Goal Setting Framework: Practical Guide To Long-Term Strategic Goals

‘Life’s Goals’, something we often hear, especially in the productivity or self-improvement spaces; the solution to your life’s problems. In the past few years, we all have seen a surge in the hype of ‘achieving your goals and getting the life you want’ across Social Media platforms. So-called lifestyle coaches and self-help gurus echo how your goals and discipline are the source of success. While it is important for all of us to have goals, no one ever stresses enough on the correct way of setting our goals, so that they are practical and achievable; how can we be better at achieving what we want in life? You can also learn the fundamentals of goal setting through the blueprint app’s strategic goal setting and management mechanism, which carefully guides you into designing goals in a strategic and practical yet flexible approach.

But why is it so important? Well, because many people set goals, only to end up failing. They lose interest, get busy with life, get overwhelmed, don’t know where to begin, procrastinate and so on. You’ll hear hundreds of excuses. But the root of the problem is always the same i.e. improper and inadequate planning. Have you heard this saying: “Failing to plan is planning to fail.”? Yes, most people fail on their goals because they never gave a single thought on making their goals practical, realistic and well-planned. This is the reason why most people are doomed to repeat their new year’s resolutions. After years of failure and mistakes myself, I have finally learned and understood the step-by-step approach to goal-setting. And now, I feel  this knowledge and experience can be valuable in helping others do the same.

What is the structural approach to practical, strategic long-term goal-setting?

So, let’s dive into the main theme of this article, i.e. the framework of goal setting, that will help us transform our ambitions and visions into practical and strategic long-term goals, accelerating our progress and solidifying our chances of success. These are the rules and the core philosophy:

A goal needs to be time-bound

Normally, people set goals at the start of the new year, only to realize at the end of the year that they still have not taken a single step. When you do not define a timeframe to do something, you neither feel the urgency nor the pressure to start moving. When you set a deadline, you are more aware of time that is being wasted or not utilised properly. Hence, you end in a loop of setting a goal, procrastinating, delay and back to step one. See how there is no place for failure or success, either one would have forced you to take some actions. I want to stress this as much as possible. Something is not a goal if it does not have a deadline. Else it turns into a wish list that you will never get serious about.

Another thing we need to be mindful about is how to set deadlines that are realistic? You can’t just say ‘I want to lose 10kg in a month.’ or ‘I want to make 10 friends in a week.’ Being impractical is worse than procrastinating. Unrealistic deadlines will only give you failures and damage your self-confidence and trust. You need to be mindful of things like how big is my goal or how much effort it requires or does it rely on other people or how much free time do I have in hand currently and so on. This helps you get a correct estimate of how much time you can set. Not too little to make you fail and not too big to make you lose interest or procrastinate.

Not every goal is important

This is one of the most common pitfalls that most people fall into. You see people’s lists that have goals like “complete thesis”, “get promotion”, “make new friends” and all of a sudden you spot “watch less youtube” or “drink less coffee” or “use social media”. Now, I do not want to imply that it is stupid (some people do have serious addiction problems) but surely getting a promotion or completing your education is more important than drinking less coffee. What I mean to say is that it is important that we learn how to prioritize your goals. Why? Because we are not in abundance of energy, time, resources and willpower. Just like how a car needs fuel to reach a destination, you need all of the above to get to your destination. If you start to wander to less important places then you will not reach your destination. You need to be mindful of where you want to concentrate your focus, energy and time.

Another significant reason to prioritize your goals is because you can get lost or distracted easily. Completing your degree is way harder than missing a few cups of coffee. This unfortunately will cause most people to start finding a sense of accomplishment in the easier things than the harder ones. The harder ones require more effort and have serious implications on failure. Hence, they will only pursue the easier things and avoid the most significant ones. Prioritizing your goals will help you avoid this.

Progress must be measurable

You might be wondering how can making friends or losing weight or reading more be measurable? Can you even quantify these things? Yes, they can be if done right. That is why I said why planning is important. Before I get to why measurement is important, let us see how goals can be measured. For example losing weight can be losing 2.5 kg per month for 4 months straight. That would be 20% progress every month. Or Reading 1 book every month for 6 months straight which would be 16.67% each month. You get what I mean.

Now, let’s talk about why measuring progress is necessary. Unless you can measure where you are in terms of progress and achievement, your goal will never end and you will get exhausted; You will start to lose interest, deplete your willpower, get overwhelmed by a never ending pursuit and feel no real sense of achievement. It will turn into a never-ending journey. In a world of quick gratification, you know how difficult this can be. Hence, goals need to be quantifiable so you can measure their progress. Seeing actual progress will keep your morale and motivation up, make you feel like you are moving forward, help you stay consistent and make you stay committed to your cause. In addition, you can also never test if you are making any progress; You will not be able to determine what things are actually working, where you are failing or getting stuck, where you need to make improvements and adjustments, where you need to make extra effort, etc. These things are extremely important for ensuring your momentum as well as improving your goal setting skills for the future as well.

