How to Create Goals That Can Actually Be Achieved

As one year ends, and another begins, it can be easy to feel all the things. Nostalgia as you reflect on the past 365 days. Disbelief as you try to wrap your mind around the fact that here we are again. Ready to begin another journey around the sun. Maybe your heart is full of hope, desperate for the relief a new year can bring. As you sit in preparation, ready to embark on 2025, I am sharing with you how to achieve your goals in this new year. Specifically, a guide to creating goals that can actually be achieved. Simple tips and strategies to help your goal planning turn into a success as you prepare for the new year! So that this can be the year where the things you have always hoped to accomplish can finally come true!

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How To Achieve Your Goals – Tips For Setting & Achieving Goals

Goal creation is a strong passion of mine. I love any and all opportunities to set new goals and dream ew dreams. Goal planning is an active part of how I teach in my classroom and how I want to model my own personal journey within our home. My hope for you is that you can be inspired in your goal creation learn to do so in a way that allow your goals to be set up for success. That way you can fully believe it is possible to achieve your goals!

A Pause for Encouragement for Those Who Need It In Regards to Goal Creation

Now, a quick word of encouragement for those who have been struggling. Goal creation and goal planning can feel incredibly defeating if your past year has been hard. For many, stuck in the cycle of survival mode, it is easy to lose sight of your own personal goals. And if that has been you within the past year, please don’t lose hope. Maybe your previous year was focused on other things. Such as raising little kids or doing the necessities that needed to get done. Maybe you had really big dreams for the previous year and you feel like you had to step away from them because you didn’t have the time. Please know that is okay!

Give yourself the permission right now that that is okay. Additionally, give yourself the grace and understanding to recognize that your selflessness is a gift. More than that, allow yourself to get excited that this year things are going to be different. Use whatever personal frustrations you may have of the previous year as your guidance to motivation. And it’s that exact motivation that is needed to really kick this new year off into high hopes and gear. 

Goal Planning Workbook – Your Guide on How to Achieve Your Goals

Now, in order to help assist you in the goal creation process and to help take away the overwhelm that can come alongside with setting goals, I have a goal planning workbook just for you! A personal roadmap to help set up your goals for the new year. A guide to help you create goals that you can actually achieve. A 20 plus page workbook full of prompts and questions to help you build and plan your goals.

How to Achieve Your Goals in 8 Simple Steps

In order to learn how to achieve your goals, I have 8 steps. 8 steps to to creating goals that can actually be achieved. Eight little tips for you to help make sure that the goals you create are goals that actually will work. Goals that can be achieved. All so you can feel successful. So that at the end of the next year you’re feeling encouraged and eager to keep dreaming big. Encouraged to keep reaching for more. That you fully believe it’s possible to set out and do the things you’ve wanted to do.

Tip #1 How to Achieve Your Goals – Start Your Goal Planning with Honest Reflection and Self-Assessment 

The first step in how to achieve your goals is to start your goal planning with an honest reflection and self assessment. One of the most important things to do when wanting to create goals that actually can be met is to spend time in reflection. Oftentimes, this step is most forgotten. People love to focus on writing the goal and coming up with the plan to accomplish it. People get so excited and eager for change that they forget the most critical step of taking a minute to stop and reflect.

Press Pause and Ask Yourself How Things Are Really Going Right Now

Press pause and think to yourself, how are things going right now? How am I really doing? What is working? What is not working? When you give yourself time to have an honest reflection, as well as a quick self assessment of how things are going, it gives you clarity on the areas of your life that you want to improve upon the most.

Important Questions to Ask Yourself Before You Begin Goal Planning

Before you dive into goal planning take a moment to think through what the major focus is that you need to set your sights on as you plan for the year ahead. In order to do this most efficiently, ask yourself some questions. For example, how are you really doing? What areas in your life are you hoping for the biggest change? Think through the different categories of your life, the different arenas. All the different areas where you show up each day.

Think of all the different roles you have, the different hats you wear. What are the areas where you feel the most defeated? The areas where you find yourself feeling the most stressed or the most overwhelmed? Furthermore, where are you feeling the most encouraged. It’s so important when we do any reflection and self assessment that we don’t only focus on the things that are not going right. But, we also want to make sure we bring attention to the things that are going well. The areas where we feel like, “I’m doing really well in this particular area.”

Therefore, as you sit down to start any sort of goal planning, make sure you give yourself a few moments to reflect and assess yourself as to how things are going. Allow yourself to pinpoint the areas where you feel the most defeated, where you are desperate for the most change. This is going to help provide a sense of direction when you’re in the goal planning process for the next year.

Tip #2 – Dream big, but be realistic

The second tip in how to achieve your goals is to dream big, but be realistic. Dream big, as big as you want to. However, make sure you are realistic. Have incredible hope and belief in yourself that this can happen. That’s absolutely necessary. Believe that the goals you create can actually be accomplished. But, make sure you are realistic and setting yourself up for success.

