How Highly Successful People Set And Achieve Goals

When you see successful people who have done well for themselves and achieved a great deal, you may wonder just exactly how they did it.  Here are some tips that can be gleaned from some of the world’s most successful people. 

Visualize Your Ideal Future

Setting goals can be abstract. As humans, the more something is abstract, the harder it is for us to focus on it. Instead of writing down goals like "retire at 50", try and visualize exactly what you want your future to hold, and plan it out in as much detail as possible. So "retire at 50" might be: "Build a successful engineering firm. Retire at 50, but still sit on the board. Pay off primary home and have second vacation home in Florida. Be able to fund all children's college accounts in full."

Once you really visualize the specifics of your ideal future you'll gain the clarity you need. The goal-setting process becomes the framework for creating the kind of bigger future you are looking to achieve. 

Work Backwards From Your Goal

If you don’t know what you want, how do you expect to achieve it? Lay out exactly what you want to achieve, then work backward to get there. Try setting quarterly goals or 90-day goals and evaluate them accordingly, while constantly reviewing them as you move forward. Clearly outlining goals will make them seem much more realistic. It’s a good idea to have a mix of goals such as financial, strategic, relationship, and personal goals.

Hold Yourself Accountable

Staying accountable to yourself is incredibly important, but also incredibly difficult. Working with a business coach, a life coach, or even just sharing your goals with others can provide a real incentive to continue on your path as you work hard to achieve the outcome you desire. Additionally, consider surrounding yourself with others who will lift you up and share with them what you hope to do. This will help you push yourself and come up with new ideas since you’ll be surrounded by people that you respect. 

Set Clear Deadlines

Make sure that you set clear measurements with realistic deadlines when setting your goals. When the goal is realistic, you will feel more properly and emotionally invested in the outcome. It should feel challenging yet also achievable. 

Write Down Your Goals

We are more likely to achieve our goals and dreams simply by writing them down on a regular basis. There is more of a personal commitment when you put pen to paper and physically write your goals down. When a goal is embedded in your mind, subconsciously you are looking at every opportunity to achieve that goal. Also, if something is written down, then you can look back for motivation when you need it.  As mentioned previously, holding yourself accountable is so important, and writing something down is another way to do that. 

Break Your Goals Down

Every successful person knows that you must break your goals down into action items. Setting a big goal helps you to picture the end result, but small goals are easier to work toward. Think of your goals as a pyramid. Your main, over-arching goal is at the top. In order to reach the top, there are a series of smaller goals you must first work to achieve. 

Breaking your goals down into smaller, actionable items not only feels more "doable" from a psychological standpoint, but there is something to be said about checking those smaller goals off your list – you'll feel empowered every time you hit another milestone and your success will propel you to keep going.  

Own Your Future

There's a saying: "a dream without a plan is just a wish." If you’re not in charge of where you spend your time and energy, it’s easy to become distracted. Keep in mind that you are personally responsible for your future and only you can change and work towards a better outcome. It’s important to work in the present, but still have a strong plan for the future. 

Use Your Goals in Every Aspect of Your Life

It’s important that you set goals in every aspect of your life, whether it's financial, business, personal, or anything else. What is the motivation or desire for why you set your goals? Think about:

• Why are These Goals Important?
• How Will you Achieve Them?
• How Will They Make a Difference?

Once you know the answer to these questions, it will really help you to strive for a stronger future and understand what you need to change to achieve your dreams. 

When we get busy with work and everyday life, we often put our big dreams and goals on the back burner until we have more free time. For many, frequently that free time doesn’t often come, so it’s important to find the time to work towards achieving your dreams now. These steps can help you to visualize and work towards achieving what you really want, as they have helped highly successful people for many years.

Escient Financial is here to help you figure out your goals and find ways to achieve them, no matter what they are. Go ahead and...