How to keep following your goals

Let’s say you have achieved a few things, such as completed your education, and after a few graduate jobs settled into your career. Are you sometimes worried that you will get too comfortable and let your dreams slip away? This article will show you how to keep track of your goals and how you can make sure you don’t get lost on the way.

“The price of success is hard work, dedication to the job at hand, and the determination that whether we win or lose, we have applied the best of ourselves to the task at hand.”

― Vince Lombardi

You have reached so much already: you know your goal(s) and are keeping an eye on them.

Now, let’s ask ourselves: how do we really carry out our goals?

Of course, one approach would be to plan. But, in this article, I will not be talking about planning. Another way to tackle your goals is to set tasks. Your goal is a destination you are aiming to reach. If you were able to reach it in one day, that would be great! But, if we think about it, most big goals are time-consuming. They may need some time to be reached, but, when they are, they are a huge reward.

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So, you need steps through which you will be moving towards your goal. You cannot jump into it at once. Those steps are the tasks.

Let us assume that the goal you are currently working towards is Learn C++. As you start your day, assign yourself tasks you would like to do. This will help you move closer towards your goal.

On a sheet of paper entitled Learn C++, list the tasks you wish to achieve on that particular day.

From a technology perspective, you can use a To-Do software. See Fig.1 for a To-Do list example.

Figure 1: A To-Do list showing the tasks to be achieved for the Learn C++ goal

By following this strategy, not only will you be organized when tackling your goal, it will also serve as an assessment of your work towards a particular day’s goal. Once you finish each task, tick it. You will then have an overview of how much work you can handle per day.

Checklist

Write down the tasks you want to achieve in the day when working towards a goal

Use the checklist above to write down your tasks and get an overview of how much work you can handle at a time. This way you can structure your sessions and find out how much time is needed to achieve your goal.

I hope you found this article helpful. Please feel free to share it with your friends and colleagues. If you would like to read more on how to realise your goals, we recommend the eBook “A Practical Guide to a Productive Day and Life” by Abder-Rahman Ali.

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