Does attaining your life goals hold any significance to you? If you’re someone with an ambition and possess a keen drive for life, you would probably have done quite a bit of reading on how to achieve that ever elusive life goal. Perhaps you’ve even come across doing it the SMART way; that is, Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, and Time-Bound.

If you ask anyone who has had experience with succeeding in achieving their goals, they would tell you that the above five are the most important elements in goal-setting. They can provide a very comprehensive understanding of your own life goals, and help you understand if they’re realistic enough for you to achieve given the capabilities and resources you have on hand.

So how do you decide what goals to go after and whether they’re the right ones for you? There are three important questions that you need to ask yourself before you can have a full understanding of your life goals. These questions are:

1. Are my goals challenging me?

Think about it for a second. If you’ve already been taking the actions required of you and if you’re comfortable with them, shouldn’t you already achieve your goals by now? A challenging goal motivates us to constantly improve ourselves, to keep up with the pace that is required of us to get to that goal over the horizon. The goal should make you work for it; in fact it should force you to make some changes in your life. Remember, for any goal worth setting there should be changes worth making, and at the end of the day your journey towards your goal should be a big part of your personal development. Your goal should eventually make you a better person by the end of your journey.

2. Are the goals inspiring somehow?

Your goals should inspire you just as they should challenge you. Those who have succeeded in attaining their goals in life would often tell you that they were inspired by something, and that something is usually the goal that they were after. Some have even been inspired enough to sacrifice the most precious things to them personally in order for them to achieve their goals. Your goals should not cast you into a depressed state of mind, not even when you fail to achieve them. If you find yourself depressed by your goals then perhaps it may be high time for you to rethink your strategies or even your goals. Re-evaluate your goals and go for something that is just as challenging, but ones that inspire you to do better.

3. Can anyone help you with your goals?

While you’re trudging onward, you will come across people who may put you down after hearing what your life goals are. They may tell you that you’ll never make it, that you’re not cut out for it, that you’re just not the kind to succeed in such endeavors. When you meet these types of people, you should do one thing and one thing only. Don’t listen to them! Remember that your journey towards your life goals will never be an easy one, and to keep yourself motivated is a task in itself. Don’t let others get you down. You don’t need any discouragement from them so don’t take any of it sitting down. Instead use those negative views and prove them wrong. Fuel your determination with their negativity. Make them help you without them realizing it. However if you really need the support, find someone who has been through it all, someone who has succeeded in a similar endeavor as the one you’re pursuing. Learn from such people; ask for advice on how they’ve managed to succeed. Allow them to inspire you to do better and to keep on keeping on. They are the ones who can help you because they’ve been in the same shoes as you.

There you have it, three important questions that you need to ask yourself before you can understand and set your goals in life. Once you fully understand these questions, you will be well on your way to attaining your life goals.