How to Set and Achieve Goals

6/20/2020

Picture of a mind map of different goal ideas

“Your dreams become goals when you write them down”

In this goal setting post series, I have outlined two steps:

Step 1:
To change your life, you first have to identify what you need to change. In case you missed this post and would like to download the FREE “Life Review Deep Dive” exercise to help you get clarity, you can revisit the post and exercise here:
https://www.itopiacoaching.com/mindset-coaching-blog/change

Step 2:
Once you have identified what you need to change, there is still one more step you need to take before setting goals. This step is: understanding your motivation for the goals. In case you missed this post and would like to revisit it and download the FREE goals setting exercise, you can access it here:
https://www.itopiacoaching.com/mindset-coaching-blog/start-with-why

Now let’s dive into how to set and achieving your goals.

It is essential to set goals that are inspiring and motivating to you while also making you feel stretched. Meaning, the goals you set should feel challenging, yet achievable. If you set goals that do not feel challenging or do not inspire you, the chances are that you will not follow through with trying to reach them. If you think about it, why would you dedicate time and effort towards something that is not that inspiring?

In my own pursuit to implement goals, I initially tried to apply the goal-setting strategies which I was taught throughout my career and education; however, I found that the various acronyms and strategies didn’t work for me. I felt the strategies were missing a key element – which is dealing with potential obstacles.

Most goal-setting acronyms and processes state that:

The goal should be defined
The goal should be given a timeframe
There should be tactics attached to the goal.

While I agree these approaches are critical, in my opinion, they fail to cover how to overcome potential obstacles that undoubtedly will arise while pursuing a new goal, and speaking from my own experience, once an obstacle comes along, it’s easy to cease pursuing the goal.

Through much trial and error, I realised that I was much more likely to reach my goal by anticipating potential obstacles and planning for them rather than pretending that there weren’t any hurdles that could prevent me from reaching my target.

I therefore created my own goal acronym:

I   Intention
T Timeframe
O Obstacles
P Plan
I   Initiatives
A        Achievement

Below is a detailed explanation of the iTopia acronym: