What are monthly goals, what are the steps for monthly goal setting and why are they so important?
The first step to achieving something in life is to set a goal and work on it.
But why do we need monthly goals if we can just set a goal and work on it during the year?
Monthly goals are very useful for reaching your long-term goals and your yearly goals because they give an overview and help you get organized and serious about them.
Because let’s say it, a month is a good amount of time to start improving yourself and build good habits that can last a lifetime.
In this post, you will discover the steps for monthly goal setting that will help you actually achieve your goals and why monthly goals are important if you want to achieve what you have set for yourself and be successful.
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The importance of setting monthly goals
Think of the yearly goal like an entire anatomy book.
You know that book will open up new knowledge for you and you will learn a lot, but without dividing the pages and knowing how much to study per day, you will only be demotivated and you will not be able to complete the study.
The monthly goals are exactly the pages you have to divide to study little by little.
Monthly goal setting is the way to achieve more and be successful.
You must surely be wondering, aren’t the goals that you set yourself for the whole year already enough?
The answer is no. Yearly goals are important but they give you a broad view of what you would like to achieve in that year and it will be very difficult to work on it if you don’t have precise steps to follow.
This is where monthly goals come in. Let’s see what are the benefits of setting monthly goals.
It helps make your yearly goals achievable
The problem with yearly goals is that they are obviously big goals and can seem overwhelming when it’s time to work on them, with the risk of not knowing where to start.
For this, it is important to break them down by creating an action plan.
By setting monthly goals, you will be able to approach your yearly goal more easily and with less stress.
For example, if your big goal is to run 10k miles, you should break it into small monthly goals. This could be trying to run 1km the first month and 2km the second month and so on.
As you have noticed, by breaking down your big goal into actionable small steps, everything seems more doable and more organized.
It encourages you to explore and try new things
Monthly goals inspire you to try things you’ve only thought about doing but never had the courage to put into action.
For example, getting your nails long, dyeing your hair a flashy color, or even enrolling in a dance class for a month just to try.
In the end, you try many things and you never know that you might like an activity that you thought was not for you!
It reminds you of the priority for that month
What’s better than focusing on one goal at a time that can allow you to reap the full benefit of it?
Monthly goals have this powerful benefit.
For example, if you have a plan of reading an entire book for one month, then you know that you need to focus on this one before moving on to the next one.
You tend to concentrate on a precise task that slowly brings you closer to the final goal.
It motivates you to do better
How many of us have ever felt so good once we managed to complete a goal we set for ourselves?
Personally, once a goal is achieved I set another goal with the intention of improving even more.
And that’s exactly what monthly goals are for, to do better.
It helps you improve your habits in the long run
Did you know that introducing one new habit at a time helps you form positive and permanent habits that you won’t leave easily?
Unlike yearly goals, where you set big goals and you will only be motivated in the beginning, monthly goals have the power to form good achievable habits that you will be able to stick to in the long run.
Let’s take an example. If for this month you’ve decided to start drinking 2 liters of water a day, it’s very likely that at the end of the month, you won’t go back to your old habits, on the contrary, it will become natural for you.
It helps you track your progress
Monthly goals are a great way to track the progress that you’ve set yourself.
Whoever writes the monthly goals finds it easier for them to progress or get back on track if they fail to stick to the plan, compared to someone who doesn’t write them.
For example, if your yearly goal is to lose a few kilos, the monthly goals help you understand if you’re working properly and if you’re on the right track or not.
Steps for monthly goal setting
When it comes to setting monthly goals, there are a few things to do if you want to make them successful.
1) Decide what you want to achieve in 1 month
First things first, decide what your monthly goals are going to be.
it’s important to first know what goals you would like to set for the year.
The thing I recommend is to have no more than 3 goals a month.
In fact, working on many goals at the same time does not help you accomplish them.
If we set goals, it is because it is something that is new to us and that we want to achieve.
So it is better to concentrate on a few goals at a time and work on them with focus.
2) Set clear and achievable goals
This step is very important because it will decide whether you will be able to reach your goal or something that will be a thing you want to achieve but will never complete.
If you really want to reach your goals, it’s very important that you set SMART goals to avoid demotivation and giving up.
But what does SMART goal mean? A SMART goal is a goal that needs to be: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound
Smart goals are meaningful and will give you clarity that will lead you to success.
If you just write down whatever you would like to achieve without being realistic and without a plan, you will soon lose motivation and you really don’t know what you should do next that will bring you closer to your final destination.
3) Break the big monthly goal into small tasks
How could you work on a great goal if you don’t know where to start and what to work on to reach it in the first place?
Your next step for monthly goal setting is of course to take your main goal and break it into small tasks to work on over the four weeks.
Let’s say you want to climb the stairs to the 60th floor in a row within a month.
If you’re not trained, do you think you can do it?
The smartest thing to do is to break your goal into small goals.
This means that in the first week, you will have to climb 15 floors, the second 30, the third 45, and the fourth you reach the 60th.
As you can see, by breaking the big goal everything becomes simpler and more organized and you know exactly how to work to reach it.
4) Write a plan
Achieving a goal without a plan is like trying to win a sports competition without even exercise.
You need a clear plan so that you can be aware of how much work you should put on, when to do the work, what you need to accomplish until a specific date and so track your progress.
You can simply print a monthly calendar or get a weekly planner and write every single step you need to take that will get you near your final goal.
5) Take action
Now that you’ve written down your SMART goals for the month, all you have to do is take action.
This is the hardest part of the steps for monthly goal setting.
If you are not motivated enough to achieve it or write goals that are impossible to achieve in one month, chances are that you will never be able to complete your goals.
This is why it is important that you set goals that are clear and achievable so that you are motivated to take action and actually achieve them.
But you need to be very disciplined and organized.
If you have these two things, the road will be more comfortable and if you have divided your goals into steps, it will be much easier for you to follow and reach them faster.
6) Track your progress
Last but not least, track your progress as you go along.
By tracking everything, you’ll be able to experiment with what works best for you and make adjustments to what doesn’t seem to work well.
You need this to know how to set your goals for the next few months.
Conclusion
These are the steps for monthly goal setting.
Now it’s your turn, get a sheet of paper and start writing down all your goals for the month and break them into smaller ones.
Make them achievable and clear, calculate the time you need to reach them, and stick to the plan.
Don’t forget to check these 30 monthly goal ideas for a better you.
With love,
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