In my post on defining goals the other day I mentioned five steps that are important for setting clear goals. This is the first post in a series that will expand on those steps.

It seems almost too simple to make a big deal out of, but the first step in learning how to set goals is determining exactly what it is you want to achieve.

You have to know where you want to end up in order to figure out how you’re going to get there. Makes sense, doesn’t it? But you’d be amazed at the number of people who try and achieve goals that are really nothing more than a vague idea. Consider these and think about how often you’ve heard someone say them, or maybe have even said them yourself:

I want to be rich.
I want to fall in love.
I want to lose weight.

Sound familiar? They’re a good place to start, but until you put some defining characteristics to them, they’re not really goals are they? You have to define what the concepts “rich,” “in love” and “lose weight” actually mean to you before you can create clear goals around them.

So if we were defining a goal for wanting to be rich, you might ask yourself the following questions:

How rich do I want to be?
Do I want to be a millionaire? A billionaire?
Or would I be rich if I just had enough of a cushion to make sure the bills get paid and there’s a steady flow of cash coming in?
There’s no right answer. Only an answer that’s right for you. And once you know what that answer is, then you can set a clear goal around achieving the amount of money that will meet your definition of “rich”.

Once you know exactly what you want to achieve, then you can go on to the second step in defining clear goals: setting a timeline. We’ll talk about that tomorrow.