Introduction
After almost a decade of studying and living personal development, I’ve come to realise that a lot of the advice (including some of my own!) on making goals is convoluted. This puts many people off and makes it hard for them to achieve their goals.
Goal-making doesn’t need to be complicated. I’ll walk you through my process. Let me know if it works for you.
Start with the end in mind
Start with something you want to improve or something you want to be/do/have. The time scale is up to you, but it has to be something you really want.
Work backwards from there and work out what you would need to do to get there. If you would be willing to do what it takes, work on moving toward it step by step. If not, choose another goal.
Harness the power of focus and commitment
Try to allocate at least 2 hours of your day to work on it when noone is around. Get up earlier or go to bed later than everyone else if needed. By focusing on one goal intensely every day your progress will compound.
Avoid competing goals
It’s okay to have multiple goals, but if you have more than one goal, decide which one is the most important right now (or supports a bigger goal) and spend your 2 hours on that. If you have time left, you could work on one of the other goals or continue with your primary goal.
Once you achieve your primary goal, move on to the next most important goal to you.
Be flexible
Sometimes things don’t work out as you thought or unexpected opportunities arise. Think about the big picture: if something doesn’t work out, try a different way; if it’s not for you, set a new goal; if an opportunity fits your goals, take it.
Personal examples
Around 2016, I started learning about personal development. Eventually I decided to start this blog as a way to help people understand depression and hopefully be able to help reduce it. Eventually, through my learning around personal development, depression became more manageable. The blog later evolved to be more about helping others. I then decided to write a series of personal development posts.
Originally, I had small goals, but by choosing to listen to/read at least one personal development video/book per day, my world was opened to what was possible and what I wanted. As a result, I put the series on hold because I had competing goals and had to choose one.
In another example, around 2020, I decided I wanted to go for a job with more responsibility. I wanted to become a manager. Originally, I had planned for this to be around 2024 when I would have had more experience. However, a management job came up in 2022 and I thought I’d have a go at applying. I ended up doing that job for over 2 years.
I learnt a lot from the job and the leadership there, but I realised that it was time to move on to a bigger picture goal. This was to move to a country my wife and I had been to before and loved. To get a visa, we realised I needed to study. Because of my TESOL teaching background, I decided to become a High School teacher. This gives us 2 years to figure out a permanent plan for staying here long term.
We’ve been here since February 2025 so far and I’ll provide updates as life progresses. The next stage is to complete the degree. After that will be finding a school that will employ me and help with the visas.
Once I start working, I plan to resume the series and build experience to feed into my bigger picture goals of service, starting my own business (a school probably) and F.I.R.E (Financial Independence, Retire Early).
One of the reasons I document my journey through this blog (and why I don’t edit or delete old posts) is to inspire others to show where I came from and what’s possible. I plan to continue this for many years to come and I hope over time, people like you will become inspired to make improvements in your life, no matter how good or bad you perceive your life to be right now.
Join me: thejourneyx continues…
Conclusion
- Work backwards from what you want to be/do/have (small/big/short-term/long-term)
- Decide if you’re willing to do the work whether you succeed or not (things will get hard/boring!)
- Choose and commit to one main goal
- Carve out time each day to work on it
- Focus
- Be flexible
- Get started! (Some of my goals weren’t apparent when I started setting goals. You’ll find your way once you get started. So get started.)
What advice has helped you with your goals?
Links
thejourneyx 