One of the most important ways to do this is to be honest in identifying your starting place. It’s so important to recognize where you are currently at right now. Allow that clarity of where you currently are to determine the exact distance that you need to go.

For example, if your dream was to run a marathon, you wouldn’t start out by just running a marathon. You wouldn’t start your run the beginning of January and keep running until you physically couldn’t anymore. Instead, you would start small. Simple. You would take baby steps that you know are possible. Things you can already complete right now. Then work through it as you increase your workload.

Take Into Account Where You Currently Are In Your Journey

Because if you simply start with a challenge too big, you’re going to feel defeated and discouraged and not have the motivation to try again. Especially if it’s a physical activity, you can injure yourself. You can do something that your body isn’t quite ready to handle at that moment. Therefore, take into account where you currently are, where you’re currently at, and not just a physical standpoint, but also think of your commitments.

Think about your time, think about your schedule. What kind of time do you have to work towards your goals. Look at your own availability to help determine what your goals are going to be. Dream big, but be realistic, keeping in mind where it is that you are starting from.

Another really good tip is to keep in mind your own parameters that you have within your day, that way you can make sure you are being successful. As you goal plan, identify your biggest time contributors. Ask yourself what is taking up most of your time? It’s so important to do this up front. By asking yourself these questions ahead of time, you know what you are working with. As well as potential barriers and potential challenges. This is an important framework to set up from the beginning. As you learn how to achieve your goals, remember dream big, but be realistic in your goal creation process.

Tip #3 How to Achieve Your Goals – Create Goals that Are Positive and Affirming 

The third tip in learning how to achieve your goals is to create goals that are positive and affirming.  This is so important. As you create goals make sure the goals you create are rooted in positive truths and affirmations. It can be so easy during goal planning to allow yourself to feel like a failure. So easy to jump headfirst into the things that you haven’t been doing well and come up with all these solutions for how you can improve. Thinking through how this can be better or how this situation can turn around.

However, it’s essential as you set up goals that you bring to light the things that are positive and true and affirming and bring those qualities out of yourself. Allow that to be the framework of your goal. Focus on your strengths and help allow yourself to feel encouraged by focusing in on those strengths to create and reach your goals.

Focus on the good and call that good out even more. Find the truth, even in the hard and the difficult.  Make sure as you set down to create goals that you’re focusing on the positive in them and not associating negative self worth. Please don’t tear yourself down in the process. It’s great to recognize moments of weakness. It’s so good to recognize areas where you fall short, but as you build the goal around that moment, be sure to also focus on the good. Focus on the affirmations that you can create within that goal. That is essential in learning how to achieve your goals!

#4 – Break Down Your Goals into Manageable Chunks 

The fourth tip in learning how to achieve your goals is to break down your goals into manageable chunks. Now you probably are familiar with this. This is something that’s a great reminder for anyone to hear. Anytime you’re trying to accomplish something massive. Any task can instantly become manageable when you divide it up into smaller to do’s. Manageable chunks are easier to wrap your brain around.

Just as you would in starting any project, begin with identifying all the different components of the task. Identify every single thing that needs to get done in order to accomplish the goal. Then, group together things that are similar and build those smaller tasks into a timetable in order to help get your goal accomplished by the time that it needs to get accomplished.

Break Down Big Tasks Into Small Manageable Steps

Group together things that are similar. Build in super small tasks associated with those things into a timetable in order to help get your goal accomplished by the time that it needs to get accomplished. When you can take your big task and break it down into manageable chunks, that big task feels possible. It feels like you can actually do this. Your big goal becomes manageable. Something that no longer feels scary. It doesn’t feel too big because you’re know looking at it in super smaller tasks instead of the whole thing. Therefore, in order to create goals that can easily be achieved, break down your big goals into smaller, more manageable chunks.

#5 – Start With One Small Thing At A Time

The fifth tip in learning how to achieve your goals is to not try to fix everything at once. Instead, start with one small thing at a time. This is for all the overachievers, the people that love making lists. The individuals that want to do it all, all at once, because that’s how your mind goes and you’ve embraced it. It’s so tempting to want to start everywhere. Additionally, it’s so easy to want to just say, YES! Focusing on fixing all the things at once. Determined to make the entire change right then and there. However, the truth is it is almost impossible to keep that momentum and that motivation going.

Now it can happen. There are people that work that way and that’s just who they are. And if that’s you, incredible, amazing, keep doing it. But for the most common individual, you are going to feel frustrated. Most of us are going to get burnt out and are unable to keep this at a sustainable rate. Most of us will eventually fall short and start resorting to older habits of the opposite of what you’re trying to achieve.

Focus On One Step At a Time

Therefore, I urge you, take things one step at a time by focusing in on one small thing at a time. As you build your goals, make sure that what you’re trying to accomplish is aligned with what’s lacking in your life. Make sure your goals are aligned with your reflection and your self assessment. Focus on what is the top priority.

What is the most important need that you have that’s not being met in your life? Because once you can fulfill that need that’s not being met, that’s going to really reach you at a deeper level and allow you to show up more in other areas of your life to get more accomplished. Please don’t try to fix everything at once. Focus on the one thing. What is the most important fundamental thing that you want to focus on and set your sights on that. That is essential to learning how to achieve your goals.

