The Golden Rules of Goal Setting

Have you ever thought about where you’d like to be in five years? What about next year, next month, or even tomorrow? What kind of person do you want to be today? These are essential questions to ask yourself. That’s because if you’re going to succeed at anything, you need to have a vision, and you need to set goals that bring you closer to making that dream a reality. Goals provide us with a direction and motivate us to focus, work harder, and prioritize what we consider to be important in our lives.

For many of us, however, setting goals can be quite tricky. It takes careful consideration, commitment, consistency, and the ability to maintain realistic expectations. That said, we’ve got some tips and tricks to help you find success.

Setting goals? Our team at Avignon Apartment Homes has discovered the golden rules of goal setting to help you accomplish more in 2021.

Set Goals That Matter

When setting goals, it is essential to make sure that you go after something that truly matters to you. This is because it is easier to commit to something when there is value in achieving it. Motivational speaker Natalie Cook shares, “Motivation is the defining factor that turns a good thought into immediate action.” Motivation is critical in our ability to fight through the inevitable challenges which exist along the path towards greater success.

Create a Plan of Action

Author Steve Marabolia states, “It is important that when we make a resolution or establish a goal, that we take the Action necessary to accomplish that goal.” He capitalizes the letter “A” in action to emphasize that growth and accomplishment happen only due to direct action and continual effort. It is easy to state what you want, but usually much, much harder to get it. Most individuals go their entire lives without accomplishing their initial dream.

“Science says only 8 percent of people actually achieve their goals,” says Marcel Schwantes , host of the Love in Action podcast. This is because, for many, goal setting begins and ends in January. We fail to realize there are 11 more months in a year, 334 days, 8,016 minutes, and 480,960 seconds. That’s 480,960 opportunities to move a step in the right direction. Don’t become another statistic. Instead, choose to create a plan of action. Start by visualizing your end goal, then work backward towards step one. Start small and be consistent. Change takes time.

Keep Climbing the Stairway

Marian Wright Edelman, founder of the Children’s Defense Fund, once learned a powerful lesson from Martin Luther King : “He introduced me to the idea of taking one step, even if you can’t see the whole stairway when you start. I think because of that, I have a much greater capacity to accept failure and move on.” Ironically, the first step is often the hardest one to take. Human beings are creatures of habit, which makes change difficult. That said, it is essential to remember that bumps in the road will happen. The key is to stay positive and stay committed.

Setting goals can seem scary at first, but by following the golden rules and adopting the right attitude, you can accomplish anything. Remember, change takes time. Start small and be proud of yourself for taking initiative. As the ancient Chinese proverb Dao De Jing states, “a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.”