Achieving Your Goals

After you have achieved a goal you should take the time to enjoy the satisfaction of a job well done. Bask in the satisfaction of your goal achievement and study the progress you have made towards your other goals (assuming your successful goal was a smaller one in an overall plan).

Many people have the urge to reward themselves after they have achieved a goal, and that's a good thing… within reason! Your reward should be satisfying, but it should not detract from or negatively impact the goal you just met, or future goals.

For example, would an alcoholic celebrate a month of staying clean by hitting the bar? No way! Not only would that cast a negative light on his prior achievement, it would also harm his long-term goal of a permanent sober lifestyle.

If your goal was lose five pounds then it might not hurt you to splurge on a slice of pizza, but if you have an eating binge you will find yourself gaining a good portion of the weight you lost.

On the other hand don't downplay your accomplishments so much that your achieved goal becomes a footnote rather than a cause for celebration. Anytime you meet a goal, no matter how small it is, you have reason to be proud and celebratory.

Shortly after accomplishing your goal you should review your remaining goal plans and consider the following:

  • Was your goal perhaps a bit too easy? If so, increase the challenge of your next one.
  • On the flip side, if your goal was extremely stressful or difficult then lighten the challenge of your next one if possible. You don't want to burn out on your path to personal improvement.
  • Are there any tools or skills you should obtain to make your next goals smoother?
  • Should you reevaluate or modify your existing goals worksheet? Although the goals worksheet you created laid out a blueprint for your future actions or steps, you should not hesitate to tweak it as needed.

In previous articles the importance of Prioritizing Your Goals was discussed. It's time to reevaluate and reprioritize you goals once again. Have circumstances in your life changed such that your current long-term goal is no longer compatible to your needs?

Let's face it, as years go by and circumstances change, often our priorities do too. A bachelor may have once placed his physical appearance and fitness at the highest priority, but years later once he has a family he may find that time spent working out at the gym might be better spent pursuing other goals, such as time with the family or expanding the family income.

Ideally you would follow a goal through until the end, but always keep in mind that you call the shots and determine which goals are the most important. If your heart isn't into your goal then there's really little point in continuing because you don't possess the motivation to succeed. Just try to make sure that when you stop pursuing a goal you're doing so because you're transferring to a more important goal rather than simply giving up all forms of self-improvement.

Life is a journey, and all successful journeys start with planning – and executing – goals.

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