Setting Small Goals for the Next 3 Months (+ Free Workbook)
How to Set Smaller, More Productive Goals
Diamonds are made under pressure, but humans aren’t necessarily built like diamonds.
The entrepreneur gurus will tell you harmful and unhelpful advice like sleeping 4 hours a day. They will even back it up with “evidence” despite the fact that a very small percentage of the population can live like that without experiencing dangerous sleep deprivation symptoms, let alone thrive like these entrepreneurs appear to be.
The internet is cluttered with articles telling you how to be more productive and accomplish more, and many of the same content are only added pressure.
We aren’t diamonds.
Instead, we are often contradictory, and many people actually thrive off less pressure.
That means setting much smaller goals (and accomplishing more)
In this post, I walk through setting smaller goals that will make you more productive by focusing on a goal that can be accomplished in three months.
I have a free workbook that is linked at the end of this post that can be used as a printable or filled online that walks through each question shown here to help you create smart goals, rewards, and deadlines.
What are your most significant goals?
This could be anything from learning a new language, getting your dream job, or earning a set amount of money per month.
This isn’t a goal that is meant to be achieved within our 3-month timeframe.
This question is asked to keep your focus. All of your little goals will add up to something.
Make your goal smaller and give yourself 3 months.
Relating to the bigger goal talked about above, what is a smaller goal you feel like you can achieve within three months?
Examples:
- Learn 50 of the most common Korean words in 3 months.
- Volunteer 4 hours a week in a volunteer position related to dream career for 3 months.
- Publish 50 posts to blog in 3 months
Notice how these goals are more specific (50 Korean words, 50 blog posts, 4 hours a week) and are more likely to be doable in the span of 3 months.
Another thing to notice: Instead of a goal such as “Earn $100 in 3 months on my blog from ad spend.”, the goal is by number of content that is published. This is because the money earned can also be an outside factor, which can be counter-productive with your goal.
Does it mean that your goal won’t lead to earning $100 in ad spend? No. Does this mean that you should favor quantity over quality? Also no. You can adjust your goal as you see fit and as you go, as long as you aren’t adding so much pressure on yourself that you fail before you even started.
As I like to remind my stressed-out friends, diamonds may form under pressure, but humans are not usually built like diamonds. Don’t give yourself unnecessary pressure.
Humans are much more amazing, unique, and beautiful than diamonds anyway.
Does this new and smaller goal benefit you?
What outcome are you looking for? Does this smaller goal benefit you? How? Why?
I know people like to skip questions because they feel like they don’t need to answer it, but for the love of the universe please don’t skip this question.
An accomplished goal is amazing, but it’s useless if it doesn’t serve you.
Ask yourself how this goal benefits you.
Does it help you become more employable?
Does it mean you can watch k-dramas eventually without the subtitles?
For the record, those two examples above are both equally awesome, and if you want to accomplish a goal for the sake of entertainment, that’s fine. Who the hell said that goals should just be for something big, like career growth?
Break down your goal into even smaller pieces, and give deadlines and rewards
List a short-term goal, a deadline, then a small reward.
Example:
I want to publish 50 blog posts in 3 months.
Short-term goal: Publish 16 blog posts
Target Date: October 1st
Reward: Take an art tutorial class on YouTube (free)
Short-term goal: Publish 17 blog posts
Target Date: November 1st
Reward: Go to the movies and have a self-care day (cheap)
Short-term goal: Publish 17 blog posts (totaling 50)
Target Date: December 1st
Reward: Go to a writing workshop (related to goal, most excited about, not too expensive)
How can you break down your goals?
Preferably, you want to make your goals measurable. For example, 16 blog posts, 4 volunteer hours a week, and so on.
Also, if you can’t break down your goals evenly, it’s an amazing idea to make your smallest goal in month 1 versus month 3. For example, doing 8 blog posts in the first month and 16 in the second. Give yourself some time to get used to this new goal.
What rewards can you give yourself?
Free rewards are amazing, and often preferable due to possible unexpected costs. Larger or more expensive rewards are often best saved until later.
However, some big rewards that are more expensive might be exciting and motivating, but if you feel like you won’t be able to afford it, don’t list it as a reward.
There are a few questions you can ask yourself when choosing rewards, and some of them are also listed in my free workbook:
You don’t need to answer every single question that is listed (this is the time where it MIGHT be okay to skip some questions). But it’s a good idea to consider them as they might be more useful than you think.
Examples of rewards:
- Follow along with a free art tutorial on YouTube
- Take a free or affordable class, in-person or free.
- Visit a like-minded group or class (meetup.com!) such as yoga, tai chi, religion or spiritual group, art, writing, etc.
- Have a picnic at the park
- Go to the movies (by yourself or with someone)
- Spend an entire day relaxing
- Have a movie marathon
- Buy a new book
- Go to the zoo
- Go visit a museum
- Explore your city
- Go hiking
- Go biking
- Go to the arcade
- And much, much more
Need ideas? Google it!
Here, let me do it for you.
What are some barriers you might have?
Be honest. You know yourself best. Maybe the barrier is the very reason you haven’t tried or have failed this goal before, or maybe you have never faced it — but you know, or fear, you might face this barrier if you start.
Barriers could be:
- Lack of motivation
- Lack of money
- Not a lot of time
- Mental or physical illness
- Busy with school / work / kids / etc.
What are some strategies that you can use to overcome these possible barriers?
Identifying possible barriers is kind of useless if you don’t try to implement strategies to overcome these barriers.
Some possible answers might be:
- Working on goal in the morning (from a set time)
- Working on goal without the TV playing (to avoid distractions)
- Working on goal another way: For example, writing blog posts on phone while lying in bed during a chronic illness flare up
- Habit stacking. What’s a habit you already have? Can you work on your goal before, during, or after your current habit?
How will you record your progress?
Spreadsheets, journaling, checklists. Whatever it is that you want to use to track your progress, do it.
Overtime, it can be exciting to see how much you have accomplished, how consistent you became, and even what times you found worked best for you.
Grab the free workbook to guide you through making smaller and more productive goals
It’s free, and you won’t be signing up to any email lists.
Having a workbook to guide you can be hugely beneficial as it guides you through each step and asks questions you may have not considered asking before. Get the most out of the workbook by answering every question so you can create the perfect goals, deadlines, and rewards that will ease off any pressure and make you more productive and likely to accomplish your goal.
Even better, this workbook is given as both a printable and a PDF that is digitally fillable online through any browser you use.
