Many people set goals. As you know, these are crucially important in both personal and professional life. Goals can be a guide and will give you a direction to follow, help with motivation, create ambition, and help you take action. But what if you constantly go from one goal to another? You might wonder and ask yourself, Why do I keep changing my goals? Is it good, or is there something wrong with the goals I am setting?
Changing goals is a good thing. As we grow older, our priorities and needs change, as they change so must our goals. You change, and your goals change. This is good and should not cause worry. If you cannot adjust your goals and create new goals, you will become progressively more frustrated, trying to meet old goals that no longer fit your life.
Has your life changed lately? Is it time to set new goals? Have you always wanted to set goals, but just didn’t know where to start? Keep reading to discover how to set goals and why it is okay to change goals as you and your life path alters and grows.
Is It Okay to Keep Changing Goals?
As stated before, it is okay and completely normal to keep changing your goals. I do that all the time. Changing goals means that you are changing, growing, and attaining the goals you set. It also means that you’ve realized that it is time to change goals and that you understand your life is going in another direction.
Hanging on to old goals that you cannot achieve will only cause frustration. For example, when you graduate from college and start a job, the goal of carrying a 4.0-grade average no longer applies and therefore needs to be checked off the list as accomplished (or simply irrelevant.) Now is the time to set professional goals.
Goals or Resolutions
Is there a difference between a goal and a resolution? Are these words something that you can use interchangeably? We often do. They are similar and connected to a certain degree.
When you make a resolution for the new year, you usually flexibly promise yourself something about your life. It is not as focused as a goal. You’ll go to the gym more often or try to cut back on sweets or caffeine. I keep writing those down every year. 🙂 There is not an end date or an actual target.
Goals are very focused, have an end date or target, and it is clear when you have met your goal. Goals can be short-term or long-term, and goals change when you change.
Resolutions and goals work well together. Where resolutions may get you started, goals bring focus and clarity. If you resolve to lose weight, you need to set goals that focus on how you will lose the weight.
Goals Are Important
I think goals are important in everyday life. Because, the most important thing in life along with happiness is fulfillment. And goals are like building blocks of a solid foundation for a fulfilling life.
As they provide a direction and a path that we can follow to give purpose and significance to our lives. It may not always be a simple or easy path to follow(it often isn’t!), but they definitely help with navigating the world.
The following are some basic steps to follow when creating goals:
- Choose – What do you want to do? The keyword is YOU. Not your family, friends or a colleague at work. Peer pressure can be brutal, I know. But, no! What do YOU want to accomplish. It needs to be something that is very important to you, so that you want to put in the work it takes to achieve it. Setting a goal that has nothing to do with your professional life or that you don’t even want to try to accomplish will lead to frustration and even depression. There is a great book by Simon Sinek called “Find your Why” that can be very useful.
- Record It – When you put something in writing, it will help you have a greater chance of sticking to the goal. I’ve personally been keeping a journal for over 20 years and it helped me a lot. We are constantly distracted and bombarded with thousand different things. If it is written or recorded somewhere that you can see it daily, there is a higher chance that you will follow through and accomplish the goal.
- Tell Someone – Not only there is nothing wrong with asking someone to hold you accountable, but I think it’s necessary. This again provides a higher probability that you will reach the goal. If your goal is important to you, why not use every available tool to increase the chances of you actually achieving it. I think accountability is massive but it’s underutilized. Tim Ferris in his books (Tools of Titans, and the 4-hour work week) and his amazing podcast(Tim Ferris Show) talks a lot about that. We often afraid of judgement and failure. It’s harsh, when others point out where you fail. People love doing that. It’s much easier not to fail, if others don’t know what you are failing at, right? But failure is an important step of achieving something you want. Learn from it instead, adjust and grow.
- Small Steps – If the goal is large, take small steps and break it down into attainable parts or milestones. That’s something Jordan B. Peterson, the person I admire most, talks a lot about in his lectures and the podcast. You’ve heard the saying —one foot in front of the other and you will get there. Create an actionable plan, and execute. The baby steps work. This accomplishes several things; it keeps you from becoming overwhelmed, it creates unique targets, and it will more than likely keep you on track.
