The Six Components of the Goal Setting Process

Goal setting is a powerful process for thinking about your ideal future, and for motivating yourself to turn your vision of this future into reality. Successful people determine where they are going and develop specific plans to get there. Because they are well prepared, they travel their life journey with vitality and confidence.

The process of setting goals helps you choose where you want to go in life. By knowing precisely what you want to achieve, you know where you have to concentrate your efforts. You'll also quickly spot the distractions that can, so easily, lead you astray.

Focus on the six core components of goal setting to create an effective roadmap:

Listing your dreams. First, every purposeful journey aims for a destination. Where do you want to go with your life? What do you want to accomplish? What are your overall objectives? What are your dreams? Listing your dreams allows you to develop a master list of things you want to do and become—as well as things you want to achieve and attain.

Conducting personal self-evaluations. You can go wherever you choose on your life’s journey, but you can only start from one place. You can only start from where you are today. Before you embark on your journey, determine your starting point in areas that are critical for your success.

Developing goal categories. Once a springboard is created to clarify your dreams and you’ve identified your current starting point, the next step requires developing the categories of your life that you’d like to change and improve in order to realize your dreams. Goal categories provide an important step between your dreams and your goals, and they help you translate your general ideas and thoughts into action.

Creating goal statements. Goal categories are then translated into specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and time trackable goal statements that are solely yours (S.M.A.R.T.). In my experience the more focused and specific the better. Goal statements help you determine the specific solutions and action steps necessary to make the desired outcome a reality.

Developing specific action steps. The next step is to identify the actions you need to take in order to achieve your goals. Creating specific action steps will provide the daily, weekly, and monthly activity necessary to make your goals a reality.

Prioritizing of your goals and action steps. Finally, you might find some of your goals and actions build on one another, and you might find that the resources you need for the accomplishment of one directly conflict with another. Making a conscious decision through a prioritization process which goals or action steps are the most important. It is also a necessary step. The prioritization process will never stop, as you will need to continually evaluate what is important to your success now.

Understanding and becoming proficient in all six steps of goal accomplishment will help you achieve the success you deserve and for which you are striving. Goal achievement is an art form and this development process will assist you in creating masterpieces in your life!