I reached my goal – now what?

I recently returned from a trip of a lifetime to the Himalayas. It had been a dream of mine for more than 15 years (it was definitely one of my meaningful goals) and there was a lot I had to do to make it happen. I didn’t just have to save up for it, I had to sort out niggles in my body, get fit, lose weight and keep visualising myself at the top of that stunning location. But while it was everything I could have hoped for, on my return I found myself thinking ‘I reached my goal – now what?’

When we achieve a goal we have worked long and hard towards, there is always an element of ‘what next?’. This is because something that was a huge part of our lives, our struggles and our efforts is suddenly ‘missing’. However, it is only missing because we achieved it.

All of this got me wondering if other people felt like this and so to help, I have created five steps we should all take once we have achieved a personal or business goal.

1. Celebrate

While this sounds like an obvious step, some people forget to celebrate what they have achieved. Whether this was reaching your annual business target or turnover, expanding your client base, running a marathon or learning another language, you must mark the occasion.

You might want to celebrate with a big party or you may simply want to talk about it with pride and share your achievements with others. You may want to treat yourself to something that will forever remind you of your achievements or you could reward your staff.

However you decide to celebrate, this is a really important step. Not only does it solidify your achievement in your own mind, but it involves other people too. By others knowing what you did and the efforts you took to reach your goal, they can later help you when working towards something new. If your next goal seems unachievable at times, those people will be there to remind you that you achieved once, and you will achieve again.

2. Evaluate

Evaluation and reflection are key and it is just as important to look at what went well as what did not. So, once you have achieved your goal, have a really good look at why you set the goal and why it was important. 

• What did you do?
• How did it go?
• Did you reach it in the time you set and if so, how?
• What worked and what didn’t?
• What would you do differently next time? 

There are always lessons that can be learnt from what you have done so write them down, particularly the ones you can use for future goals. 

Evaluating your journey and experience can also allow you to help others on the way to achieving their own goals in both a personal and professional capacity.

3. Decide on a new goal

People work better and perform best when they have something to work towards.

You always need a destination because while you will always end up somewhere, it might not necessarily be where you wanted if you didn’t have somewhere in mind at the start. This is especially true in business because if you fail to plan, then you plan to fail.

To control the journey, it is essential to set a goal that matters. Ensure you visualise the end result and think about why this goal is important or how can it benefit your family, business or employees. 

If you give your goal a timeframe, make sure it is meaningful because then you are more likely to achieve it. If it is not meaningful, you can lose sight of the goal and might give up (an act which can be quite damaging to your mindset). 

Quite often with goals, you have to do the mundane and the difficult to get there and so, if the goal does not really matter to you, then you will not push yourself to do it.

4. Plan

Planning is vital: 

• Do you need training?
• Do you need external help?
• What did you plan for the previous goal?
• Is there a realistic timescale in place and milestones you can work towards to achieve the end goal? 

This plan can be changed and adapted as you go along (so long as there are no specific dates in place of course). 

Remember there is also absolutely nothing wrong in changing the plan. In fact, flexibility is very important either with your plan or the goal itself.

5. Take action

A daydream will always remain a dream unless you take action but if you don’t really want it, then don’t pursue it. 

Above all when taking action, celebrate all the small achievements you make as they are markers towards successfully achieving your bigger goal. Celebrating all those small achievements helps other people see your progress and they can help motivate you towards that dream if ever you get disheartened. 

To be happy in life and business, you need to realise and acknowledge the day-to-day things you achieve. But it is vital to note that only by moving forwards, will you reach that next big celebration and start the cycle all over again. 

So, what is next? The answer is anything and everything.