Ten Steps to Achieve Your Personal Goals

Being successful in reaching any goal requires a plan of action to succeed. Let's take a look in detail at ten steps to help you achieve your personal goals.

What are your goals in life? Do you want to find a new career or start a family? What about buying a house or getting married? The process of achieving any goal is not always easy, but there are many steps that can be taken to make it easier. In this post, we will discuss ten ways to achieve your personal goals and live the life you have always wanted!

Blocks that say step by step, one word per block.

Step one, figure out your goal

It's time to take a step back and figure out what goals you're trying to achieve. What do you want? Is it the next level at work, owning your own home, or getting married? Whatever that answer is, think about why you're pursuing this dream before thinking about how attainable it will be for yourself. Giving yourself a why will help you to focus on achieving your goal. In addition, your goal should be clearly defined and should have a specific plan of action.

A lightbulb made of words. Research is in red in the middle with a variety of words making up the rest of the picture.

Step two, research the best place to start to achieve your personal goals.

Before making any decisions about your goals, it's best for you to start by looking at some research. It’s important that before jumping into anything new or different in your life, whether it be a job change, an educational pursuit, finances - that you don't make any hasty decisions without first exploring every possible angle. Doing research on your goals will allow you to see first if they are achievable. If you have a goal of buying a new house, you'll need to figure out your down payment, what area you can afford, if the market is right for purchasing a house, etc. You might discover that this goal is not feasible at this time. Only researching the steps to achieve your personal goal will give you that insight.

A white puzzle with a pink piece what says goal. Underneath it says you can do it.

Step three, determine the level of desire you have to achieve your personal goal

A strong desire for something will lead to passion and motivation in the pursuit of it. No matter what kind of goal you are striving for, financial, career-related, or even personal development goals like learning how to play guitar, a strong desire to reach your goal will be motivating. Moreover, what really matters is that you have this strong desire - no matter where it's coming from or why. If the goal isn't something you are passionate about, take some time to evaluate why and modify your goal accordingly.

A hand holding a small spiral notepad. In their other hand is a pencil resting on the blank page.

Step four, write it down

Have you put your goal on paper and made it official? Did you know that only 3% of people write down their goals? Out of that 3%, 80% actually achieve their personal goal! Writing down your goal is declaring to yourself that YOU WANT IT. Be specific about what exactly it is so others can help support your journey. For example: "I want a new Honda Accord" instead of just writing 'car'. Place this where you will see daily as you wake up or when you reach for something off a shelf.

If you are looking for some accountability with your written goals, our Facebook group is a wonderful place for that.

A background with random numbers and graphs. Four people are bumping fists in the middle of the picture.

Step five, define all the ways you will benefit from reaching your personal goal

Can you visualize yourself having arrived at your goal? Where are you? How is your life different? What are you doing? How do you feel? Be specific. The more benefits you can envision, the more energized and inspired you will feel. Additionally, the greater the pull that goal will have on you. See & feel yourself already there. Use the power of that vision to fuel your actions.

A grey wall with a letter board on it that says, "Get started today".

Step six, determine your staring point to achieve your personal goal

What is your starting point? Do you know where you are now, in order to plot the most advantageous & direct course to your destination? With a clear starting point, you can head in the right direction. Making a plan is much like mapping your route for a road trip. If you don’t know where you are, you can’t know how to get where you are going.

A silver stopwatch with a blue background. The word deadline is in red at the top of the stopwatch.

Step seven, set your timeline and deadlines

Have you committed to timelines and deadlines? Are you MAKING the time to MAKE the goal? Have you scheduled time to work on your goal and put that time into your diary? Have you prioritized and eliminated things that are of less, or no, value? By doing this, you commit to clearing the way to taking action towards your goal; schedule actions and then take those actions!

A person with out a face is wearing a yellow hardhat and safety vest. They are standing behind a red and white striped barricade with a yellow dead end sign on it. There's a tiered cone to the right of all that.

Step eight, consider any possible blocks or obstables and how to deal with them

What possible obstacles will you face? Have you prepared contingency plans to deal with those obstacles? How can you deal with them the most effectively? That is to say, being forewarned is being forearmed. Take a moment to consider what obstacles might you face and how will you deal with them. Despite the obstacles in your path, success is around the corner if you plan ahead.

A tiger is laying in the grass with her cub laying on top of her.

Step nine, identify your strengths and resources

What strengths & resources do you have that will help you move forward? Who are the people or organizations that will support you? Who is on your success team? How can you improve the skills you’ll need and build on the strengths you already have? Have you succeeded or failed at tasks that were similar to this before? What resources did you use that were helpful before? What can you do to maximize your chances of success this time? What can you do differently? What can you do to motivate yourself to reach your goal? Be your own best resource.

A yellow background with the words Believe In Yourself in white. There's an outline of a hand pointing to the s in self. There's a man in black pants, a black and white striped shirt and white sneakers in the lower right hand corner.

Step ten, make a plan, make a commitment and believe in yourself

Have you broken your goal down into small manageable steps that can be done on a daily basis? Have you identified and time-lined each task that needs to be done? Have you discerned your starting point? What do you need to do first? What structures do you have in place to keep track of your progress? Accomplishing a goal requires taking the steps. These steps, in turn, become habits. What daily habits do you need to create? Big successes start with little ones.'

Are you committed or are you just trying? How many people do you know who have tried to do something and failed?

Say the following sentence to yourself: “I’m going to try to ______________”

Now say “I’m committed to _____________”

Which feels more solid and more likely to happen? To achieve any goal, you need to COMMIT yourself to achieve it. Have you really committed to doing every single thing that’s necessary to achieve that goal? Are you committed to putting in ALL the necessary time, energy, and money?

Look over your plan and the steps to achieve your goal. Do you believe that you can do it? Do you have any doubts? Are your expectations realistic?

Deal with your fears and expectations of yourself.

Bonus step, CELEBRATE

How will you acknowledge the work that you have done and celebrate the completion of each of the steps along the way? How can you use that energy of success to keep you moving forward? Don’t wait until the end to celebrate.

Celebrating each small victory acknowledges your successes and keeps you motivated and focused.