Setting Measurable Goals

One of the most important aspects of achieving a goal successfully is to measure its progress regularly.  A goal should be set in a way that it could be measured in terms of time and performance.

In this article, we will look at setting measurable goals and how to monitor your goal setting progress.

(This article was written by Kim)

Measurable Goal Setting

Suppose you have set a goal to lose weight fast. You setup your tasks and deadlines and start working upon it. However, after a few days you either forget about goal setting or you feel disinterested.

This happens very often with most of us, and the basic reason is due to a lack, or complete absence, of setting measurable goals.

A goal setting measuring procedure not only provides helpful insight regarding the progress of goal, but it also helps to keep you motivated to achieve the desired outcome.

Goal setting should be measured in two broad terms in order to be successful. These categories for setting measurable goals are as follows:

A. Measurable Time Based Goal Setting

This type of goal setting involves short term goals and long term goals. Whether it is short or long term goal setting, its progress need to be monitored constantly.

When setting a goal its deadlines should also be monitored and followed accordingly. For example, you set yourself a goal to achieve a grade “A” in your exams.

In this case, you should break your final goal into several smaller, time based sub-goals. Like first getting an ”A” in the weekly tests, then in the monthly exams and finally in the term examinations.

Measuring smaller goals is easier as compared to the bigger ones. Whatever your goal is, you need to break it into some or many sub-goals and set deadlines to meet them accordingly.

B. Measurable Performance Based Goal Setting

Another important method to measure goal setting is to evaluate your goals on the basis of your performance.

Performance can only be measured over time. Measuring it on weekly basis is mostly recommended as it gives a true picture of your daily progress.

To measure your performance, you need to identify that how many sub-goals have been achieved in a given time. It should also be noted if you were able to meet the set deadlines or you had to override them.

Keeping the same example as above, suppose you had 4 weekly tests and 2 monthly exams.

You noticed that you could not get the grade “A” in many of your exams, and this reflects clearly that overall you had a poor performance for the goals you set for yourself.

This poor performance is a kind of warning for you. It tells that if you will not improve your progress, you would be unable to achieve the goals you have set for yourself, i.e. to achieve grade “A” in your final exams.

Likewise, whatever goal you have, first you should break it into several sub-goals and set deadlines for them. Then once the deadlines for some of the sub-goals have passed, sit back and relax and review your performance.

Note down how many sub-goals were met within deadlines, and how many of the goals you set yourself could not be achieved successfully.

This gives you a clearer picture of your performance and enables you to take any urgent steps in order to achieve your final goal setting goals.

Goal Setting Conclusion

Always try to make your goal statements in written form before starting to work upon goal setting. Take care that your goals are measurable, realistic and achievable in terms of your time and performance.

Divide your principal goal into several sub-goals, while each of them having their own deadlines. Your principal goal should also have its own deadline.

Measure your goal setting progress by observing how many deadlines you were able to meet, and how many deadlines brought no success for your sub-goals.

If you find fruitful results, reward yourself with something. However, if you see yourself performing poorly or procrastinating, take immediate steps to overcome the shortcomings.

If you follow these steps, most of your goal setting will bring fruitful and promising results for you.

(This article was written by Kim)