center, they remind us of what we want to accomplish.

When you review your goals regularly, it helps shape your day, habits, actions, decisions, and soon, your life.

Step 8: Normalize Gruesome Progress

The truth is, when it comes to effective goal-setting, not every progress you make will be Instagram-worthy. Sometimes, growth isn’t cute, nor is it aesthetically pleasing, so normalize it.

Sometimes there’ll be weeks and days where you don’t stick to your routine, fall behind on your work, or don’t go to the gym. Sometimes there’ll be days when all you do is the bare minimum.

Normalize the progress that is gruesome.

Some days progress will look like working out for five minutes instead of an hour or writing a paragraph instead of a page. However, little progress is still progress.

All you need is to be consistent, even if that means taking a tiny step. Once you’re moving forward to accomplish your goals, that’s all that matters.

Step 9: Give Yourself Some Grace

Every day won’t look the same. You’ll have some really good days, and you’ll have some really bad ones. However, don’t beat yourself up about it.

Instead, show yourself some grace and continue where you left off.

Step 10: Define What Success Means to You

Your version of success doesn’t have to look like someone else’s version of success. Furthermore, success varies from person to person.

What is your version of success? Is it staying consistent, showing up for yourself each day, or creating the life that you desire?

By redefining what success means to you, it will make your goals more personal, and you will focus on your own journey rather than comparing it to someone else’s.

To Sum Up

Setting achievable goals isn’t about aesthetics, pleasing others, or having a huge list; it is about setting goals that truly matter to you. Follow these 10 steps to setting goals for success and watch your goals become more achievable.

Like and Share

Psst…Yes, you! If this article helped you consider liking and sharing it with someone it might help or share it on your social media!

Related Posts