How to Achieve Your Goals in 10 Steps

Do you struggle with goal setting or wonder how to achieve your goals? Whether you have set goals for yourself or your students have set goals, it is important to follow these 10 steps to achieve the goals.  Many times we have high aspirations and lofty goals especially at the start of the school year or a new year.  Then when we hit one small bump in the road we give up or lower the goal.

Do you struggle with goal setting or wonder how to achieve your goals? Whether you have set goals for yourself or your students have set goals, it is important to follow these 10 steps to achieve the goals.

You will find that these 10 steps can apply to anything you have set your mind to accomplish whether it be professional, academic, educational or personal goals.

How to Achieve Your Goals By Following These 10 Steps 

  1. Take action.
  2. Try hard.
  3. Keep practicing.
  4. Explore a different way.
  5. Ask someone how to do it better.
  6. Do your best.
  7. Learn how others have done it.
  8. Build upon your strengths.
  9. Review and fix any mistakes.
  10. Don’t give up. 

Example of Following the 10 Steps to Reach Your Goals

Let’s pretend you are sick and tired of bringing paperwork home with you at the end of the day.  You decide to set this professional goal: “I will document all my therapy sessions immediately following the session 100% of the time by June of 2019”.

  1.  Take action – document after your first session.
  2. Try hard – don’t make excuses.
  3. Keep practicing – maybe you miss a session but keep practicing to stay on top of the documentation.
  4. Explore a different way. – if you find it is too difficult to do, what could you do differently?
  5. Ask someone how to do it better. – ask a co-worker for suggestions.
  6. Do your best. – give it your best effort.
  7. Learn how others have done it. – if your coworkers can’t help, explore other options through research or online groups.
  8. Build upon your strengths. – if something is working (i.e. voice to text, checklists, templates, etc) see what else you could document in this manner.
  9. Review and fix any mistakes. – check what isn’t working and fix it.
  10. Don’t give up. – keep trying.  Start back at step one if necessary until you reach your goal.

Self-Monitor your Progress

It can be very helpful to learn how to achieve your goals by tracking your own progress.  This encourages you or your students to see that you are making changes.  This allows you to take ownership of your goals and hopefully increase your internal drive.  Baby steps turn into big steps and it can be beneficial to track the baby steps to keep reaching for the big steps or goals.

Encourage students to track their own progress with My Goal Tracker.

My Goal Tracker student data collection

My Goal Tracker is an electronic book of data collection forms for students to track their own progress. The student can track his/her goals over time, by monitoring the skills over the course of a day, week, month or quarter. This allows the student to get a visual picture of improvement, decline or maintenance of different skills.

Included in this download is the following: samples of completed forms, goals setting worksheet, improvement ideas worksheet, goal tracking cards (for trials or percentage) and graphs to complete for daily, weekly, monthly or quarterly progress (number of trials out of 10, percentage or minutes). There is also one blank form for you to label if you are monitoring goals in a different manner. Complete the goal worksheet, print the necessary forms and place in a binder. The student can then graph his/her progress accordingly.  By having the students track their own goals they will take ownership of their progress. It doesn’t get any easier than this to track progress. Find out more.

Self-Reflection to Reach Your Goals

Try using self-reflection to learn how to achieve your goals.  It can help determine if there is a pattern meaning certain strategies seem to help more than others.

Using a self-reflection journal helps you analyze your professional and personal growth.  By keeping a record of your ideas, reasons, actions, techniques, and assessments you can plan for your future and facilitate a positive outcome.

Reflective Journaling for Therapists, Teachers, Parents and Students digital download includes the materials to help you analyze your personal and professional growth.  By keeping a record of your ideas, reasons, actions, techniques, and assessments you can play for your future and facilitate a positive outcome.  

Anyone can benefit from reflective journaling.  Professionals can use critical thinking to improve their decision-making skills.  Parents as primary teachers of children can reflect on how to foster independence and growth in themselves and their children.  Students can problem solve assignments to improve academic growth.

Read more on goal setting and productivity

8 Steps to Productivity

Self Improvement to Help Achieve Goals

How to Maximize Time Spent on Goal Practice During Therapy Sessions

Participation Goals and Worksheets for Young People with Disabilities

Writing SMART Goals for School Based OT and PT

Do you struggle with goal setting or wonder how to achieve your goals? Whether you have set goals for yourself or your students have set goals, it is important to follow these 10 steps to achieve the goals.

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