Knowing how to create effective goals (and follow through on them, of course) is what differentiates success from failure. That's why I'm going to teach you various techniques and give you some tips so that, starting today, you can effectively achieve what you want and conquer all the images you've put on your dream map. To begin with, we need to define what goals are. Goals are the set of tasks that, when added together, result in the achievement of an objective, in other words, they are the definition of the steps needed to get where you want to be. A goal is often confused with an objective, but the latter, like a dream, is the final target and goals make up the path towards the target. Therefore, an objective needs to be broken down into goals, otherwise it will be difficult to achieve.

A very common example of a goal that many people say they have: "I want to lose weight". Firstly, that's not a goal, it needs to be the target you want to achieve, i.e. why you want to lose weight, perhaps to be healthier, perhaps to feel more beautiful. Secondly, this is a bad goal, which is why people who set it in the new year don't stick to it throughout the year. A good goal has some essential characteristics, which this example fails to have. This is because we are not taught how to plan our lives and careers. Everyone is full of inspiration and dreams, but without knowing how to deal with them properly, they become frustrated.

If you're here reading this text, however, you're already showing that you want to change this reality, that you want to learn how to achieve everything you're entitled to in life. And for you, the reader of this site, I don't even need to comment on the fact that before setting goals, you need to know where you want to go, and what you want to achieve, right? (If you've stumbled here, read the texts on well-being, mastery, self-knowledge, and personal maps first, they'll give you the prior knowledge you need to be able to set your target and, with it, make your goals).

There is an important methodology for setting intelligent goals, called SMART Goals, which is based on the presence of 5 basic characteristics for a good goal:

• S (specific): Specificity is super important because it gives clear and practical direction to actions. So instead of saying you want to lose weight, you need to define where you want to lose weight, belly fat for example, and how you're going to do it.

• M (measurable): Knowing how to measure is what will make you keep track of the goal and identify when it's finished. This way, you can determine what weight you need to reach, what reduction in body measurements you want or what percentage of fat you want to achieve.

• A (achievable): Dream big, but set realistic, achievable goals, otherwise you'll just demotivate yourself and get frustrated. Don't try to lose too many kilos in a very short space of time.

• R (relevant - realistic): If you can't identify the reason for the goal or if it's not relevant, you won't be able to maintain the motivation and discipline needed to achieve it. So rethink why you want to lose weight - if it's just to fit in with society's standards, this isn't a good goal for you.

• T (timebound): Without setting a deadline, you'll probably never accomplish what you need to. So, complete the weight loss goal with a number of weeks or months that you intend to achieve the result.

Sounds obvious, right? However, the most common mistakes are failures in one of these areas. Look how the goal changes completely: "I want to lose 2kg in 1 month, with my waist size reduced to 80 cm to get into my bridesmaid's dress, through daily walks and yoga". 

In addition, particularly if the goal is very long or difficult to achieve, it's advisable to break it down into micro-goals to make it easier to follow. For example, if your goal is to achieve C1 in an English exam in 6 weeks, you could set yourself tasks to prepare for this, such as asking for teacher referrals within two days, researching online courses in the next five days, doing a lesson every day, testing your level in 3 weeks and so on.

The SMART method can also be easily applied to organizations, in which case however, some extra care needs to be taken. In terms of specificity, as well as detailing the goal itself, you need to clearly define who will be responsible, how it should be done, why it is important and where the changes will take place. For follow-up, you need to determine the expected result, the time needed and which indicators will be used. When identifying whether the target is achievable or not, it is necessary to analyze the company's data, its history, and what the people responsible think about it. Relevance becomes even more important in this scenario: it is essential to make it clear what parameters you want to improve by achieving the target, and to make sure that everyone understands. The deadline comes as a natural consequence of the previous four aspects when the whole team is aligned.

Now all that remains is to put this new knowledge into practice. I advise you to take advantage of apps that help you set automatic reminders, but there's nothing stopping you from using good old paper. For personal goals, better than Trello, which works excellently for teams, I recommend 7waves. Its purpose is precisely to facilitate the planning and organization of goals in order to achieve objectives. The app is free and very simple to use. After registering your profile, you add a personal objective and create one or more goals within it. As well as being separated by areas of life, such as study, travel, relationships, health, which makes it very easy to identify the different goals, the app shows you your statistics. It also has some quizzes and offers material recommendations based on your goal, for example if you use Excel, it will indicate courses. It also contains some journeys, which are activities, like forms, that help you get to know yourself and therefore set better goals.

You've already defined your dreams with the last post, right? How about breaking them down into goals and achieving them little by little? There's no point in having goals if you don't stay focused and carry out the proposed actions. So be committed to reap the rewards in the end!