If there is one struggle I have encountered ever since I decided to live abroad is goal-setting skills. It takes more than just fantasizing about something you desire and wishing to get there – a goal is composed of a set mindset, plan, and action.
I have learned how to approach my goals based on the 3 points mentioned, and I still struggle to see them. It takes practice, but mostly it takes consistency. I will break down each of the three steps and tell you how they have helped me.
A Set Mindset
The famous best-seller “Atomic Habits” by James Clear suggests a pyramid of actions to change before changing or incorporating a habit. For instance, the first step to take in a change of habits is: to change your mindset. I cannot decide that I will wake up early every morning deliberately because habits will not change with a simple action; I have to start convincing myself that I am a morning person instead, and that will sink in my brain and set me to have the mindset of a morning person.
You will never achieve your goals if your identity is the opposite of what you seek. You cannot set the goal of “losing weight” if your actions do not reflect those of a healthy person! Forming a mindset is the step that shapes your identity to be whatever you want to become.
Set out who you want to be, but mind your limitations! Do not think that the world is yours if the world you are stepping into is unknown to you. The more you study and the more knowledge about life you acquire, the more options you will have when setting the mindset to achieve your goals.
A Plan
By far my greatest area of struggle, planning is the core of goal-achieving.
Once a mindset has been worked on, it is time to set a plan of action to get you to your end goal. While “Atomic Habits” suggests this concept applied to planning how to make bad habits more difficult to achieve and good habits easier to achieve, we can also use this strategy for goal setting.
For instance, three things that I have learned to assist me with my planning are: setting small achievable goals, creating a personal schedule, and setting due dates.
- Set Smalling Achievable Goals: When trying to become healthier, cutting everything out of your diet is not the path you want to take. If you constantly go to bed at 1 am, sleeping at 9 pm will be practically impossible. Make sure your goals are reachable, as small actions stack up to bigger ones.
- Create a Personal Schedule: Some people love scheduling their day, and some do not. Regardless of where you stand, it is undeniably true that having a structure will help you achieve your goals. All of us are gifted with 24h per day, so find out what you do in each of those hours and place your achievable goals as you see fit in your schedule!
- Setting Due Dates: As silly as it may sound, people tend to be more responsible with their goals when there is a due date out in the picture. When I do not set due dates, I fall into a spiral of pushing everything forward and procrastinating on my goals, while when I set due dates, I can finish and achieve my goals with higher efficiency (and satisfaction).
An Action
Finally, the step that most people deem to be the first happens to be the last, according to the strategy suggested by the book “Atomic Habits.”
Little needs to be said about this one: Work your mindset, plan yourself out, and do it.
I believe that the two magic words that summarize the “action” part of achieving a goal are: consistency and perseverance.
- Consistency is the originator of discipline. We often think we need discipline to achieve consistency, but the sense of responsibility driven by the desire to remain constant leads us to be self-disciplined.
- Perseverance is the “never give up” part of it. We all screw up and fail to achieve our goals during our lifetime-it is perfectly normal. Persevering is not stopping trying, no matter how many times you slip and fall. I have been trying to be a morning person for the past year and a half, and I have failed countless times, but with a fixed mindset and a good plan of action, I always managed to get myself back on my loop to becoming a morning person. To persevere is to loop back on track with the future you want.
Want to know more about lifestyle improvement and how to dominate your goal-setting skills to conquer the future of your dreams? Feel free to contact DreamanDo’s team of specialists ready to empower you to achieve the life you want!
Written and edited by Matheus V. Carvalho