Whatever you want to achieve out of life, knowing the difference between plans and goals and how to use them will be integral to your success. The two terms sound interchangeable and are often mistaken for each other.

The difference between plans and goals is that goals are the end result, while plans are how you get there. These two work together to help motivate you and keep you on track for success.

Using plans and goals is a great way to create a strategy to perform your best and fulfill your life’s objectives, whatever they might be. Understanding how to use each tool is essential to success, here is how you can tell them apart.

What is the Difference Between Plans and Goals?

You may have heard these two terms before; you may have even used them in your business or personal life. Knowing the difference between them and using them can change how you take action. Here is how I see the difference between planning and goal setting.

Goal setting is an effective tool for visualizing your future. It also is a great way to develop the motivation to move towards your ideal life. Goal setting is the act of visualizing the result. It’s your vision of success.

Let’s say you are starting your own business. A reasonable expectation might be that you are going to make money. Having a set goal or ideal future will give you the perspective you need to make progress.

If you set a goal to make a thousand dollars in the first month, it will help you visualize future success better than just the desire to make money. It gives you something to work toward. It creates the motivation you need to take action towards that end: making a thousand dollars.

But how do you reach that goal? This is where planning comes in.

Developing a concrete plan will help you take the steps to reach your goal. Goal setting is a powerful tool, but planning will help you define the actions you need to take to achieve your goal and realize your ambitions.

Goal setting and planning work together to help you realize your future success. No matter what you might want, using these two can provide the structure you need to achieve your desires.

How Do You Effectively Set Goals?

Learning how to set goals can improve your chances of success.

Understanding the use of SMART goal setting can change how you reach your objectives.

SMART stands for:

• Specific – Try and hone in on what you want. Avoid vague goals like “be a better salesman,” or “lose some weight.”
• Measurable – Being able to track your progress is essential to staying motivated. Make sure you can measure your goal in some way.
• Achievable – Setting your sights too high can lead to disappointment. Reasonable goals, ones that you can achieve, will be the foundation of your success.
• Relevant – Goals that are important to you will help keep you on track. Ask yourself if now is the time for your goal and why this goal is important to you.
• Time-Based – Set a deadline for your goal. This will help motivate you and assist in knowing when to work on what goals.

Using this system will help you create goals that are achievable and realistic. Set yourself up for success, not failure.

Understanding how to set goals is important, but knowing how to focus on your goals can be just as significant. Having a hierarchy for your goals is important.

Creating a system of lifetime goals and smaller goals is an effective strategy for success. You might have a lifetime goal of being a doctor. Setting a smaller goal, like taking the MCAT, can help you achieve your ideal future of practicing medicine. Long term and short term goals allow you to visualize your future and focus on what to work towards first.

Breaking down your long term or lifetime goals into smaller goals can help motivate you with smaller successes. We all like the feeling of achieving our goals, so set small goals to help reach your bigger objectives. Doing that will help you to improve your self-discipline.

Even small goals can seem out of reach sometimes, so it is just as important to create a concrete plan to help you on your path.

When Do You Need a Plan?

Planning is an essential tool to achieve your goals. I think knowing how you’ll achieve your goals is almost as important as setting them in the first place.

When you focus on goals but don’t create an effective plan, you are:

• Losing Motivation – When you are having trouble even taking the first step towards a goal, it can be very disheartening. Planning can help you move forward.
• Losing Time – Let’s say you want to build a website, without a plan of action and steps to take you are constantly trying to figure out what you need to do. It’s almost like you are working in the dark. This can eat up one of your most precious resources: time.
• Wasting Work – We’ve all been here before. You put a lot of time and effort into a project only to find out it wasn’t important to reach your goal. Work smarter, not harder.
• Prone to Distraction – Our minds love to wander. When you have specific objectives to achieve in a day, it can help keep your mind on track.

Do You Need Goals and a Plan?

Goal setting is a step in planning effectively. But before you start setting goals, it’s important to move through the other planning phases.

Things to work through before setting goals:

• Define Your Purpose – This one is huge! That’s where self-awareness and mindfulness comes in. Understand why you are doing something. This can help with motivation and discipline. Figure out your mission, what is the purpose of your plan.
• Taking Stock –  Consider all the variables in your situation. Take a scan of all the forces that can affect your plan, write them down. It’s almost always better to be proactive rather than reactive. Oftentimes the environment you are in can affect how successful you can be.
• SWOT Analysis – Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunity, Threats. Define these for yourself. Understanding where you stand with your purpose and environment will help when it comes time to set SMART goals.

At this point in the planning process, you will start establishing goals based on the information you have gained from the earlier phases. Laying this foundation is essential to crafting goals that are designed with you in mind. Be realistic with yourself and your plan. Know what works for you and how to get the most out of your effort. 

It’s important to point out, things often don’t go the way we plan. And you will face failures at some point in your life. Don’t be afraid or discouraged by that. We grow from failures. Learn to embrace it. It also builds your character. Learn your lessons, what to do, and what not to do, and make needed adjustments. 

Once you have your goals set, you still have some planning to do.

Make sure you are:

• Strategizing – How can you effectively reach your goal? Think practically here, understand the reality of your environment during this stage.
• Creating Objectives as You Go –  Establish some time-based objectives you can reach that will progress you towards your goal. These are intended to be smaller. These are the baby steps. Breaking up your bigger goals in this way can be a great way to make progress on something that seems daunting when you focus on the big picture.
• Adding Responsibility – Ask yourself; what are the responsibilities associated with each task? What do you need to do to achieve them effectively? It is important to write down all this information. Just saying it out loud is not good enough. Having a record of the process is integral to proper planning. Keep a journal.

As you can see, preparing for your goals with planning can improve your chances of success. Writing these things down can help motivate you. It also provides you with some actionable steps that you can take to achieve your goals.

All this is essential to progress, but what is even more important is the last step of the planning process.

Once your goals are accomplished, never forget to celebrate. This step is often forgotten in our fast-paced world, but it is so essential to your mental confidence. Whatever you choose to do in life, never forget to celebrate your past achievements. Taking time to praise yourself builds the motivation you need to achieve your next goal.