Self-Trust: A Fresh Approach to Goal Setting

Goal setting made easier! If you’ve struggled or given up on your 2025 goals, don’t worry. We’ll help you remove goal guilt and build self-trust to create and achieve goals that truly work for you.

You can start new habits, build skills, and improve your life at any time—not just with a New Year’s resolution. Too often, goal setting is framed around fleeting resolutions, ignoring the patience, preparation, and mindfulness needed for real success. Social media’s pseudo-self-improvement culture can make you feel pressured, but true progress comes from self-trust and intention. You can achieve what you want, and it all starts with love.

How Goal Setting Can Help You Build a Life You Love

It’s important to zoom out and find the source of what we want to change. Maybe your goal setting journey involves losing a few pounds before summer, cutting back on doom-scrolling to spend more time with loved ones, or finding healthier ways to unwind instead of relying on alcohol or other habits. Perhaps you’re feeling stuck in multiple areas of life and don’t know where to begin. Wherever you are, trust that you can and will see positive growth in yourself—because self-trust and self-love are the foundations of meaningful goal planning and lasting goal achievement.

Why Self-Trust is Essential for Successful Goal Setting

Before we get into what kind of goals to create and how to achieve them, I want to share a crucial element in accomplishing objectives and forming lasting habits—self-trust.

If you often struggle with goal setting, following through on plans, or completing tasks, you may lack self-trust. But what exactly is it? Self-trust is having confidence in your own decisions and your ability to follow through on what you set out to do. Essentially, it’s believing in yourself to stay committed to your ambitions and personal goal achievement. It’s your present self putting in the effort so your future self can thrive. At its core, self-trust is a form of self-love—one that strengthens your ability to make and achieve meaningful aspirations.

It can be uncomfortable and even a little scary to realize you lack self-trust, but don’t worry! You don’t have to wait until you fully trust yourself to start goal setting—the two develop together. Every time you follow through on something, no matter how small—like getting out of bed when your alarm rings or completing homework before going out—you strengthen that trust.

This is why starting with small objectives is so beneficial. Each accomplishment builds confidence and reinforces self-trust, making it easier to achieve bigger aspirations. Over time, this cycle of goal planning and goal achievement helps you develop the belief that you can and will follow through on what you set out to do.

Time to set your goal

If you’re anything like me, you probably have a million ideas of changes you’d like to make. This is good! It means you’re in the mindset of self-improvement and personal growth and ready to make something happen. Spend time with yourself. Figure out what you want, and work backward from there.

Start small to avoid early burnout. Identify one aspect of your life to focus on first. Don’t rush this. Think of everything you’d like to do or change in your life, even the things that feel silly, and write them down on paper. I like doing this because it’s tangible. I can hold and see all my dreams and desires in one place.

Pick something that makes sense for you to work into your current lifestyle. Break down the big idea into short-term, stepping-stone goals that will allow for sustainable progress. This can be difficult, but remember you can do everything you want in this life, just not all at the same time. Be patient with yourself.

Just like doing small tasks around the house, after reaching your first goal, your brain will get a little hit of dopamine. The dopamine will make you feel good. You’ll feel proud of yourself. So, what do you do? You set another small goal. Before you know it, you’ve surprised yourself with the progress you’ve made, and you’ve built up incredible momentum that keeps you motivated to tackle the next thing on your list.

Be SMART before you start

It’s easy to excitedly start on a goal and then feel disappointed after falling out of routine a few days in. Goals that are too vague and without a POA (plan of action) don’t often see success. Think about what reaching your goal will require you to change. 

You may be familiar with the SMART acronym. To give yourself the best chance of success, structure your plan guided by George T. Doran’s SMART goal concept. The SMART acronym is a common tool for business-related goal-setting but it’s useful in personal goals as well.

SMART goals are Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, and Time-bound.

Outline the goal as specific as possible. Figure out how you can measure progress. Make it realistic for your life responsibilities and pre-existing commitments. And if your goal allows, set a reasonable due date to give a sense of urgency.

Not all goals fit perfectly within the SMART structure, but the point is that thoughtful preparation is paramount.

What are the 5 steps in goal setting?

Different goals require different amounts of time and energy. With your SMART goal in mind, these five things can help you get started, stay excited, and stay on track. These strategies will train discipline and effective workflow in your current and future endeavors.

1. Remove barriers to entry

Sometimes the hardest part about doing something is starting. To combat this, get rid of anything that could make you procrastinate or you could use to make excuses to put it off until tomorrow.

This could look like setting up the materials or space you’ll need to work on your goal or getting noise-canceling headphones to reduce environmental distractions. Noise-canceling headphones have done wonders for my ADHD brain to focus and finish tasks.

2. Time blocking

Time blocking is a powerful tool that can enhance goal setting, boost productivity, improve time management, and help you stay on track with deadlines. Over time, you’ll gain a better understanding of how long tasks take, allowing you to optimize your goal planning and daily routine. As someone who struggles to rest and make the most of their free time, scheduling that downtime ensures I don’t overfill my plate.

Set aside a specific time each day to focus on goal achievement. You can always adjust your schedule later, but making too many changes at once can lead to burnout. This could be the first 30 minutes after you wake up, a two-hour break between classes, or the last hour before bed—whatever works best for your goal strategy.

Time blocking also eliminates wasted time spent deciding what to do next. Once you determine the ideal time and duration for your goal pursuit, write it on your calendar or planner and commit to it. Small, consistent efforts will bring you closer to success!

3. Visual aids

Start using a calendar or sticker chart to keep track of progress or check off when you’ve completed your daily goals. Having to interact with your progress physically keeps your goal fresh in your mind. You may even start looking forward to checking off each day. At the end of the month, you’ll be able to see and be proud of all the work you’ve done!

Using sticky notes is a surprisingly helpful strategy for sticking to a routine or changing a habit. Write down reminders or encouraging notes and put them anywhere in your regular line of sight. Put them all over the place. On the back of your bedroom door, above your bed, next to your phone charger, on the bathroom mirror, in your car, on the kitchen cabinets. The more positive input you give yourself, the more attention you’ll give to the subject whether it be your goal or positive thoughts and reminders.

4. Reward systems

This is one of the oldest productivity tricks in the book. Reward yourself with something fun and dopaminergic after completing daily progress on your goal. This could be a little sweet treat, a fun social activity, or even giving yourself a few minutes to scroll on your phone. It’s all about reinforcing positive behavior with something positive.

Rewarding progress can be a handy tool, but the key is to limit the reward so it doesn’t take from the progress you’ve been making. If you want to cut sugar from your diet, I would not recommend a slice of cake at the end of a successful day. Instead, find something you enjoy separate from eating, like going to get your nails done or playing that new game you’ve been dying to try. 

I like rewarding myself with a self-care activity because it gets my mind off the million things I feel like I have to do. It also kills two birds with one stone by making progress on my goals while simultaneously creating time to focus on self-care.

5. Accountability Partners

You don’t have to do everything on your own! It can be both fun and helpful to involve someone from your life in your journey. Ask a friend or family member you see or talk to regularly if they can check in and remind and encourage you in your efforts. This could look like a text at the start or end of the day or a weekly coffee date to talk about how it’s going.

Depending on your goal, this may require more vulnerability than you’re used to. But maybe that’s just what you need to succeed. Having someone who cares about you there to hold you accountable builds a support system and can develop the closeness of your relationships. Who knows? Maybe you will inspire them to start working on their own goals.

Whether you use one or all of these techniques, be sure you’re setting personal goals that align with your values, not someone else’s. Any self-improvement effort should be motivated by what you want for yourself and your life. If you set out to change something you don’t really want to change, or in hopes of pleasing someone, you will not feel motivated to put in the work or be happy with the results. 

Yes, starting a new thing is exciting and you should totally lean into that. But don’t get lost in constantly trying to grow. Just like preparation, REST is essential. Nurture your mental, emotional, physical, spiritual, and social well-being. It’s a balance between all aspects of life.

I’d love to hear what you think of these strategies for goal-setting and habit-forming. Feel free to share tips and tricks from your life in the comments section below. I wish you all the best of luck in your life-long self-improvement journey.

Conclusion: The Power of Goal Setting and Self-Trust

Successful goal setting isn’t just about making a list of things to accomplish—it’s about developing self-trust, creating a structured goal planning process, and building habits that set you up for long-term success. By setting realistic and attainable goals, removing barriers, using time-blocking techniques, leveraging visual aids, rewarding progress, and incorporating accountability, you can transform the way you approach personal growth.

Remember, goal achievement happens step by step, and self-trust grows alongside it. Prioritize goal strategies that align with your values and lifestyle, and don’t forget to rest and recharge along the way. Your journey is unique, and every small step forward is a victory.

I’d love to hear how you apply these goal-setting techniques in your own life. Share your thoughts, experiences, and strategies in the comments below. Wishing you success in every step of your self-improvement journey!

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