After you’ve decided on the goal(s) you want to aim for you’re ready to formulate and take the specific actions that move you towards achieving your goals in life. The saying ‘well begun is half done’ is true – planning well and considering all the possible outcomes gets you off to a flying start. Taking action is so much easier when you’ve really looked at what you believe is possible for you, you’re aware of the resources and options you have, and the values that guide you.

You also need to ensure that the circumstances you’re in when you’re taking these actions are those that make it easiest for you to succeed. This chapter takes a look at how you can build an effective action plan to sustain you through the ups and downs of your journey.

Smarten up your goal setting

You already have some compelling whole-life goals sitting on your horizon. At the moment, these goals are a broad vision of how you want your life to be at some point soon. You also have some possible options in mind to get you there. The first stage of taking action is to bring those whole life goals into full sight and apply the SMARTEN UP goal setting guidelines to the whole process (we explain this acronym in a moment). This process means getting up close and personal with the what, how, where, and who associated with your goals.

Your brain needs clear instructions about what, how, and when to achieve that which you want. The SMARTEN UP goal-setting model is a great method to help you on your way.

To be realistically achievable, your goal (or in some instances, you) must be:

• Specific
• Measurable
• Achievable and appealing 
• Realistic
• Timed
• Enthusiastic
• Natural
• Understood
• Prepared

Here are all the elements of cast-iron, can’t-fail SMARTEN UP goal setting in more detail.

Specific

Your goal must be specific. Saying that you want to ‘get fitter' isn’t enough because your brain has no clear way to interpret that type of instruction. Fitness for you may be getting slim, being more energetic, getting more toned, growing stronger, or becoming free of disease. Or perhaps all of the above!

When you formulate your goals, think carefully about the aspects of each goal that are most important to you. You can give each aspect a priority ranking to keep you focused on what really works for you, or to help you pinpoint your hot buttons. Designing your plan to get fit then allows you to major in the options that generate the most important results for you. If energy is vital, look at how you eat and the exercise you do to get the maximum impact in this area.

Measurable

Your goal must be measurable. If you want to tackle your smoking habit, you must quantify what you want to achieve. For example, this may be to cut out smoking completely from your life or to reduce the number of cigarettes you smoke by a stated amount. Again, your brain needs clear instruction or it doesn’t know where to start, and procrastination sets in.

Achievable or appealing

The A in SMARTEN UP can be ‘achievable’, but ‘appealing’ is often a more meaningful measure to apply to your goals. So, is a goal achievable because other people have done it? In the example of buying a French farmhouse, the fact that many other people have successfully moved abroad can be a great impetus for you. On the other hand, you’re not ‘other people’ and thinking too much about this as a measure can sometimes get in your way. You may even prevent yourself from going for a goal that you can achieve because you lack a precedent. Think of Roger Bannister running a mile in 4 minutes – if he had applied the ‘achievable’ measure he never would have attempted to set this record because the whole world was telling him it was impossible.

Your goal must also be attractive and compelling for you. Focusing on the undesirable effects of continuing to overeat as a motivator for action only goes so far, and you may find that all the negative associations make you feel worse, not better. Instead, find a positive vision for yourself of all of the benefits of eating in a healthy and controlled way – focus on how much you’re likely to enjoy your new lifestyle and your slimmer, healthier body shape.

If you don’t find your goal appealing you can’t get anywhere with it because the goal doesn’t motivate you. If your goal is to lose weight because you think that your partner wants you to, but you’re pretty happy with your body shape, you may well find getting fit a struggle. Either make your goal appealing or find a new goal that makes you want to start the journey.

Realistic

External measures of what may be achievable, such as comparing your circum- stances with those of others, may not be very helpful to you. Nevertheless, you must still ensure that your goal is realistic for you, in the current circum- stances of your life and for your current level of ability. Having a big, stretching goal is wonderful and you can always give yourself permission to reach way beyond your comfort zone, in the knowledge that really wanting to reach your goal helps you to succeed. But you need to ensure that you set yourself up for your own success, so take into account any constraints that you may be working with that may mean a longer journey or an adjustment to your plan.

Perhaps you have other commitments that you want to honour so your goal of travelling the world on horseback has to wait a while or be scaled down. Perhaps you have to look at a series of smaller goals to get you to the point where you have the resources you need to set up your own business.

Being realistic doesn’t mean you have to set limits on yourself, it simply means that you need to figure out how to walk before you can run.