A goal needs clarity and details

Details are important when planning for something. Being specific is crucial in every aspect, especially when setting goals. If you do not know which route leads to your destination, you will get lost. Time for another saying which goes like “If you do not know which port to sail, no wind is favourable.” If it’s not clear, let me elaborate. If you do not know what you want to achieve, no amount of effort will help you. You will end up wasting time and energy pursuing aiming for a target you cannot see, only to give up at the end.

When planning and setting your goals, avoid being vague. Your goal needs to be as detailed as possible so that you know where to begin and where to end. Being specific about something prevents us from getting lost or feeling overwhelmed. Having all the information necessary will help you know how many steps to take, how much time and effort to spend on each task, what resources you need, is the goal realistic, how much time will it take, is the goal’s success dependent on other people and much more.

Let’s see an example. When people say they want to lose weight, they make it vague. The most important bit is how much and by when. This can get even more detailed. Which part of the body do you want to focus on? Arms? Stomach? Lower Back? How will you do it? Joining a gym? Improving your diet? More Exercise? You see where I am going with this. Being specific about something helps us be practical, reinforces our commitment, keeps our morale going, helps us take better steps, maintain consistency and much more.

A goal can be broken down into small steps

A key feature of a well designed goal is that it can be broken down into manageable steps, called Milestones. Think of them as checkpoints. Why is this important? Because small steps lead to massive changes. A journey is not completed in one massive leap or sprint, it is done with small consistent steps. Steps or checkpoints not only ensure you make consistent progress without exhausting yourself, they also ensure you are taking the correct actions and moving in the right direction. They make your goals measurable and specific as well (I already mentioned how that is important above). These checkpoints ensure you do not get lost or most importantly do not feel overwhelmed and lose motivation or interest. A lot of people set big goals that are so intimidating that it scares the person who sets them. You need to break such ambitious goals into stages that you are capable of reaching. If you try to shove down a whole piece of meat, you will choke. You need to take small bites and chew slowly. The same is true for your goals, unless they are really small or short ones.

Let’s see another example. Say you want to “complete your thesis” (or a big assignment). If you start right away without thinking anything, you will likely get stuck, feel overwhelmed and end up postponing your task. You need to define your checkpoints. First start with a little research about your topic, then do some literature review, then figure out the importance of your research, then move to data collection, finally analyze and process your data and arrive at a conclusion. You start with a rough sample and slowly trim and refine it. Each of these steps can be further broken down into manageable pieces.

A goal must be realistic

I know what you’re thinking. “Well of course. It can’t be something unrealistic.” But see, this is more complex than that. By realistic, I do not mean that you shouldn’t be delusional or have imaginary expectations (That is a given right?) I am saying most people will set a goal that realistically takes 1-2 years, expecting to complete it in 6 months. This is what is called a Pipe Goal. Let me give a couple of examples: “Buy a house next year.” when you are barely scrapping by or have no savings or investment. “Marry next year” when you do not even have a relationship currently. See where I am going with this.

Goals must be compatible with your current status and ability. You can not expect something to happen in a month or so, when in your current position, it might take a year. That’s why I mean when I say ‘be realistic’. You can not expect to get rich next year when, just this year, you are new at your job. You need to balance your ambition with your current abilities and situation. Not doing so will only crush your confidence and give you nothing but disappointment.

Hence, ensuring your goals are also based on the above principles will transform them into practical and strategic yet flexible plans that you will likely be able to achieve in the desired timeframe. Remember, planning comes before execution and we all know that a good beginning is the key for a good journey.

FAQs – Additional Information & Queries

What is the ideal duration for a goal?

For any goal, it is recommended to have a goal deadline of maximum 3 months, 6 months if the goal is long-term. Why? Because things change faster than we expect.

Not every goal is important!? How to know which ones are then?

The way to differentiate or rank your goals is to analyze and assess them based on these two factors: ROI and Practicality. ROI i.e. Return on Investment, in this context means what sort of impact will this goal have on changing my life for the better. Practicality in the sense that Is it possible for me to complete this goal within the time frame and resources currently available to me?

How can I avoid Pipe Goals?

Pipe Goals are dangerous as they feed you unrealistic expectations. To avoid them, you need to first assess your current situation and assess the requirements of completing the goal you have in mind. Then ask yourself this: will my current situation allow me to pursue or achieve it? & What and how many steps or stages do I need to go through to reach my goal?

I do not know where and how to begin. How can I start planning my goals and not get lost?

Just think of the first two steps! The rest of the process will slowly reveal itself and you will be clear about the path to take. And give yourself a bit room to breathe; if you think something takes a month, add an extra month just to adjust and adapt. And remember to follow this article!