Successfully setting and achieving goals: how do you do it?
Are you dissatisfied with your current work situation? Are you considering career coaching?
A constant in career coaching is dissatisfaction with your current situation and nurturing a dream or desire about a new, future situation.
You can muse wonderfully about your desires and wishes, and it's totally fine to dream about what you would really like to do next. But how do you make sure your dream becomes a reality?
A dream without a plan remains a wish!
Without goals, you are unconscious in life and the day's fulfillment is taken over by external circumstances and ingrained habits.
Goals make you consciously think about exactly what you want and keep your focus on what you want to achieve.
Setting goals: how do you do it?
To support you in making your dream or desire concrete, we formulate SMART goals.
SMART here stands for:
Specific
Measurable
Acceptable
Relevant
Time-bound
SMART goals already set you a long way down the road. Their chance of success increases significantly if you also formulate your goals in a "well-formed" way. Thus, you reduce the risk that, despite your SMART goals, you will drop out because it is not exactly what you have in mind or because you experience an inner conflict.
A well-formed goal focuses on your desired, future situation and meets five criteria:
- Formulation in positive terms: what do you want to achieve, what do you want to change, what difference do you want to see, what do you want in place of, ...
-Specific and contextual: what exactly do you want to achieve, when do you want to achieve your goal, where do you want to achieve your goal, with whom do you want to do this, ...
- Under your own control: can you achieve your goal with actions under your own control, on whom does achieving your goal depend, for whom do you want to realize your goal, ...
-Ecologically sound: does the goal have a positive long-term effect, do you not create internal conflicts for yourself in achieving your goal, can something go wrong when you achieve your goal, can there be disadvantages when you have achieved your desired state, do you have an advantage in not achieving your goal, ...
-Testable: how will you know if you have achieved results, what will you observe (see, feel, hear), how will you know you are approaching your goal, ...
A practical example:
Suppose you plan to pay more attention to your self-care.
Your well-formed goal might then look like this:
- I want to respect and indicate my own limits (formulation in positive terms)
- I want more self-insight by being more aware of my behavior (specific and contextual)
- I contact a career coach and apply for my VDAB career check (under my own control)
- I accept that I can bump into limiting convictions that challenge me mentally and/or emotionally (ecologically)
- I experience more peace in my head and feel less inner conflict reaching my goal (testable)
Goal setting: outwit the most common pitfalls.
Guard your 'gusto'
How strong is your desire to realize your dream or wish? Make sure that you remain prepared to take on the challenge that your set goals put in your path. Don't set your bar too low and have faith that the road to your goal will also be an exciting learning adventure.
1# Begin with the end in mind
Visualize how you feel once you reach your goal. What will your life look like then? If you need something tangible consider making a mood board of your new desired situation.
2# Keep it manageable
You can absolutely dream big. Just make sure you don't spread your focus over too many different goals. Therefore, make clear choices. Stick to your all-important goals and park all the others that keep you away from your biggest priority.
3# Monitor your progress and make adjustments
Provide moments in your calendar where you check where you stand. Not as far along as you thought you were? Don't lose heart and remember that reaching a goal is not always easy. Adjust your action plan if you experience obstacles.
4# Make your roadmap concrete
Write down your goals. Writing down your goal, action plan and intermediate steps activates your mental process. You also create a reflection book in which there is room for your insecurities, fears, moments of pause, moments of success, insights, etc. Throughout the process you create tools that you can fall back on when things are not going so well.
5# Seek support
You don't have to do it alone. Find a "partner in crime." Useful for when things are not going your way but also useful to celebrate your small successes with.
The career coaches at Travvant by Travvant can support you in achieving your goals.
Feel free to request a free, no-obligation telephone consultation.