What are Desired Outcomes? (10 steps to achieving your goals)
Understanding what your desired outcomes are is the most important part of your goal-setting process. In this article, you’ll understand how to define what success means for you and map out good habits that will get you there.
This is an introduction to an informative and factual blog post that discusses the stages involved in achieving a goal. The article will discuss ten steps that can help someone achieve their desired outcomes.
What are desired outcomes?
Desired outcomes are actions and results, which you want your life to be like, or to have. Goals are the steps in achieving the desired outcome. A goal is an action, a direction or a destination that one wants to achieve.
The easiest way to understand this is by looking at the example of Mary – Mary wants to improve her life through better health and happiness. Through a goal, she plans on improving her diet in order to improve the quality of her life and live a long time.
Defining a goal is very important and helps in understanding what life will be like and how you feel. Goals are very personal to you and are so important that when you achieve them it can change your life:
“The most common misconception about goals is that one should just set goals without knowing what they mean. What this does not take into account is that each of us has our own unique way of looking at the world. So what one person thinks is a goal may not be what someone else thinks is a goal. ” – Jay Abraham
Mary’s goal was to improve her quality of life by improving her health and happiness, but not everyone is like Mary and each person will have their own unique way of deciding goals that are most important to them.
What phases are involved in achieving a goal?
Goal-setting has three phases:
1. Setting the stage
The first phase involves defining your desired outcome (what you want).
The more specific you are about what you want, the easier it is to achieve that goal. Defining an outcome sets the stage for how to achieve your goal. Use steps 1-3 helps achieve your goals.
2. Planning
The second phase involves deciding where you need to go or what goals you need to reach in order to achieve your desired outcome (see image below). It is important for people who are setting their goals, that they write them down on paper and review their plans periodically.
It is also helpful to write down the steps necessary to achieve your goals. Take time to make sure that each goal is achievable and has a definite finish line.
3. Taking action
This stage requires you to take action in order for you to succeed in achieving your goals and achieving your desired outcomes. It is important that you do not look at the hours that it will take, but rather the value of what you will get out of it (see image below).
What is the importance of defining your desired outcomes?
Knowing your goals and making plans that are achievable is important because it shows you what your life will be like when you reach those goals. It can also help to establish a routine that can improve any aspect of your life.
For example if you have a routine that helps you eat proper food and exercise, then it helps lower the chances of getting sick. The less stress you have the better it is for both mental and physical health that anyone can benefit from.
Increasing any type of aspect of your life helps in improving the quality of your life, so always be thinking and visualizing what you want to accomplish — and make plans that are feasible.
What steps can help me achieve my desired outcomes?
1. Be specific when defining your goals
Being specific helps in reaching your goals as you know what you want to achieve. The more specific you are, the easier it is to plan how to achieve your goals.
For example: Mary wanted to improve her health and happiness, but she would have been better served if she had defined her goal a little more specifically: “to strive for 1% improvement each day.
2. Make plans that are realistic
Simplicity is the key to making good goals. Write down your goals, but get it straight into writing how you plan to achieve them. If your goal is to lose 10 lbs in a month, and you have no idea how to do that, then you have no chance of reaching that goal and achieving your desired outcome. You can also make plans that show you what steps you need to take to accomplish the goal.
3. Take action
Taking action is how you achieve success. One of the best ways to take action is through visualizing your goal in which you are achieving your outcome. Use pictures and examples instead of words to understand your desired outcome and action plan.
When imagining your goals, it helps to create a vision board that represents what you want in life – it can help keep the goals simple and easy to achieve:
“The more tangible the image, the better you can work toward it. For example, if you want to be a professional swimmer and know what it will take to get there, it’s easier to get started on the right path than if you have no idea where to start.” – James Clear
Another way is by drawing pictures and writing down your goals in a journal. The journal can also be useful as it helps you keep track of your success as well as helping you identify mistakes you made and how you should fix them so that they do not happen again.
4. Pursue what is important
One of the best ways to achieve your goals is to be realistic, but at the same time, pursue what is important. It all comes down to prioritizing what is important and dedicating yourself just that.
Everyone has their own priorities and wants in life, so knowing what matters to you achieves your desired outcomes and helps you reach your goal. This might involve anything from relationships with others, health or mental issues that one might be facing. If you know what matters to you, then it is easier to set goals and make plans that will help achieve your desires.
“We all have a finite amount of energy and attention, so if we devote ourselves to achieving our main goals, we can use that energy and attention most effectively.” – James Clear
5. Have self-discipline
It is possible to make plans and achieve your goals, but the key is to have self-discipline. Self-discipline is the ability that allows you to focus on everything that you want to accomplish and nothing else.
Self-discipline helps you become focused and also helps train yourself towards achieving your desired outcome.
“Self-discipline means you are able to control your impulsive behavior and focus on the things that you need to get done.” – James Clear
The key thing is to set your goals and take action. Use self-discipline to help you focus on achieving your desired outcome. Utilizing self-discipline also helps keep you from making excuses as to why you cannot reach those goals or achieve a certain outcome.
6. Stay consistent with your goals
One of the biggest hurdles to achieving your goals is being consistent. In order to reach your goals you have to be able to keep on doing what it takes to reach the goals and achieve your desired outcome.
If you fail in the first week, it is important that you do not give up, but rather use that failure as a reason why you should try harder next time. It helps set the goal more clearly, so that what you want more than anything becomes more than just an idea.
“One thing that successful people do really well is make goals feel achievable. It’s easy to lose sight of the fact that goals don’t need to be far away or entirely out of reach – they just need to feel manageable.” – James Clear
7. Remove any barriers that can get in your way
Another key factor in achieving your desired outcomes and goals is removing any barriers that are going to get in your way.
Barriers can come in many forms and might be anything from self-discipline, motivation or even finances. If you are not motivated and self-disciplined enough to reach your goals and achieve the outcome of your desired outcome, then it is important that you remove the barriers that are going to get in the way.
A barrier can be anything from motivation, to harder time working out, lack of time — or even money which can help get things off of one’s plate.
“When your internal barriers are removed, the external barriers hardly exist. There’s a big difference between “I don’t have time,” and “I refuse to make time for what’s important.” – James Clear
8. Be proactive
In order to achieve your goals, you have to be proactive. Reactive people usually do not do too well as they have a desire for instant gratification instead of planning ahead and sticking with the plans.
Looking at someone who is proactive can help motivate you to make plans and work towards your desired outcomes. Proactive people tend to achieve their goals much more than the reactive ones.
“Most people find that if they assemble the right team and make an effective plan, success becomes inevitable.” – James Clear
9. Believe in yourself
Believing in yourself is a key factor when it comes to achieving your desired outcomes. Be able to put your mind over matter and believe that you are capable of achieving what you set out to do.
If you believe in yourself then you will be more than likely motivated enough to work towards achieving the goals that you have set out for yourself. If not, then it is going to be very hard to achieve the goal because of lack of motivation and discipline.
“Believing in yourself means that you can generate the willpower to overcome obstacles and achieve the goals you set out to achieve.” – James Clear
10. Focus on progress, not the outcome
Focusing on progress, not on the outcome is also a key factor in achieving one’s goals. Be able to focus on the right path and keep yourself focused no matter what comes in your way.
Staying focused helps you make sure that you are working towards your desired goals and outcomes as well as makes you feel accomplished when you do reach them.
“If there is one thing that I have learned in this process it is that if you can focus on what you want, after a while it will become clear to you.” – James Clear
