Why is Setting Goals Important?
Goal setting is important because it provides a clear direction, a plan to follow, and a means to measure progress. It allows individuals to focus their energy and efforts on what is truly important to them, rather than getting bogged down by the many distractions in life.

Having a written goal provides a clear destination to work toward and a roadmap to follow.

Step 1: Start with your vision

There is one quality which one must possess to win, that is a definiteness of purpose, the knowledge of what one wants, and a burning desire to possess it. – Napoleon Hill

Here are some prompts to help you set your goals:

Envision your legacy: What impact do you want to make and how do you want to be remembered?
Create a 5-year vision: Imagine where you want to be in five years and what you want to have accomplished.
Start with your dream: Think about what you would love to achieve, even if it seems unrealistic.
Reflect on your past: Think about what you've been wanting to achieve over the last few years.
Consider what you admire in others: What are the qualities or accomplishments that you admire in other people that you would like to adopt?
Determine what you want to do less of: Are there any activities or habits that you want to reduce or eliminate?

Write down everything that comes to your mind even if it seems crazy. Your wildest dreams may be unrealistic, but this process will help you steer yourself towards achieving them.

Step 2: Break down your vision into achievable goals

Your desire to achieve this goal must be so intense that the idea of accomplishing your goal brings you happiness and excitement. – Brian Tracy, Goals!

Once you have written down what you want to achieve, it is now time to create goals that will help you get there. Here are some strategies for creating achievable goals.

Create goals from your vision

Working backwards from your vision, think about what goals will help you get there.

Write down all your goals on a piece of a paper or a digital notepad.

Prioritize your goals

When prioritizing, I like to think about the “fire level” I have for each goal. I define “Fire level” as the feeling you get when you think about how badly do you want to achieve your goal? I use 🔥 to denote “HECK YEAH” and 💕 for “would be nice”.

In the book Goal!, author Brian Tracy recommends thinking about your “why” behind the goal and writing it down next to the goal.

Since we have finite time and it is possible you won’t be able to achieve all your goals in one year, knowing your “Why” will help you determine how much fire you have in you to achieve this goal.

Knowing how strongly you want your goal will also help you evaluate if this goal is worth pursuing when it is time to re-evaluate goals.

Bring goals under your control
You have better chances of achieving your goal if you have control over the outcome.

Identify the areas that require improvement
For each of your goals, evaluate why you have not achieved your goal yet. In his book Goals!, Tracy recommends identifying any obstacles or barriers that are preventing you from reaching your goal.

Be specific and thorough in considering all possible factors that may be hindering your progress. What are you missing right now to achieve your goal? Where are you good? Where do you need to improve? These are the gaps you need to work on to achieve your goal. Write these down as tasks.

Define success
One of the key questions to ask yourself when measuring progress is, "How do I know I achieved this goal?" Having a clear understanding of what success looks like will help you know when you've reached your goal.

In the book Atomic Habits, author James Clear suggests thinking of your goals in terms of quantifiable metrics, such as numbers and percentages. This makes it easy to track progress towards your goals.

Step 3: Prepare for failures
As we all know, not everyone who starts a new year’s resolution sticks to it by the end of the year.

How long do you think it takes most people to drop their new year’s resolutions? 23% of people quit by the end of the first week, 64% after the first month (according to a study with Australian and UK citizens), and 81% before the end of the second year.

Why do you think that happens? It’s because people lose motivation when things get tough.