Blog

Setting Objectives: The best way to achieve goals

13/01/2021

Setting objectives is the best way to achieve goals. A goal at first can feel challenging, far away and like a mountain to overcome, with no clear path to achieve it. To get there you need a map to your goal.

Setting Objectives: The best way to achieve goals – Youtube video

Goal Journeys and paths

Imagine working towards a goal is like a journey, the path in pink. You break the journey into milestones or steps along the path to the goal. An objective is the thing you need to achieve to reach each milestone. By setting these it ensures your actions lead to your goal, reducing the time it takes to achieve it.

A Pink path between Start and Finish line posts. The path has points along it representing milestones. A running stick figure representing the objectives you need to achieve to reach the next milestone. — Working towards a goal is like a journey

Breaking down a goal to define your actions

The secret to achieving a goal is breaking down what you need to do to achieve by planning objectives. Then these can be broken down further into Tasks – this makes the activity specific. Tasks are the activities you perform to achieve the objective. These can be daily, weekly or monthly tasks.

This process of breaking down provides clarity to what you need to do to get to your goal, defining the route to your goal.

Shows a Goal being broken down into an objectives then into tasks. — The process of breaking down a goal clarifies your actions

Objectives example

Let’s work through an example. Imagine a goal of learning to play the guitar. At first, this can quite a challenge without defined tasks you need to complete. Firstly, break this down into objectives:

Learn to read music sheets
Have regular music lessons
Pass grade 1 guitar exam

You can see by breaking the goal down it provides a clear specific action you need to do.

Shows three objectives to learn to play the guitar — Three objectives to learn to play the guitar

Secondly, let’s break “Pass the grade 1 exam” into tasks which could be weekly guitar practice. As we breakdown you move from high level, to small more detailed actions, making it specific and providing clarity. As a result, you know what you need to do making it easier to achieve the goal!

It’s important to remember, just like climbing a mountain you it isn’t always straight up, there’s can be set backs along the way.

A mountain with a yellow triangle warning sign containing a black exclamation mark

The key to successful objectives is to make them SMART.

Next…Making Objectives SMART

This part 2 of our 4 part “Goal Achievement” programme. Checkout parts 1 through 4 here:

Setting Objectives: The best way to achieve goals
Smart objectives make you Successful
The best way to plan SMART objectives

Next: SMART Objectives