How To Set Realistic Expectations For Your Goals
A Simple Guide For Ambitious People
Expectations. The one thing that can set us up for success or set us up for failure. That’s the scary part, right? We want to have standards, but we don’t want to fall. So how does one create healthy and realistic expectations? That’s the exact question that I’ll be addressing today and hopefully after reading this, you’ll feel a little better about your own standing with your expectations. This is how to set fair and realistic expectations for your goals:
List Out Your Goals
Start off with writing down your list of goals. This way rather than having a vague idea of what you want to accomplish floating around in your head, you can transfer those ideas into something concrete and tangible. Simply jotting down your ideas could be a wonderful way to 1) clear your mind of the clutter and to 2) have a better visual of what you want to attain.
Break Down Your Goals
It’s ambitious to attack goals with the mindset of doing everything at once, but as it turns out, sometimes multi-tasking isn’t the best way to go about getting what you want. Break down your goal into smaller and short-term achievable goals.
When you break tasks down, it allows you to take steps rather than strides and reduces anxiety that is often mixed with tackling a huge goal! Not only that, but getting the opportunity to celebrate little wins along the way can boost your self-esteem and maintain your motivation to achieve more.
Consider Your Circumstances
Take a moment to think about your life and the events that fill it. Do you work full-time or part-time? Are you a student? Do you have kids? If you’ve set up an expectation for a goal, but you’re feeling disappointed because you didn’t get something done by a certain date or timeframe, recognize your circumstances.
For example, I set a goal to become a freelance writer and at first I thought my expectations were too high because it was taking me awhile to achieve that goal. But then I took a step back and considered my situation: I work full-time, I’m a student, I blog, and I’m trying to become a freelance writer.
Acknowledging the fact that I live a busy life helped me to see that I should really change the way I go about setting my expectations.
Create Realistic Expectations
If your life is filled to the brim with busyness, change your expectations to better fit your lifestyle! Maybe you have a list of chores and errands to get done, but don’t have the time. That’s okay! Instead plan out a more practical way for you to get that goal done. For instance, I can’t be out grocery shopping all morning and clean the house, but I can go to at least one store and do some vacuuming.
When you create realistic expectations, it gives you a better and fair understanding of your own situation. You’ll get it done in your own time.
Don’t Compare Yourself to Others
There is no gain in playing the comparison game. It’s not only unreasonable to you, but extremely toxic to your mindset. Returning to a previous point, you may be familiar with your circumstances, but not necessarily the circumstances of the person you’re comparing yourself to. Maybe they have less on their plate than you do and that allows them to get more done in a shorter period of time.
Regardless of the situation, take time to appreciate what you are able to do. Here’s a little mantra I like to repeat:
“I’m doing the best that I can right now and that’s enough!”
Acknowledge the little steps
As you start making your way through your list of goals, recognize the progress you’ve made so far. Celebrate yourself and your efforts! Sometimes what we need in life is a cheerleader and sometimes that means fulfilling that role ourselves.
Getting Started
Those were some of my tips for creating realistic expectations for your goals. If you enjoyed this post, check out this follow-up guide to manifesting your goals featuring lifestyle blogger, Angie Soul! Remember to take one step at a time, be gentle with yourself, and savor each win you get along the way!
Thanks for reading, friends!
Harumi
Feel free to leave a comment below with some of your tips on creating realistic expectations! Like what you’ve read so far? Connect with me on my blog:
