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Are you lost and do not know how to continue with your professional and personal development? Have you been feeling bored with what you do lately, or is it not filling you up like it used to? You probably need personal goals that allow you to feel more motivated . It does not matter if you are just starting a university career, if you have already graduated and started working, or if you have already been in your job for 10, 15 or 20 years. If you are single, or have been in a relationship for 10 years: at all times you must have goals that motivate you to improve yourself and, through them, you can discover what direction you want for your life.

In this post we will expose you to some tips to establish your own goals , ranging from the shortest possible term (such as waking up for the first time at 5 in the morning), to those that seem more distant and difficult to achieve.

Before you start setting your goals, we recommend not forgetting three important requirements:

1. Consider your health: sleep well, eat well, and exercise. A person who does not take care of himself sooner or later loses the energy to meet difficult goals.
2. Invest in personal relationships. Not just friends and family, also look for mentors, people with experience who have already achieved the things you want to achieve.
3. Take risks! If you don’t get out of your comfort zone, you won’t learn new things.

Now yes, let’s set goals!

In order to decide which life goals to choose in the first place , sit down and ask yourself the following:

What do I like to do?

This question will give you departure to know what you can excel at, especially if the goal is professional or academic. Don’t think something is insignificant. Write, if possible, a list of everything you enjoy and are passionate about. Read stories, play video games, draw plans, solve math problems … If you are passionate about it, you can go very far in that area if that makes it your goal.

What do I know how to do?

It is important that, from the table made previously, you can select everything that you are passionate about and that, in addition, you do very well. This will allow you to realize what the next step may be for your profession or your life. Another option may be to select what you like, but are not very agile, and set it as your goal.

What do I want to make of myself? In what way do I want to grow?

This is the next point that will give you clarity on your goals. If you want to grow in your interpersonal relationships, this question will make you notice. If your interest is more for the professional and academic sense, you can also discover it at this time.

Once the above is done, and only being clear about this, the next step is to be able to solve the following question:

How do I look in X years?

You put the X, it will be along your goal. Always make sure that the answer to this question is not too vague or common. Identify the differences between the following answers:

How do I see myself in 10 years?

• Being a successful person, with a stable job
• Traveling all over the world, with a very good job and a family
• As the CEO of X Mobile, 5 countries visited and with a master’s degree in Data Science

You may notice that the first and second answers will apply to many people, but very few will have the third vision. What distinguishes it from the others is its clarity and low ambiguity. As you answer that question clearly and concisely, you can work well on the next steps in setting a goal.

Also notice how the third vision is aware of 3 things, which can be obtained by conscientiously answering the questions in the first step. That person who set the goal probably enjoys leading teams, phone companies, travel, and data science. In addition, he is aware that he is good at being an administrator and studying, and he wanted to improve himself both in the professional, academic and leisure areas. Hence, he had clarity to form his vision.

It is that vision that will help you create your own goals. If at this point you still don’t have that transparency of what you want from yourself, go back to the first step. Think and meditate until you can come up with your answer.

Now, it ‘s time to define your goals. These should be formed by 5 characteristics: the SMART methodology can help you.

Specific: Your goals should be very specific, so that there is no ambiguity when it comes to achieving them. Being CEO of Google, Project Manager of X company… However, they must be open enough to have a certain degree of flexibility when complying with them, especially in case the circumstances around them may change. For example, visiting 5 countries, taking a diploma in Financial Intelligence, exercising 5 times a week (see how in this one we can set free what the 2 days of rest will be, since it may be the case that they must be constantly changed by labor issues). Despite the above, remember to always be SPECIFIC.

Measurable: Something that cannot be measured, you cannot know if it was achieved or not. Be very careful that your goal has something that it can be compared to, or, at least, that at some point you can know if you achieved it or not. In the example of the vision, a measurable goal might be “Finish Master’s in Data Science at X University, with Y as average.” We have a very specific goal, which also has 3 ways to measure itself: finishing the master’s degree is one of them (the main achievement), the University is another (although it is a nominal variable, it can be answered whether it was achieved or not) and the average it is the latter (a quantitative variable that can be perfectly measurable). To the extent that you can measure your goal, you will be able to evaluate your progress, and thus be able to work on achieving it.

Attainable: Speaking of reaching your goal, set goals that are challenging enough so you don’t get bored easily, but achievable enough that you don’t give up. The important thing at this point is to define whether, at this moment, with the resources you have, it is possible to achieve what you are proposing. Although there are no impossibilities, perhaps it is not the right time for certain types of goals. Imposing them as a purpose instead of challenging yourself will frustrate you. Always take care that it is the exact moment to fulfill your goals.

Relevant: This is, perhaps, one of the most important points of your goals. That is why we made you assess what is truly essential for you. If your goal is relevant enough to your life, then work hard to achieve it. If this is not the case, or it is a goal resulting from the pressure of an external factor, then achieving it will not fill you, indeed, it will make you wonder why you met it, for what, for what reason. If it’s not important to you, don’t do it!

Timely: Finally, your goals must have a deadline. If not, they will never be urgent, and you won’t work to get them. At first, we advise you to consider some that are long term (from 5 years onwards), so that later you can divide them into short and medium term “mini-goals”. Thus, you will always have something to do and you will be working on fulfilling your dreams.

In conclusion, try to follow these steps to define and establish your long-term goals. With them in mind, you can work on fulfilling your dreams. There is no use dreaming if you don’t make them come true, even if it sounds very cliché. Remember that no dreamer is small and no dream is too big. Think what you want, set goals and ACHIEVE THEM!