Tip #6 How to Achieve Your Goals – Break Down Your Goals Into Super Small Tasks That Can Easily Be Repeated Over and Over Again

Number six, the sixth tip in learning how to achieve your goals is to break down your goals into super, super small tasks that can easily be repeated over and over again. Now this is a little different than taking the big project and chunking it into smaller chunks. Instead, this is taking the smaller chunks and breaking them down into super small, specific tasks.

More specifically, creating habits that can help support you in achieving your goals. Things that you can build into your day, things that you can easily build into your week. More specifically, things that take a very short time to accomplish and can become routine within your lifestyle.

All so that your goals can actually become a change that you make within your life, every single day. As you work through your goals and break things down into manageable chunks, identify habits within those manageable chunks. What actions are simple tasks that can be done once a day or a couple times a week that can help get the bigger tasks accomplished?

Slowly Build Habits That Support Your Goals Into Your Daily Schedule

And focus on building that into your schedule and building that into your day to day. Building that into your weekly schedule. This allows you to feel like you can actually do this. Once you start fitting these little small habits and tasks into your actual schedule and live it, it becomes so much more manageable.

Breaking down your goals into small, manageable tasks that can be divided up into habits makes your goal doable. Oftentimes when we create goals, we never act on them. Therefore, when you take the action towards putting this into your day to day life, it feels really, really good. Additionally, it gives you even more motivation to continue pressing forward. Therefore as you learn how to achieve your goals, break down your goals into super small tasks that can easily be repeated over and over again. 

#7 – Have an Accountability Partner or Support System

The seventh tip to create goals that can actually be achieved is to make sure you have an accountability partner or a support system. This is really important. It can be easy to want to do life alone, and to keep things to yourself. Easy to keep your challenges personal to you.

Anytime you’re wanting to bring somebody else in on the things that you’re working towards, that brings an aspect of vulnerability. Not everybody feels comfortable in that. However, life is not meant to be lived alone and challenges aren’t meant to be faced alone either. Therefore, I encourage you have a support system, have an accountability partner that you can turn to as you work towards achieving your goals.

Find Someone to Hold You Accountable as You Work to Meet Your Goals

Is there a friend that’s in a similar life stage as you that you can reach out to and share your goal with. Someone you can check in with and establish accountability with. Someone that also is working towards a goal that you can check in with each other once a week to see how things are going.

In order to share the things that are working, as well as the struggles. An accountability partner to help support you as you work towards your goals. This is something that you can do within your family. Within your own community. The most important thing is not embarking on this journey alone. It can be so easy to want to stay by yourself. Focusing on accomplishing the big task alone without letting anyone in.

However, once you let other people in, you gain a strong support system that can be helpful and encouraging. A support system that you didn’t realize you even needed. Therefore as you work out how to achieve your goals, be sure to establish accountability to help make sure your goals a reality.

Tip #8 How to Achieve Your Goals – Envision the Version of You That Completes the Goal

Finally, the eighth and final tip to creating goals that actually can be achieved is to envision the version of you that completes the goal. Go ahead and know what she looks like. Define her. Know her. Become her. And get really excited for the you that you will be once you do the things to get you there. Once you identify the biggest priority and break it down into manageable chunks, visualize the success at the end.

This is so, so important.  I remember doing this as a cross country runner in both high school and college. Before race days I would visualize myself in the race, visualize the moment of struggle. The moment where things felt hard and difficult. Where the mental talk might be a little more harsh and visualizing a different outcome. Allow yourself to visualize overcoming it. 

Visualize the Person You Are Once You Have Accomplished Your Goal

This is such an important tool that we can utilize and I encourage you to do this when you’re building your goals. Go ahead and visualize the you that you are when you complete the goal. Specifically, how you’re going to feel. How you’re going to act different, how you will feel more whole because this is something you’ve been working towards for so long. Visualize the changes you are going to have in your own confidence and your self esteem once you get there. The more that you can visualize that version of you that achieves your goal, the more motivated you are going to be and the more belief you will have that it is actually possible.

It is Possible to Achieve Your Goals

Please know that you can do this. It is possible and you can absolutely achieve the goal that you have always dreamed of. The goal that sits on the front of your heart. Believing in you and cheering you on. Additionally, I’m so excited for you as you crush your goal planning and have the belief that you can truly reach your goals. Quick little recap of the eight steps in order to learn how to achieve your goals:

1. Begin your goal planning with an honest reflection and self assessment.
2. Dream big, but be realistic.
3. Create goals that are positive and affirming.
4. Break down your goals into manageable chunks.
5. Don’t try to fix everything at once. Start with one small task, one small thing at a time.
6. Break down your goals into smaller tasks that can easily become habits that can be repeated over and over again.
7. Have an accountability partner or support system.
8. Envision the version of you that you are once you complete your goal. Envision and visualize her!

Your Complete Guide to Goal Planning