- The Beginning – How will you get started working toward your goal? You cannot say I will run a 5K in three months and then never get off the couch! What will your first “small step” be? Many people would argue, that the most difficult thing in every endeavor is to start. Don’t overthink this one. We often like to do some more”research” and “preparation” before actually beginning the task. But the correct answer is always – just get after it.
- Just Keep Swimming – There will be bumps, twists, and turns as you work toward your goals. That’s part of it. Don’t give up, ask for help, stop and take a deep breath, check the feedback, reevaluate, and then keep moving ahead. Like David Goggins like to say, “Embrace the suck”. If you ever wanna cross the finish line, you gotta find the way to appreciate and enjoy the journey.
- Party – Take time to celebrate reaching your goal. It is something to be proud of, so don’t forget to give yourself the chance to enjoy the accomplishment. Celebrate every victory. Don’t forget to include those that supported you along the way.
SMART Goals
In your professional life, you may have heard of the term “SMART” goals. You may have even written some SMART goals. This is one type of goal that is popular in schools and also in the corporate world. Each of the letters in the word SMART stands for a step in the goal writing process.
SPECIFIC, MEASURABLE, ACHIEVABLE, RELEVANT, TIMELY are the words that SMART represents. For more information about this type of goals, you can check out this Article.
Be Aware of Change
When you change— your goals, most likely, need to change, too. Stubbornly stating that you have had the same goal for years and you are not giving up on attaining that goal may mean that you are tenacious, but it may also mean that you do not have enough self-awareness to realize how much you’ve changed and how applicable your goal is to your current situation. (Meditation is king and it’s free!)
If you are having trouble meeting a goal, think about the following questions:
Is it time to refocus or re-adjust your goal? Is it still applicable? Are the steps you are taking moving you toward or away from your goal? It is okay to admit that this goal is no longer a good fit for you or that you cannot accomplish it in a timely manner or at all?
It is okay to take some time away from your goal. Sometimes when you are not in the midst of trying to reach the goal, you give yourself a chance to actually pause and take stock of what is taking place.
Not Meeting the Goal
You set your goals; you thought they were solid, but you did not meet them. What should you do in that situation?
Reevaluate without beating yourself up. Judging yourself or others is always a terrible idea. Always try to come from a place of compassion. Not pity, but kindness. Ask someone to help with the evaluation process. It is always helpful to have a fresh set of eyes and ears on the situation. Ask yourself if you allowed enough time to accomplish the goal. The bigger the goal, the more time you need to allow.
Don’t ever get stuck on the “what will others think?” question. This is one of the most important lessons I’ve learned that allowed me to remain happy. It’s not important what they’ll think of that.
Not to mention, they’re failing plenty on their own. Don’t worry about that. I’ve noticed that many times, when I’m at my happiest I don’t spend a moment of my day judging someone and whatnot. It can only happen when you are at your lowest.
People that are quick to point out your failures are not coming from a happy place of their own. They are dealing with something difficult and it’s getting to them. Someone very smart once said, that everyone you know is fighting battles you can’t see. Be kind, and let them be.
At some point of your life, you just gotta let go of what others think of you and start caring more of what YOU think. These are your goals, and you are responsible for your own personal happiness (personal is being the keyword) and no one else should be allowed to make you feel bad about what you weren’t able to do. (If you are like most people, you are doing fine with this all by yourself).
Give yourself time to regroup, talk to someone, and then begin work on another goal.
Meeting Your Goal
You set your goal, wrote it down, asked a friend to hold you accountable, worked very hard, and now you have met your goal! Now, what do you do?
It is a good feeling to accomplish something that was a goal! Share your success with others and take some time to review the process. What did you do well? What could you have done better, or even what should not have been a part of the process?
Give yourself time to celebrate, as I mentioned before, it’s important. And don’t feel the need to set a new goal immediately. There is nothing wrong with setting new goals, but it is okay to give yourself a break. Life is all about balance. It’s the key to happiness.
Goals Change, and That’s Okay
You grow and change, and so should your goals. There is nothing wrong with changing goals to fit your current or new situation. If you are not willing to change your goals, you will become frustrated and unable to move forward.
Goals should change right along with you. This means you are learning about, growing positively, and accomplishing what you set out to do.
