Ok, who here set a New Year Resolution and already forgot about it or quit it? If this is you, you’re not alone. I’ve been there many times before, too. Not just with New Year resolutions (which I talk about more in this post from last New Year), but in other daily life goals as well. Whatever kind of goal it is that you hope to reach, I want to share some tips with you that have helped me.
This post originally appeared on Anna’s 1st blog, Annamotion.
1. Know the REAL reason why you have this goal.
The most crucial thing to help you reach your goals is to passionately understand WHY you want to reach this goal. Without passion, there is no motivation. Without understanding, there is no aim.
So why do you want to reach this goal? Is it because everyone else said you were supposed to make a new year resolution to be healthier or do YOU actually want to have a healthier lifestyle?
Without one iota of passion for your goal, you won’t stick to it because deep down YOU DON’T REALLY CARE. If you really cared, I mean TRULY cared, would you have continuously failed this goal before?
For you to choose the things that help you to accomplish your goal, the benefits you see from reaching your goal must outweigh the benefits of not reaching that goal.
For example, if your goal is to have a healthier lifestyle, the outcome of “being healthy” has to outweigh the immediate gratification of that daily double cheeseburger.
You obviously know the benefits of reaching your goal are better than your current state or else you wouldn’t have set this goal. So you must remind yourself of your future. Think deeply upon what your future will look like if you accomplish this goal and what your future will look like if you don’t accomplish your goal.
Which future would you prefer?
- Constantly living in a state of wondering if you’ll have enough money for this month or going on that dream vacation?
- Feeling sluggish, irritable, and controlled by food or having energy, happiness, and feel really good about yourself?
- Regrettably looking back at your life wishing you had put in the time to follow your dreams or smiling at your bookshelf stocked full of books that YOU wrote?
Think about what your life will be like if you continue on this path you’re on versus what your life could be like if you decide to finally put in the work toward reaching this goal you have. This understanding of the “WHY you want to set this goal” will revive your passion and motivation for reaching the goal.
2. Break your goal up into realistic and manageable chunks.
Of course setting a goal like “write a novel this year” is going to feel totally overwhelming! So break up your goal. For this example, you might set smaller goals like “1. Brainstorm the outline, 2. write the 1st 1,000 words, etc.” until you’ve reached the length you want for your 1st draft.
If your goal is to eat healthier, DEFINE what that means to you and set a realistic end goal, with realistic and manageable steps to break it up. If this is completely new to you, you might not want to plunge all in right away, but start with just 1 easy step, such as “drink double the amount of water this week than I did last week” or “prepare and eat one healthy vegetarian or clean food meal this week.”
Big goals are often procrastinated or neglected because we’re overwhelmed into paralysis (“Eep! …I’ll just start it tomorrow…” But “tomorrow” never comes). That’s why we must break it up into bite-size chunks we can actually chew and swallow without choking.
3. Give your goal a deadline.
Not only is it important to break up your goal but it is also helpful to give yourself a deadline for each goal. For example, “I will do [insert your 1st small milestone] by [choose a reasonable date that is both realistic and perhaps a little challenging].” A deadline will help you see the goal as important to get done by that time. Without a deadline, it’s easy to postpone and procrastinate on your goals. Indefinite deadlines means indefinite time until your goal is reached…which may mean never reaching your goals.
4. Schedule it in.
Once you’ve broken down your goal into manageable bites and give them deadlines, write down those deadlines! Schedule it in on whatever calendar you use. Make it visible so you’re reminded daily about what you must do (and when) to reach your goals.
For 2017 I bought a beautiful Vision Planner from Bloom Daily Planners where I write down my monthly goals and then break it up in a way that allows me to see what I must do each week (and even each day!) to complete my weekly goals in light of the bigger end goal.
5. Have accountability.
Choose someone you trust will actually check in on you to make sure you’re sticking to your goal. It’s a lot harder to slack off when you know someone else will check in on you, expecting you to be making progress toward your goal. Seriously, guys. It helps immensely.
6. Find someone who has a similar goal as you.
What can even be better than asking someone to hold you accountable is to form an accountability relationship with someone who has the same goal as you.
One goal I set for myself this year was to create art more regularly and improve my skills. I made it tangible by setting a goal to draw 1 thing every day in 2017. I posted about my challenge on a forum for accountability and at least six other people were inspired and decided to join me on this challenge! 3 of which I’m in a Skype group with to encourage one another. We will help hold each other accountable, as well as naturally inspire one another by pressing on toward our goal.
Find someone (or a group of people) who is equally (or more!) passionate about their goal and talk/meet with them regularly to check in, share progress, obstacles, and failures, and encourage one another on.
7. Display a reminder or inspiration.
Write your end goal in big letters and put it where you’ll see it every day. Or hang up something that will motivate you toward your goal (i.e. if you’re saving up for something, put out a picture of it; if you’re trying to lose weight, perhaps hang up a picture of someone whose fitness story inspires you or hang up a quote that will motivate you each morning to press on toward your goal).
A couple weeks ago I shared with you that I hung up a canvas print with a representational image and the text of my 2017 goal. It is hanging in a place where it’s the very first thing I see when I get up and I’m reminded of my goal before my feet even hit the ground.
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