9 Hacks For Setting (& Keeping) Goals, According To TikTok

Everyone and their mother has encouraged you to write your goals down at some point or another, but if you're still trying to find the energy to do so, this TikTok offers a delightful reinterpretation of Steve Harvey's thoughts on vision boards. Jot it all down not only to keep track of your dreams, but also to keep yourself accountable and focused. And yes, you can cross "write goals down" off your to-do list.

You don't have to be an artist or collage expert to make yourself a useful vision board. Find images you want to use online or in magazines (if you've got some of those ancient communication devices lying around) and make categories based on what's important to you (health, family, career, etc). Dream big, and make the board as pretty as you want.

You've got to start where you're at in order to get where you're going, so this TikTok recommends making a list of your current mental, career, and personal states of being. Then, list where you'd like to be in those categories at a specific point in the future. If you're feeling extra inspired, draw what all of that would look like in a mind map — it's about getting creative with what can be, so no actual drawing skills required.

You might be the type of human that has no problem setting goals, but it can feel impossible to actually move toward them. If that's the case, this TikTok recommends opting to push yourself to pursue just one of your ideas. Maybe you want to write a novel and change careers and run a 5k and... pick just one, crush it, and then focus on the next one (instead of trying to tackle them all at once). The more you feel yourself working toward one thing, the more inspired you'll be to set and chase other goals in the future.

Sometimes, jotting it on paper just isn't enough. Mindset hacks can help when you're writing your goals down, especially thinking about it (as this TikTok advises) like creating a contract with yourself. You're not just putting your pen to paper because the internet told you to — you're signing an agreement with you, yourself, and thou. That shift in your mental exercise can bring your goal-setting to the next level.

Take your dreams and break them down in order into small steps in order to build them from scratch. When you go to write down your list of goals, ask yourself if there's something you can accomplish today or this week. If your overall goal is to read 50 books this year, write down the steps in bite-sized chunks. Maybe you'll read a chapter or two a day, instead of forcing yourself to finish that 600-page history tome by Sunday. It'll make your tasks a lot less stressful and a load more fun.

What are 1,001 things you want to accomplish in the next 1,001 days (roughly three years)? This TikTok wants you to find out. It's not about setting out to do all these things (at least not right now) — it's about reminding yourself how vast you are and how big you're allowed to dream. Grab a journal, a poster board, or your favorite note-taking app, pour yourself some wine or coffee, and settle in for a good few hours of work.

You might have heard that sharing your goals with others is one form of accountability to get you to, you know, actually stick to them. But this TikTok says that it's also more than OK to keep your goals to yourself. Practice cultivating internal confidence without relying on other people's validation or lack thereof by taking time to set intentions with yourself, and only yourself. This will reinforce the idea that your own opinion is the most important, and help you move along toward your goals without external pressure.

Sure, you may have spent some time breaking your overall goals down into tangible action steps, but have you stopped to think about how doing all those things will change you as a human? Stop and restart your brain along with this TikTok as you do the ultimate mind exercise of meditating on who you want to become, not just what you want to do.