As a teacher, I am evaluated on my performance every year. I’m also required to submit a personal goal so that I can have a standard I can aim for.

I’ve talked before on here about SMART goals. The A in that acronym is Attainable. In other words, is it reachable? Can you actually achieve this goal if you set it for yourself?

When you look to set goals for yourself, they need to be out of reach. But they shouldn’t be so far out of reach that you will never get there.

I’m working on a project for myself for next year. And part of this project involves knowing my goals. There are some things I want to keep doing, and other things I maybe want to start doing. But either way, I have to make sure that my goals are reachable. For example, I got into reading a lot this year. I forgot how much I missed it. In fact, I just finished book 23 or 24 of the year. If I keep up this pace, I could finish up to more than 30 books by the end of the year. So I set myself a goal for at least 30 books and 5000 pages total. That way it’s still working hard.

As another example, I want to be more mindful of spending time outside. Since this is the first time I’m tracking hours outside, after much deliberation, I settled on 400 hours over the course of the year. That may sound like a lot, but if you divide it out per day, it’s really only about an hour each day. It’s intentional without being excessive, reachable without being too easy.

Attainable goals are also reasonable. If you hate running, then trying to run a marathon is unattainable. If you hate reading, then my reading goal is unattainable for you. Not only do you need to be able to reach your goals, but you also have to make sure they’re something you’re going to try to reach.

I got my black belt in a little over two years. I had a number of circumstances that helped me get there, including going from a white belt to an orange belt in a month. Is getting a black belt in as short of time as I did it attainable for everyone? No probably not unfortunately. But is earning a black belt attainable for everyone? If you’re willing to put in the work, yes. I’ve seen students who put in lots of effort, and students who put in no effort. It’s much more attainable for those that put in the effort.

When it comes to goals and setting goals, you also need to think on the amount of effort it will take you to get to this standard of success. If you’re not going to work as hard, then set your goal lower. If you’re going to work harder, then set the bar higher for yourself. It’s not a level of judgment either way, but it’s important to be realistic.

Also, you can always staircase your goals. If a goal seems too far out of reach for you, build smaller goals to help you get there. If you’re trying to lose weight, for example, it may feel hard to keep going if you don’t see the progress you expect. But if you focus on losing a healthy amount over a certain time (no more than 2 pounds for a week as a reference), then it’s a much easier goal. Now instead of focusing on a big number to lose, you’re now focusing on smaller, more even steps.

Goals are hard. I feel like this year I’ve been on a rollercoaster ride of goal progress. Sometimes I’ve been riding high and doing all of the things I want to do. And other times it feels I’m at a low point and everything is an uphill climb. And still other times this year, it’s felt like I’ve been completely off the track and not even sure what I’m going after. But I am continuously working to remind myself I haven’t failed (even if my brain wants to tell me otherwise), and that I’m still right where I’m meant to be. That’s what it is to have attainable goals.