How to Set Goals

We have all heard about the importance of setting goals for ourselves – ESPECIALLY around New Years. Goals are a way to direct our paths to achieving things that we want – such as improving our health, getting out of debt, focusing on an accomplishment or finishing something. Where goals can go wrong, however, is that we can easily get sidetracked once we realize that perhaps we have bitten off more than we can chew. The first 2 weeks of working towards a goal is the golden period because we feel inspired, driven & motivated to achieve. Then once real life kicks in, it becomes harder to sty focused.

How do we keep on track with achieving our goals & succeeding?

The S.M.A.R.T principle works because it sets us up for success from the beginning. Spending some time really planning out how to achieve our goals is super important because you are giving yourself a bird eye view of your goal & all the other things you have going on in your life.

Say your goal is to save $10k in a year. At first it might seem doable – you might eat out less, pick up an extra shift or gig a week but suddenly without a plan this goal can seem unattainable.

Using the S.M.A.R.T principle – you can then structure the minute steps you need to take in order to get there.

You will need to break down how much you need to save per month in order to save $10k a year. You will need to put away $833/month or $208.25/week. Suddenly this does not seem as overwhelming.

Look at the S – what steps can you take monthly to put this money aside? Eat out only 1 meal a week? Make a plan to sell unused items in your home? Look for odd jobs?

M – do a weekly check in to see where you are at – how close are you to saving your weekly minimum?

A – If you are not meeting this weekly target, what actions can you put into place in order to achieve?

R – Make sure that this goal is realistic- consider all the things you have going on in your life & reassess to make your goal fit in. This goal should be attainable at all costs – its important to aim high but remember you want to set yourself up for success!

T – Set your timeframe accordingly. Give yourself a date (December 31) and work backwards.

For dance, this is how I structured creating choreographies, courses and classes. Each of these take up SO MUCH time and I used to leave everything to the last minute which left me feeling rushed, unprepared, not connected to the content and stressed. It took the joy out of what I was creating. Now I use the S.M.A.R.T principle to structure my time which actually gives me back time as I know I have focused time to work, and then once I have accomplished what I laid out, I can continue on with my life until I come back to work again.

Life is so busy for all of us, and we have big dreams we want to fulfil. By setting yourself up from the start in a structured and SMART (ha ha yes I went there!) way, you will be able to achieve all that you want. These microtasks take some time to figure out & plan, but this is time investing in YOURSELF which is always important.

Make yourself a priority!