How to achieve your goals in 2024
A beginner’s guide to goal setting and achievement. Drawing on science and proven frameworks.
I love setting goals at the beginning of a new year. But let's face it—we've all had goals that didn't go as planned.
The problem is we tend to set up goals like we do New Years Resolutions: vague, without a proper plan—and then we wonder why they don’t work out (according to the University of Scranton 92% of people give up on New Year’s resolutions).
Life can also be unpredictable, you don't have to look past 2021 to find goals that got sidelined by the pandemic. But that doesn't mean we should give up...
Research shows that the mere act of writing down a goal increases our chances of success. As Zig Ziglar said: "If you aim at nothing, you will hit it every time."
To help you achieve your goals in 2024, I want to share this simple goal-setting primer:
Step 1 - Envision the future
What do you want your life to look like at the end of 2024?
Goals are more than just what we accomplish, they're about who we become in the process. Envisioning your future is powerful, it places your goals into the bigger story of your life.
When we intentionally envision our future, we get what Author Donald Miller calls 'Narrative Traction' in our lives. Narrative traction helps us create a meaningful story in which we find interesting and motivating to live out. In other words, story makes our goals exciting and meaningful.
For example:
Lose weight this year. -vs- Train for 1 hour a day so that I can run the half-marathon in November with my kids and create a family bonding experience that we can retell the story of in years to come. ← This has narrative traction.
Tip: Write down what you envision your life could look like in a year from now.
Step 2 - Set goals in different areas of life
Life is multifaceted, success is too. As Entrepreneurial leaders, we tend to put more focus on work and finance goals, sometimes neglecting other life commitments.
As the old adage goes "all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy". All work also makes Jack burn out. We need balance to enjoy sustainable success.
Setting holistic goals across the areas of our life helps focus on important relationships and commitments outside our work.
From Michael Hyatt, here are 10 areas to consider when setting goals:
Vocational,
Avocational (hobbies),
Financial,
Marital,
Parental,
Emotional,
Intellectual,
Physical,
Social,
Spiritual.
Tip: Write down your goals. The Dominican University in California found people are 42% more likely to achieve their goals if they simply write them down!
Step 3 - Make your goals SMARTER
To turn our goals from a dream into a written plan, we need a framework.
You may have heard of S.M.A.R.T goals, developed by George T. Doran in 1981. Well, a lot has changed since 1981. Michael Hyatt has developed an improved-upon framework that matches the latest productivity science.
If you use his Full Focus Planner, as I do, you'll be familiar with this already. It's called the SMARTER goals framework, and here's what it stands for:
Specific
Measurable
Actionable
Risky
Time-keyed
Exciting
Relevant
Tip: There are two types of goals: achievement goals and habit goals. The difference? One focused on accomplishing a set task by a deadline (Run a 10k marathon by Dec 1st) and the other on establishing a habit routine using streaks (Write 30 minutes each day).
Step 4 - Break them down into small daily tasks
Break your goal into smaller bite-sized pieces and turn them into habits. You can’t tackle a goal like "run a marathon" overnight. But you can set a daily task to “Run 30 minutes each morning at 7 am".
As you distil your goals into small daily action steps, you’ll dramatically increase your chances of success.
“You will never change your life until you change something you do daily. The secret of your success is found in your daily routine.” - Darren Hardy, author of The Compound Effect.
I've written about creating a morning routine here.
Step 5 - Review them frequently, share them selectively
If your goals are out of sight, they’re out of focus (and easily forgotten). That's why it's important to write and review your goals often. Store them wherever you can see and access them on a daily basis.
Lastly - be careful who you share your goals. Research shows that sharing your goals (like you do Spotify playlists) before you actually complete them can lul you into a false sense of accomplishment that may decrease your chances of accomplishing your goal. Got 5 minutes? Watch the TED talk about it.
Tip: Using Evernote? Pin your notes to your home screen and set a monthly reminder to review them.
Here’s to your best year ever!
Written by Lachlan Nicolson
Productivity Resource:
