This article was edited by Coach8 Captain.
In this hectic world, we start our day by reading corporate emails, cleaning up our little tasks, or handling other people's requests. It's easy to fill up time with smaller, less important tasks, and then often wonder where all the time has gone.
The truth is, you need to put important goals first, put them on your timetable, and give them space.
A classic time management story is a great example of how to lay out your important goals – a time management expert giving a lecture to a group of business school students. He gave a live demonstration and left an indelible impression on the students. "Let's take a quiz," he said. Then, he took out a jar and placed it on the table in front of him. Then, he took out a pile of fist-sized stones and carefully placed them into glass bottles. Until the stone was too high above the mouth of the bottle to fit any longer, he asked, "Is the bottle full?"All the students replied, "Full." The time management expert asked rhetorically, "Really?".He reached out and took a bucket of pebbles from under the table, poured some into it, and struck the wall of the glass jar to fill the gap between the stones below. "Is the bottle full now?".He asked a second time. "Probably not yet," one student replied. "Good!The expert said. He reached under the table and pulled out a bucket of sand and began to slowly pour it into the glass bottle. Sand fills all the gaps between the big and small stones. Again, he asked the student, "Is the bottle full?"."Not full!The students shouted. Again, he said, "Good. Then he took a jug of water and poured it into a glass bottle until the surface of the water was level with the mouth of the bottle. Looking up at the student, he asked, "What does this example illustrate?"An anxious student raised his hand to speak: "It tells us: no matter how tight your schedule is, if you do try, you can do more!."”。Nope!"That's not what it really means." This example tells us that if you don't enlarge the stone first, you will never be able to put it in a bottle again. So, what is the big rock in your life?Spend time with your loved one, your beliefs, your dreams, or, like me, educate others?”"Remember to deal with these 'big rocks' first'Otherwise, you won't be able to do it for the rest of your life. ”
Effective goal setting can have a hugely positive impact on a person's life, both personally and professionally. Just like the big stone principle, when we work on the big stone (the most important) first, the rest of the time (less important pebbles, sand, water) must be aligned with our priorities. But for many, the problem is that they simply don't know how to go about the process. During coaching, we usually avoid asking "why?".Because it destroys a harmonious relationship and looks like a judgmental or confrontational issue. But when it comes to what the customer wants to achieve, we have to ask "why". Coaches need to help our clients understand what drives them to want to achieve this – and then they will do whatever is necessary to achieve it. Especially when our clients have a big goal in mind, it's important to help them chart a way forward by exploring whether they really want to achieve it, and how committed they are. Not only that, but sometimes it's easy to lose enthusiasm when the goal is too big and things get tough. Decide to set rewarding goals for yourself as a challenge to change now, the first step towards the good life you expect. While setting goals for yourself is a very important first step, butReal progress is achieved when you put your goals into action. 
5 Steps to Goal Setting with SMART
1. Set your main SMART goals SMART is an acronym for "specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound." In other words, a smart goal is: a specific and easily definable goal;
A goal that relates to the progress you're working on;
A goal that is not so challenging as to be unattainable;
A goal that allows you to measure your progress and results;
A goal that is bound by a deadline that forces you to complete it within a specific time frame.
Before you start working towards a better version of yourself, it's important first that you prioritize your goals. Remember, don't set too many goals at once, they will keep you from making real progress. Instead, choose some personal development goals that are most important to you and start with those. 2. Research the skills needed to achieve a goalEach unique goal requires a specific set of skills, knowledge, or qualifications to achieve. Once you've researched your goals and found what you need to achieve them, you're ready to start meeting those requirements and start making real progress toward your goals. 3. Create Milestones in PhasesMost long-term goals can be broken down into milestones, which are equivalent to short-term "small goals" that enable you to define and reach checkpoints along the way, so to speak. By breaking down your goals into these milestones and checkpoints, you can more easily motivate yourself and track your progress. Creating milestones for your goals means that you always have short-term goals to move forward as you work towards your primary goal. Breaking down a major goal into these short-term goals can make the overall pursuit seem more doable and can also give you a motivating sense of reward each time you reach a new milestone. 
4. Identify potential pitfallsNo matter what goal you're working towards, there will be pitfalls and obstacles along the way. Therefore,Identifying and preparing for potential pitfalls ahead of time is the best way to prevent them from suddenly catching you up and hindering your progress. Take a moment to sit down and imagine what the path to achieving your goals will look like, writing down any obstacles that may be holding you back. When you encounter these obstacles, you're ready. 5. Make a scheduleOne of the most important features of SMART goals: they are time-bound. "A goal with no deadline is one that can be put on the back of your mind forever" – which means that setting a deadline for yourself is essential if you want to keep yourself motivated. Finishing by the deadline you set, though, means you'll need to create and stick to a schedule. Once you've broken down your goals into milestones, break them down into a timeline to facilitate steady progress toward your primary goal. 6. Track Your Progress Divide your goals into milestones and create a timeline for when you want to reach those milestones, the final step is to start working towards your goals and track your progress. Measuring your results and tracking your progress can help keep you on track as well as keep you motivated. As long as you're really making progress toward your goal and achieving real results, tracking that progress can serve as a powerful motivator**. 
Conclusions
Our big goals—those that have the biggest impact on our lives—often challenge us to step out of our comfort zone. So, it's easy to see how easily we can distract ourselves with simpler, less important tasks. However, by identifying and researching the most important things, setting SMART goals gives us clarity – which makes it easier for us to focus on the important ones. Action:Take a few minutes each morning to review your SMART goals, plan your priorities for the day, and then do the most important things first. In the coming year, developing such a habit will definitely give you unexpected results!