A Simple 4-Step Process to Goal Setting (and Achieving)
It took me 8 years to finish my B.Sc. in Computer Science.
During that time, I moved cities twice and had a full time job working with youth.
But I still wanted to graduate, at least to make my parents happy. (Never regretted it btw)
Every semester started the same way:
- Buying shiny binders
- Printing out all the course materials
- Hoping this would be the turnaround semester
A month in, I was already too far behind, waiting for the next one to begin.
With the New Year approaching, it feels a bit like a new semester.
A new chance to set a goal and to achieve it. Making the time count. Doing something great.
But most people fail when setting goals, the same way I did for a long time during my studies.
A list of reasons why they fail is exhaustive
- Getting distracted
- Giving up too soon
- Lack of motivation
- Setting someone else's goals
- Not believing in their potential
- The list goes on and on and on...
Want to give yourself a better chance at success?
Here is a simplified 4 step process to set and actually achieve :
- Commit to review
- Commit to work
- Go for 12
- Headline first
The list goes from most to least important.
Read through it carefully.
When actually starting out, go in reverse order.
1. Commit to review
If you don't do anything else, please do only this:
Set up a weekly reminder to review whatever goal you set.
Why?
By reviewing it weekly, you put your goal at the top of your mind every time.
At some point, your brain starts to look for opportunities to do something about it, without you noticing.
Is it bulletproof? Probably not.
But again, if you don't do anything else, do just it.
Set up a weekly reminder to review whatever goal you set.
2. Commit to work
One of the reasons why I was failing semester after semester is that I never put time to actually study and go through the material.
Until I got so overwhelmed that I almost quit.
On the other hand, you can make great progress making small steps.
You just need to do enough of them.
Road to impossible looks like a well-crafted todo list, executed daily. The Art Of Impossible, Steven Kotler
So, plan the actual work and execution into your calendar.
Is it 15 minutes a day? 2 hours a day? 20 minutes a week?
It doesn't matter. Schedule it. Make it recurring.
Daily has worked best for me. Or weekdays only.
- Writing
- Learning
- Staying fit
- Reading a book
- Finishing a course
- Practicing a language
You can do all those things in small daily chunks.
3. Go for 12
You know how you're setting a yearly goal and only do anything about it in the first week of January and end of December?
You can just redefine what a year means.
The book "The 12 Week Year" suggests exactly that.
Instead of setting yearly goals, set 12 weeks goals.
The result is a heightened sense of urgency and an increased focus on the critical few, those important core activities that drive success and fulfillment, and the daily execution of those items to guarantee the achievement of your long - term objectives. The 12 Week Year
4. One Headline
I love combining methods and ideas from books.
The following is a combination of two great books
- 3 Big Questions for a Frantic Family (it completely changed the way we set family goals by the way)
- No Doing List
Here it is:
- Write out your goal as a newspaper headline announcing you achieving the goal
- List out any steps or sub projects that you need to work on in order to achieve it
- List out any activities you need to do to keep the stay above water
One goal only makes you focused for a short period of time (12 weeks).
It helps eliminate daily decisions about your priorities.
If you decide to focus on improving your system design skills, you know that going to a meetup about design systems or reading a book about legacy code will not help you.
Recap
The points above are important to internalize from 1 to 4.
Now, when you are setting your goal (1 only), go in this order
- One Headline
- Go for 12
- Commit to work
- Commit to review
That's it for today