20 Easy Tips on How to Set and Accomplish Life Goals

If you want to start accomplishing your life goals you need to understand that your reputation, a.k.a your “personal brand,” is what you trade from in your personal and professional life.

You never settle. You always dream of achieving something and goal setting plays a crucial role in getting the life you want.

As most people’s stress and anxiety in life stems from where they will potentially work or spend the majority of their adult life, trying to pay the bills and support themselves or their family, a lot of this advice centers around the traditional pathways of “getting a job.” Obviously, there are a million ways you could go about doing that beyond the standard 9-5 route but for many this is still a concern.

Below are 20 easy goal-setting tips to help you get started.

1# Be specific with your goals

Vague goals will not get you anywhere. Be specific. Think about what you want to achieve, when you want to accomplish it, what you need to do to get where you want, and more importantly, why you want to achieve the goal in the first place.

Most people keep “open” goals because they want to be flexible, but experience has taught me that this strategy doesn’t work most of the time.

2# Make your goals measurable

If you don’t make your goals measurable, how will you track your progress? More importantly, how will you know that you have achieved your goal?

Make your goals measurable so you’ll know if you are heading in the right direction. Knowing that you are on the right track will surely motivate you to keep going!

#3 Make your goals attainable

Your goal must be reachable. If you set goals that are too high, it’ll bore you down before you can make any good progress. Also, you need to believe that you can achieve your goals. Negative thoughts can bring you down but you can do away with these if you REALLY want to.

#4 Be realistic

Let’s say you want to run a marathon. And you made a goal to run 10k after a week of preparation. That will just never happen.

Unrealistic goals prevent you from taking action — or even make the first step. So make sure to set realistic and attainable goals that’ll motivate you to take the first step right now.

#5 Set a deadline

Challenge yourself to get out of your comfort zone. Setting deadlines on your goals will keep you focused and motivated. It’s also a great way to prove to yourself (and others) that you can achieve great feats under time pressure.

As you may have noticed, the first 5 tips in this article focus on the fundamentals of goal setting, S-M-A-R-T. These are good starting points. But if you really want to catapult yourself toward your goals, read on.

6# Find a role model

You don’t have to reinvent the wheel. In this day and age, there is almost always someone that has already done what you want. Follow them. Learn what they did and apply the steps they’ve taken in your own quest.

But wait! There’s a catch — don’t just blindly follow someone. Only pick and apply what you feel is best for you. That’s a lot better than starting from scratch!

7# Visualize your goal

Begin with the end in mind. Visualization is a very powerful goal setting tool. It improves performance and changes behaviors.

Visualizing yourself achieving your most important goal makes you feel good, increases your confidence, and motivates you to work towards it. Visualize your end goal for a few minutes every day — early in the morning and before you go to bed.

8# Create affirmations

Affirmations are effective in keeping you focused and motivated toward your goals. Create simple and powerful affirmations that you can tell yourself every day. Don’t let your doubts take over and “feel” your affirmations. Don’t just recite it mindlessly in front of the mirror.

9# Doubt your doubts

I’m not good.

I’m not worthy of her.

Life is unfair.

I always get the bad luck.

Why do bad things happen to me?

I don’t deserve the raise. 

Negative self-talk works exactly like affirmations — only in the opposite way. So doubt your doubt first before you start doubting yourself and your abilities.

#10 Believe that you can do it!

The only person stopping you from being successful is YOU. Believe that you can achieve your goals and you will achieve them. You already have what it takes to succeed. All you have to do is start believing in yourself and begin hustling!

#11 Start doing

The difference between dreaming and becoming is DOING. Consistent effort is key to achieving your goals. The more actions you take, the faster you’ll reach the finish line. Become aware of the steps you need to take in order to reach your goals and start knocking each one of them down today.

Taking the first step towards your goal is ALWAYS the hardest. Nevertheless, take that step.

12# Make meditation a habit

Your unconscious mind has a lot of potentials! And the best way to tap into that power is by meditation. Meditating can be as simple as sitting for 10 minutes and focusing on your breathing.

Meditation helps you control your mind. It gives you the opportunity to relax and to be in the moment.

13# Brainstorm ideas

There are many ways to kill a cat. The same is true with your goals. Don’t settle on just one strategy. Take a blank sheet of paper and write down ideas that will help you get closer to your goals.

For starters, simply write “How to achieve my goals sooner” on top of the paper and let your brain do the work. Avoid censoring. Write anything that comes to mind.

14# Learn as much as you can

Knowledge is power. Setting and achieving goals are all about personal growth. So read, listen, and read about personal development as much as you can. This will not only help you achieve your goals, it will also help you become a better, well-rounded person.

15# Stay determined

People who achieve their goals share one thing in common: they are determined. They don’t give up. Achieving your goals will not be easy. There will be obstacles and challenges every step of the way. Don’t give up!

16# Maintain a positive attitude

Remember the law of attraction? When you maintain a positive attitude, you invite good things into your life. Also, positive people tend to be a lot happier! No matter how you look at it, being positive is a lot better than being negative. So become one!

#17 Accept that the situation will never be perfect

Whatever you do, the situation you are in will never be perfect. Move towards the life you want without expecting perfection. Because if you do, you’ll only get disappointed.

As you work toward your goal, you’ll notice that the next step will just magically appear as you keep moving forward. That’s how life works. So don’t wait for the perfect moment before taking action!

18# Follow your passion

You’ve heard this a lot and I’m going to reiterate it in this article — follow your passion. When you are passionate about your goals, you are more likely to enjoy every step of the way until you have achieved them.

19# Stop procrastinating

Have you started working on your New Year’s resolution? Stop procrastinating and start working. Most of the time, you procrastinate because you are afraid or you feel inadequate. Get rid of these limiting beliefs! You have what it takes to achieve the life you want.

Read more about beating procrastination here.

20# Reward yourself

A good way to keep yourself motivated is to reward yourself. Set milestones and once you’ve achieved them treat yourself to your favorite dessert, watch a movie, or take a lazy day off — whatever makes you happy!

I hope you’ll find these tips helpful! Create the life you want to live by choosing to work on your goals today!

To sum up, here are the 20 easy goal-setting tips that you can start using right away:

1. Be specific with your goals
2. Make your goals measurable
3. Make your goals attainable
4. Be realistic
5. Set a deadline
6. Find a role model
7. Visualize your goal
8. Create affirmations
9. Doubt your doubts
10. Believe that you can do it!
11. Start doing
12. Make meditation a habit
13. Brainstorm ideas
14. Learn as much as you can
15. Stay determined
16. Maintain a positive attitude
17. Accept that the situation will never be perfect
18. Follow your passion
19. Stop procrastinating
20. Reward yourself

Julianna.