5 Reasons Why You Should Set Realistic Goals

Goal setting is a powerful tool that can improve motivation and your chance of success.

But that’s not always the case.

If you don’t set well-defined goals, they can harm your success and lead to frustration and procrastination. 

But why is it important to set realistic goals?

Why not make your goals big and bold, instead of realistic?

In this article, you will learn the 5 reasons why. And I will also give you some tips for how you can set realistic goals for higher performance. 

What is a realistic goal?

Realistic goals should define a clear expectation for success that you believe is achievable. Your belief depends on the goal, your current skills, and the time you’ve got to achieve it.

In other words: do you believe that there is a realistic chance for you to achieve the goal?

Why set realistic goals?

The goal of setting goals is to define a clear direction that inspires you into action.

Realistic goals help you to do that. Unrealistic ones do quite the opposite and can lead to disappointment, procrastination, and frustration. 

Let’s get into the reasons why it is important to set realistic goals.

Reason 1: Goals should inspire action

How is a realistic goal going to inspire you into action?

Think about it: one day you feel excited to set some goals. Say you want to go to the gym and lose 20 pounds this week because you have got a wedding.

Would that motivate you into action?

Probably not. 

The reason is quite simple: no one has ever managed to lose 20 pounds in a week by going to the gym. You won’t believe that you can do it.

So, why take action?

It is important to set realistic goals because you need to believe that you can achieve them. Your belief is the first step to moving yourself into action.

Reason 2: Goals should keep you motivated

Even if you believe that you can lose 20 pounds in one week, you’ll soon find out how unrealistic the goal is. You won’t even get close to losing those 20 pounds. 

Imagine how you will feel…

The more unrealistic your goal, the more likely you are to lose hope and your motivation.

Instead, your goals should become your stepping stones towards success. Notice the word stepping. Realistic goals help you to take small steps, which – if taken consistently – leads to big achievements.

The second reason why realistic goals are important is that they help you to stay motivated.

Reason 3: Goals should improve confidence

Self-confidence plays a critical role in your ability to succeed. You are less likely to take action if you don’t feel confident in your ability to make it happen.

Realistic goals boost confidence, whereas unrealistic goals take away from it.

Think about it: if you achieve one goal after the other, how does that make you feel? What about if you repeatedly fail to achieve your goals? 

You are far more likely to achieve your goals if they are realistic. Which then gives you a boost in confidence. And that then helps you to take more action and achieve more success.

It’s an ongoing cycle that either improves your confidence or takes away from it.

Reason 4: Goals should give you focus

Unrealistic goals are often vague and lack concreteness. I get why people set vague goals because I’ve done so myself.

Here is why we do it:

You feel excited the first time you set your goals. Maybe your goals stem from your dreams and desires. And the first time you write these down, you don’t know how to make them concrete yet.

Well, ask yourself this question: did you set a realistic goal?

When you think about making it realistic, you automatically start specifying and defining your goal. This makes it practical, which gives you more focus and direction.

Of course, you want to set big and bold goals too. But make sure that you support these goals with smaller ones, like daily goals, which become those stepping stones we talked about earlier.

Reason 5: realistic goals destroy unrealistic expectations

Like we said before, you feel motivated the first time that you set goals. You feel empowered to take on the world and achieve your dreams.

The problem?

The ambition sometimes makes it difficult to look at the realistic aspects of a goal. And the unrealistic expectations might turn into unrealistic goals. 

And when you start pursuing these goals, you’ll lose your motivation quite quickly.

For example, imagine that you want to start a blog and decide to write 30 blog posts in a month without ever having written one before. Or you set the goal to make 10 sales this month on the phone without ever having made a sales call before.

Sure, ambition is great and you might even be able to do it.

But be careful not to run into disappointment. When you notice that your goals are too ambitious, take a step back. Observe what happened and set a more realistic goal. 

Unfortunately, most people tend to give up after such an experience instead.

In general, it’s a better approach to start with a realistic goal that you can achieve. Stack the achievements and then slowly start increasing the ambition of your goals. 

How to set realistic goals?

By now, I hope that you know why realistic goals are important for success.

Here are some quick tips to help you set practical goals:

1. Write down your goals and make them SMART, which stands for:
   • Specific: can you specify it further?
   • Measurable: can you measure its success?
   • Achievable: do you believe you can make it happen?
   • Relevant: does the goal make sense in the bigger picture?
   • Timely: does it include a deadline? 
2. Think about resources and treats:
   • Do you have enough skills to achieve the goal?
   • If not, do you have enough time to upgrade your skills?
   • Are you dependent on other factors to achieve it?
   • Are there any other treats?
3. Assess and redefine your goal:
   • Looking at point 2, do you still feel confident?
   • If not, can you break the goal up into smaller pieces?
   • Or can you set the deadline for the goal a little further?
4. Bonus points: communicate and share your goal with others.

Those are the simple steps you can take to set realistic goals.

What’s next?

Goal-setting is a powerful tool. But unrealistic goals can lead to more procrastination and frustration. Setting realistic goals is essential to improve motivation and drive consistent action. 

Key Takeaways:

• Realistic goals create achievable stepping stones toward success, keeping you motivated to take action.
• Realistic goals boost self-confidence by setting attainable milestones and having frequent victories.
• Realistic goals provide focus and direction by being specific and concrete, empowering steady progress and growth.

Here are further resources to dive deeper into goal-setting:

• Best books about setting and achieving your goals
• Goal-Setting Mastery course to 10X Your Results
• My review of Goals on Track, the goal-setting and task-management system I use to stay focused, create clarity, and take consistent action.

Take action: Reflect on your current goals and assess whether they are realistic and motivating. Apply the SMART criteria and redefine them or set realistic goals that act as stepping stones to your bigger ambitions. 

If you want to achieve your wildest dreams, then sign up below to get my best tips to drive massive action and live a more fulfilling life!