Goal Setting Worksheets

The importance of goal setting worksheets

Intelligent goal setting is an important part of any successful self-esteem recovery. Goal setting worksheets can help you define your goals and track your progress.

The best goals are ones that are completely reachable, but make you work to achieve them. Achievable goals are ones that have a clear and specific aim, a game plan, and a set deadline for completion. Self-esteem building goals are ones that when reached, provide a solid foundation for the next set of goals and the next.

Determining your goals for life

How do you determine goals for your life, and how do you make sure they are the right ones? Ask yourself what you want to achieve, and write it down at the top of a sheet of paper. Then divide the rest of the page into three columns:

1. A specific description of the goal with a realistic deadline.

2. Reasons why you want to achieve the goal.

3. Obstacles that might make it hard.

For example, your goal might be to lose weight. In this case, a specific description and deadline might be to lose fifteen pounds in six months. In the ‘reasons why’ column you should put any number of things – to feel better physically, to look better to yourself, to improve your health overall, to relieve back and knee pain, or to decrease the chance of complicating other conditions, such as diabetes or thyroid deficiency.

If your reasons are more like ‘I want to look like a model’ or ‘I want to be a size 2’ you may want to look again to make sure this is really a smart goal (one that will truly benefit your life) or a reaction to some unrealistic standard you feel compelled to live up to.

If you are already only a size 4, you could in reality not have a weight problem at all – simply a poor self image. In that case, a better goal might be to learn to appreciate your body and your health instead of obsessing about a few stray pounds!

If your reasons are sound, move on to obstacles. This is not to discourage you, but to help figure out a way to break the goal into manageable steps and avoid getting bogged down.

Obstacles to losing weight could include having a hard time keeping to a strict diet, or not having time to exercise. Coming up with a plan to ease your way into a solid routine – make each step something you can succeed at and the next step will be that much easier.

Breaking down your goals

Make a schedule or mark your calendar for milestones that break down your goal into manageable sections. If you feel that you must diet but will have a hard time giving up certain things, choose just one to concentrate on for two weeks.

At the end of that time, choose another thing to give up, and a week later add another. Make sure you add something to take the place of what you are giving up – replace soda with flavored fizzy water or unsweetened juice, and stock carrot sticks and low-fat dip to get you through your potato chip cravings.

Do you see how goal setting can be easier when you plan ahead? Anyone can eat a whale if they cut the bites small enough. By following the steps above, you will create a worksheet that will help you define any goal you set, make a plan to achieve it, and track your progress day by day.

Goal setting worksheet 1

 

What do you want to achieve? Name your goal:

Describe your goal, being as specific as possible:

Set a deadline for the completion of your goal:

Tell why you want to achieve this goal:

List the obstacles in your way, and how you plan to overcome them:

Recognize three qualities you have which will help you reach your goal:

1.

2.

3.

This homemade goal setting worksheet will help you plan and follow through on achieving your goal. Also see the SMART goal setting page for more tips on how to set and achieve goals!

Goal setting worksheet 2

Creating a goal-setting worksheet is a great way to visually organize your goals and track your progress. Here’s a detailed template for a worksheet that can help you apply the SMART criteria to your goals. You can recreate this template in a digital spreadsheet for easier editing and tracking or print it out for a physical copy.

Goal Setting Worksheet Template

Personal Information
Name: [Your Name]
Date: [Current Date]
Goal Setting Date: [Date you start setting goals]
Review Date: [Date for reviewing progress]

Goal #1

Specific Goal: [Clearly define what you want to achieve.]
Measure of Success: [How will you quantify your goal? What does success look like?]

Action Steps:

[Step 1: The first action you’ll take.]
[Step 2: Subsequent actions to follow.]
[…]
Resources Needed: [List the resources (books, courses, tools, etc.) you need.]

Achievability:

Skills Needed: [What skills do you need to learn or improve?]
Plan to Acquire Skills/Resources: [How will you acquire the needed skills/resources?]
Relevance: [Why is this goal important to you? How does it align with your values or long-term objectives?]
Deadline: [Set a specific date for when you plan to achieve this goal.]
Milestones: [Break your goal into smaller milestones with their own deadlines.]

[Milestone 1: Description and deadline]
[Milestone 2: Description and deadline]
[…]

Potential Obstacles:

[Obstacle 1: Identify potential barriers and how you plan to overcome them.]
[…]

Review and Adjustments:

Date of First Review: [Set a date to review your progress.]
Notes on Adjustments: [Note any adjustments made to the goal or plan during the review.]
[Repeat for Goal #2, Goal #3, etc.]

Final Reflections

Overall Progress: [Reflect on the progress made towards your goals.]
Achievements: [List down the achievements and milestones reached.]
Lessons Learned: [What have you learned from the process? Any insights?]
Next Steps: [Based on your current progress and experiences, outline your next steps.]

This worksheet is designed to be flexible and can be customized to fit any type of goal, whether personal, educational, or professional. By filling out each section, you’ll develop a clear and actionable plan that not only outlines what you want to achieve but also how you plan to do it, why it’s important, and what steps you need to take to get there.

Remember, the key to successful goal setting is not just in defining what you want to achieve but in mapping out a realistic and detailed plan to get there.