There are some people who feel goal setting is strictly a male-oriented activity. Think about it for a second, there was a time when conferences, seminars and workshops were filled with men keen on acquiring the relevant knowledge to hit their financial goals. Boy! aren’t we glad that that’s no longer the case these days? especially in Africa.

More women are shattering those glass ceilings in their careers, businesses and basically everything they set their minds on achieving. How did they achieve this? they set their minds on an ultimate goal and laid out the concrete steps to be taken to achieve that goal.

3 steps to achieving your goals

1. Be honest with yourself

The first step to goal setting is self-awareness. Take stock of where you are in life, are you okay with being there? Are you happy? Are your friends, family or colleagues always worried about you? Are you currently able to foot all your bills? Does your current job allow you some time for R&R so you are constantly rejuvenated and able to give a 101% at all times? Look back five, ten years, was this what you envisioned for yourself? These are some questions you need to ask yourself to take stock of where you are so that you can see where you ought to be.

2. Identify a primary goal

Now you have concluded your self-assessment, the next step is identifying a SMART goal. This is an acronym for specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and timely. It’s also smart to go with one ultimate goal and then break it down into sub-goals or smaller goals that you can achieve within a short period of time. These sub-goals or short-to-mid-term goals give you quick wins to celebrate over. The beauty of these quick wins is that they act as a constant motivator, they help you keep you energized and all of a sudden you feel like you can reach for the stars.

Think of it this way, someone who decided to run a 42-kilometre marathon race, which they have never done before, never starts the first day of training running a 42-kilometre route. Not only will your body scream “NO”, your mind tells you, it’s too difficult and you simply cannot achieve it. So you start with stretches, and then warm up jogs and then 1 kilometre and then 2 kilometres, 5, 10 until over the weeks, you finally hit the 42-kilometre mark. It’s the same principle for every goal you set for yourself.

3. To change positions, you need a plan

Goal setting is not gender-specific, nor is it peculiar to any area. You can set financial goals, new business creation goals, business expansion goals, fitness goals, career goals or even family goals. The point is, that you can achieve and be whatever you want to be once you can picture what you want for yourself and can visualize the steps you need to take to get there. It is good to dream, but dreaming is not enough, you have to draw out a plan. Even Christians in the Bible are told to “write the vision and make it plain.”

Break down your goal into long-term, mid-term and short-term goals to help you easily get started. If you have no idea how to do this, get a planner that has already been designed to help you articulate your thoughts on paper. When you are done filling out your goal planner, have it displayed in an area where you can easily see it. This will serve as a daily reminder to stay focused.

Download your free goal planner-pdf version

If you have no idea where to start, you can download our free pdf goal planner that has been carefully structured with you in mind. All you have to do is simply click on the button below to launch the next phase of your life.

Download Your Free Goal Planner