Having goals is a prerequisite in most areas of life these days, but especially in professional life. One of the first questions in a job interview is often where you see yourself in five or ten years. This question is perfectly valid: Employees who achieve (career) goals and always pursue them are much more capable and ambitious than those who just want to pay their rent.
Whether you can achieve your personal goals depends to a large extent on your approach. It is not uncommon for the path to your goal to be paved with stumbling blocks. Therefore, we would like to introduce you to the most effective techniques to achieve your goals. Objectives to realize.
Those who pursue goals are demonstrably successful and more confident. A American study has shown that people who give their lives meaning actually live longer.
But what are goals anyway? It makes sense to define this first before we turn to techniques for achieving goals. To have a goal means to achieve a certain state or a certain Change to strive for. This can be professional, social or health concerns. Your actions, thoughts and feelings are completely focused on the realization of your goals.
This attention is elementary if you want to achieve your goals. They must be concrete plans. Vague ideas and daydreams are usually not crowned with success. The first step towards your goal always begins with the question: What do I really want?
Surely you have also had the experience in your life of getting caught up in an unattainable idea. False goals are debilitating and make you doubt yourself, since they are doomed to failure from the start.
However, it is difficult to determine in general terms when a target is "wrong". This varies from person to person. The goal that is desirable for you can be completely irrelevant or even harmful for another person.
What are goals not or how do you recognize counterproductive goals? The following list can give you a first orientation. Goals:
There are four main factors that prevent you from achieving your goals:
However, with the help of the seven techniques we will present to you in a moment, these stumbling blocks can be successfully avoided.
The best way to achieve goals is to proceed in a structured way. There are various proven tips and techniques that can support you in this.
You need a clear guideline to achieve your goals. Therefore, formulate your objectives clearly and unambiguously. The more vague the goal, the lower the chances of success. Your goal must be tangible for you and must not leave any room for interpretation or evasion.
The best way to do this is to write down your goals. A Harvard study from 1979 is often mentioned in this context. The study observed the careers of Harvard graduates over a ten-year period. The graduates who had previously written down their goals earned ten times as much as the former students without specific goals.
To formulate your objectives, the Smart Method is recommended:
If you are always brooding and planning through all eventualities in theory, you will not get into action. However, the latter is important if you want to achieve your goals. Once you have formulated a concrete goal using the Smart Method, a maximum of 72 hours should pass before you take the first steps.
Concrete actions distinguish goals from dreams. So take on three things every day that will bring you closer to your goal - and implement them with commitment. These do not have to be elaborate actions. Even small steps will bring you forward. The crucial thing is that you stay on the ball.
Example: You want to learn a foreign language. Now think of three actions you can take every day to accomplish this. For example, this could look like this:
1. learn ten new vocabulary words every day.
2. read a chapter in a foreign language book every day.
3. watch a series in the foreign language every day.
As mentioned at the beginning, it is important that you strive for your set goals out of your own conviction and not because other people expect you to do so. However, this does not mean that you should not seek support. On the contrary, the support of other people can spur you on to peak performance.
Tell those around you about your plans. A little external pressure can motivate you to work continuously on achieving your goals. It is also advisable to establish contacts with like-minded people. That way, you can benefit from each other's experiences. A mentor who has already achieved the goal you are striving for is also worth its weight in gold.
Regularly imagine how you will reach your goal. Use all your senses to do this: What will you hear and see at the moment of success? How will you feel? What kind of recognition will you receive? What kind of life will you lead afterwards? Such visualizations encourage you to fight for your goals.
It is also important to regularly review your goals on your path to success. Sometimes it happens that the personal values or change your life circumstances: Is the goal still important to you? Or is it necessary to adjust the goal?
A certain degree of discipline is required for successful people are simply part of everyday life. If you want to achieve certain goals, you should adjust your life accordingly. Again, it is important that this is done out of conviction! If the changes feel like torture to you, you should rethink your goal.
Let's assume that you want to become a successful competitive athlete. In this case, you could start your day with a success meditation, for example, to build your mindset to strengthen. Training and nutrition routines would also be appropriate in this case.
Do you know the difference between urgent and important? The Eisenhower matrix illustrates this in a simple way. He defined the following points in quadrants.
Most of the time, we tend to move in quadrants 1 and 3 and prioritize our tasks accordingly. However, to achieve your goals, quadrant 2 would be crucial! Often there are enough tasks that would be immensely important for your goal achievement, but do not seem urgent enough. However, it is exactly these that matter the most.
Goals are a guide to success. If you don't have goals, you act haphazardly and therefore cannot be successful (professionally). If you lead a team, you should regularly encourage your team members to define goals. These goals can be both intermediate goals and long-term goals:
In many respects, the same applies to team goals as to individual goals: It is important to have a clear definition (preferably in writing), daily measures to achieve the goals, as well as regular reflection, evaluation and, if necessary, adjustment.
You want to achieve your goals and be successful in the long term? Then our free career workbook ideal for you. In it, we have compiled the ten most proven tips from the field of the Business Coachings for you.
All tips and techniques can be implemented immediately, so you can deeply impress your colleagues and superiors tomorrow. Maximize your career opportunities in no time. Achieving goals is not a matter of luck, but of the right approach. It's up to you!