Timed

Your goal must be time-bound or you may find you never quite make it. If you want to get a promotion at work, you succeed more easily if you set your sights on timed milestones to get to that point. You can start out by identifying the skills you want to develop and agree on certain dates when you can attend training or work with a mentor. Then you can set your sights on a role that is available to you and set yourself dates by which to prepare a new CV or practise your interview technique. You can always adjust these times as you gather more information, but the presence of timed milestones helps you to focus on the deadlines that are right for you. Having a time-bound goal is one of the best cures ever for procrastination.

Enthusiastic

As well as your goal being appealing to you, you must also be enthusiastic about the entire journey you take to it. You may want the end result very badly, but if the process of getting you there is too tough and painful, you may find it hard to keep going. You don’t have to subscribe to the glib mantra of ‘no pain, no gain’. OK, achieving your goals may well involve some discomfort and sacrifice, but don’t make it extra hard for yourself by never letting up. If you have explored your options well you’re always able to find a way of getting to your goal that increases your chance of success by boosting your enthusiasm along the way.

Give yourself regular small rewards – even making a call to a friend to celebrate an achievement along the way can give you a boost. Or approach the journey in a way that’s fun for you – perhaps map out your progress on a large sheet of paper, pin it somewhere prominent, and mark it off with coloured pens as you go along. And whatever you do, ensure that you think of ways to celebrate your success as you take each significant step of the way. You make the rules, no one else!

Natural

Your goal must work with your natural instincts. Harness your self-awareness and check all your goals against your intuition. Is this goal really for me? Is it someone else’s goal that I think I should want? Or is my goal so fundamental to me that putting off taking action is simply not an option? If you can’t answer yes to that last question, check out your needs, values, and beliefs and see what changes you can make to your goal to make it fully your own.

Understood

Your goals must be clearly understood by your significant others, whoever they may be – partner, friends, children, work colleagues. They need to know what you are trying to achieve and how they can support you. This doesn’t mean you have to tell everyone your private thoughts and dreams. But you can help yourself by identifying the key players in your life and telling them what they need to know so that they can cheer you on your way. If other people play a big role in getting you to your goal, you need to make sure that they understand what you need from them and are able to support you or work with you.

Prepared

And finally, despite making sure that everyone is rooting for you, you must be prepared for setbacks and perhaps even for negative reactions from others. Even though your nearest and dearest want the best for you, they may find it unsettling to see you racing towards a stretching goal, especially if they wish they were doing so well with the goals in their own lives. Your loved ones may not mean to sabotage you, but they may quite unconsciously pull you back with a stray comment or a small temptation at just the wrong time.

Even if everyone around you is being incredibly supportive, you still may encounter some setbacks along the way. You need to be prepared for the fact that other people may not always be able to offer you the encouragement you need to pick yourself up and carry on. Your loved ones may want you to ‘give yourself a break’ and ease off your efforts for a while. That may be good advice, which you can choose to take. The key is to be prepared for the fact that other people are never so invested in you getting results as you are.

To see exactly how to SMARTEN UP can work for one specific goal consider the following objective that you might set yourself:

I want to sell my house and buy a farmhouse in France by May of next year.

• Does the statement contain a specific goal? Yes, you’ve expressed your goal as a plan to move to a specific place in a specific manner, rather than as a wish simply to ‘move abroad’ for example.
• Is your goal measurable? Can you know when you have achieved it? Yes, when you’re the proud owner of a French farmhouse!
• Is your goal achievable? Yes, many people have done this kind of thing before. And appealing? Yes, you can really see yourself moving in!
• Is your goal realistic? Yes, you’ve investigated the property market on both sides of the Channel, and it seems to be perfectly possible for you to make the move in the current market and in your circumstances.
• Is your goal timed? Yes, you want to do this by May of next year, and you’ve checked that the timescale seems quite realistic.
• Are you enthusiastic about the journey towards your goal? Yes, you’ve already taken steps and started your research. And you’ve planned to spend two hours a week working towards your goal.
• Is the goal a natural one for you? Yes, you’ve spent many happy holidays in France, know the language quite well, and feel at home there already.
• Is the goal understood by the key people in your life? Yes, your family is up for the change and look forward to spending long holidays there.
• Are you prepared for the journey to your goal? Yes, you’ve considered different contingency plans if your ideal farmhouse is out of your budget. You’ve thought through how you may need to adjust your strategy if the sale takes longer than expected or falls through.