We have been taught to dream big, but when it comes to actually following our dreams, are you falling short? There can be a million reasons. But one thing is clear, you have not yet learned the way how to set weekly goals to change your life. You might not be sure of where to start. You might overthink your next steps. You might talk yourself down and allow others to steer you away from your goal. Well, not anymore!
This simple yet effective system will allow you to reach your weekly goals and move towards your bigger goals with confidence and certainty.
Setting weekly goals might seem like a small piece, but it is an important piece of a bigger puzzle. It’s up to you to put those pieces together step by step, week by week, to move closer to your bigger goal. Looking ahead to long-term goals will help you determine the right weekly steps. It will also keep you motivated and consistent in following through with your commitments because every new day is an opportunity to do just that.
After getting crystal clear on what it is that you want, it’s time to take those small weekly steps towards that. While it is necessary to have this great big idea/vision/goal in mind, the question is, “what are you doing daily, weekly to achieve that?”.
Let me introduce you to the system that will help you set weekly goals to change your life.
While a week is a relatively short amount of time, it has 168 hours. That’s a lot of hours! Imagine if these hours could be used to your best abilities? A day filled with intentional, focused, and productive action? The following steps will help you set weekly goals to change your life.
Attention: Make yourself a priority. You will not be able to achieve your goals and enjoy them if you will be stress and burned out. Self-care is not selfish. There should be a set time for you in your calendar every single day.
Step 1: Take Time to Reflect
Take time to reflect on last week. Look back at your failures and achievements. It will help you rank this week’s tasks and set clearer goals to reach more success.
Ask yourself, what did you achieve and how is that relating to your bigger monthly or yearly goals? Did you fall off the track and why did that happen? Are you happy with the progress you have made?
Answering these questions will give you a great insight into how well you have used your 168 hours and whether you have moved in your envisioned direction. If it wasn’t the case, it’s worth bringing your attention back to your bigger vision and long-term goals. If you are not excited about your weekly goals, it will take much more effort to achieve them. So, make sure you are aligned with them.
Step 2: Identify Weekly Goals
Identify weekly goals to change your life. Now that you’ve looked back on your recent past and further into your future, it’s time to identify what your goals are going to be for the week ahead. Here is the simple process to follow:
- Brainstorm exciting weekly goal ideas. Base them on your reflection about last week’s achievements and failures. If you have too many, prioritize them based on what is more time-sensitive and important for progress.
- Identify logical next steps to move towards the bigger goal for every day of the week. There might be important tasks that need your attention or follow-up.
- Define a maximum of three daily steps to achieve your set daily goal. This will help you achieve your weekly goals with certainty. To make it easier, you can use the weekly goal template below.
Attention: It’s up to you how many weekly goals you set. However, you must take into account the time commitment each of them will take. Keep in mind that unexpected interruptions will help you to not overcommit yourself.
Make Sure Your Goals Have the Right Characteristics
- It has to be specific. Ask yourself what you want to achieve this particular week. Not every week is the same. So, what is your goal for this specific week? Make sure it’s specific and achievable.
- It has to be realistically achievable. Having a realistic approach will allow you to move forward with more ease. Don’t deem yourself down either. Go over the “safe” (easily achievable) goal and take one step further. If there’s no way you can reach your goal, you’re setting yourself up for failure.
- It has to be measurable. This means adding a set amount of time to your goal. Whether those are days, hours, minutes, or a set number of specific aspects in your goals.
Step 3: Schedule Your Goals Into Your Calendar
If you will just keep your goals on your to-do list, they will stay there for a very long time.
We know very well that to-do lists tend to have a never-ending aspect to them. This means that you are more likely to struggle by completing the tasks in your imagined time frame. Nothing kills motivation like a never-ending to-do list. This is why everything important should go directly into your calendar. Specific time blocks that allow you to see when and for how long you should be working on a task.
You know how the saying goes: if you don’t plan your day, someone else will plan it for you. And this is something you want to avoid because that’s how you stop being a leader and start being a follower of other people’s goals.
We all have limited time. By scheduling your goal-reaching tasks, you emphasize how important it is for you to complete them. This keeps you accountable and motivates you to take action towards your goals.
Consider this: You are more likely to follow through with your scheduled commitments when planning according to your productivity flow. Knowing your daily rhythm will help to make necessary adjustments in your plan and schedule accordingly.
For example, you can put your most important tasks during the time when you feel most attentive, creative, and alert. On the other hand, you can plan the downtime when you feel tired or tend to get distracted.
Step 4: Set Reminders
Set reminders to take action. It’s great to plan out your steps towards weekly goals. It’s great to allocate time for each of the steps in your calendar to be sure that you actually create time for them. Weekly goals are only a week long. But it never hurts to set reminders for yourself throughout the week for those smaller daily steps. Because if you get distracted and fail to complete your goals, you made all that previous work for nothing.
The most important step of them all is to take action. Make sure you remind yourself of your commitments. Don’t let yourself slide off the path that you have intentionally started to pave for yourself.
Step 5: Celebrate Your Achievements
Learn to celebrate your achievements, no matter how small. This is a big part of setting weekly goals that will change your life. It creates a sense of a job well done and motivates you to create even greater weekly goals further on.
People often forget to celebrate smaller wins and tend to focus on monthly, quarterly, or yearly achievements. But every small step that leads you towards your bigger vision is worth celebrating, even if it means sipping a freshly made smoothy on your tears for 10 minutes.
Take a moment to acknowledge the work and the fact that you have accomplished your goal. It can be enough to feel good about your progress and motivated to continue. To motivate you further, ask yourself, “what will you do when you achieve that goal?” Or, “what will you have to do if you don’t?”
Bonus Practice: Write down your weekly goad every single day for that week every morning. This will set your mindset into the success mode subconsciously, which will help you achieve it more effortlessly.
If, for some reason, you haven’t achieved your weekly goals, reflect and ask yourself: “what was the biggest obstacle?” Understanding what got in your way will help you overcome these obstacles much easier in the future.
Take Time to Make time
Slowing down and reflecting on what has been working and what hast is a time well spent. Taking the time to reassess your goals may be the best thing you can do to be successful at achieving them week by week.
Ensure your goals are framed in the best possible way. Put a set amount of time aside to plan your weekly goals and block that time in your calendar. You might not need all of the time you set aside, but the point is to make time to truly plan your weekly goals. This way, you will be making more time to follow your goals and will not feel stretched and pressured.
Most and foremost it’s about making progress in the right direction. It’s not about achieving every single goal you set for yourself. It’s about continuing even if you don’t succeed at first. Every great guru and success story started with the first step.
More Tips on How to Goals Setting
- 9 Types of Goals to Get Your Life Moving in the Right Direction
- The Importance of Daily and Weekly Planning
Featured photo credit: Cathryn Lavery via unsplash.com
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