It’s that time of year when aspiring individuals reflect on the past year and re-focus on how to make positive changes this coming year. Recognising what worked and what didn’t. Not going to be you? Think carefully about your decision. By deciding not to set goals you’re setting yourself up to another year of the same. Even stay-at-home parents and students reflect on the previous year and make plans for the year. You don’t need to have a high-powered job to set goals. Everyone who hopes for a better future has goals and dreams, unfortuantely not everyone focuses their energy to achieve them. Focusing your energy to achieve your hopes and dreams is the first step towards achieving your goals.
Follow these 5 steps to help you get closer to your goals.
1. Setting goals allows you to laser focus on what you want.
Instead of waking every morning with no idea of what tasks to focus on, having your goals written down allows you to make a daily to do list with tasks leading toward your goal. No more “flying by the seat of your pants.” Instead, follow your action plan or checklist and focus on important tasks instead of busy work. If your days are filled with busyness due to urgency rather than importance, it’s a sure sign that you’re struggling to focus on activities that take you closer to your goals.
2. Keep those goals in sight and look at them daily.
Put your goals somewhere where you will see them every day and be reminded by them. You can have a list of them on the inside of your cupboard door, or on your phone screen that you see when you first look at your phone at the start of each day. You may even decide to make a vision board and hang it on your wall, so you are reminded each day about your WHY…why you are working so hard? What you want to accomplish? Even if you have written a simple goal list, keep that list near so you can read it every day. Keeping a list hidden in your desk or in a file somewhere on your desktop doesn’t serve the same purpose; soon enough your list is forgotten and you’re veering off track.
3. Be prepared for some hiccups along the way.
No one’s path is smooth, especially in life. Typically, these obstacles show up just when you’re feeling confident that you know what you’re doing. Instead of allowing these to ruin your day, find a way to resolve them and get back on track toward your goals as soon as possible. Once you have a solution to the obstacle, write it down the solution in case you experience another similar problem in the future. Having a list of possible solutions is much less stressful than not knowing what to do. I often find reviewing and shaping is much easier and quicker than creating solutions from scratch.
4. Find an accountability partner.
Voicing your goals to a partner brings your goals to life and it forces you to do the work or risk the shame of telling your partner you didn’t meet your goals. An effective accountability partner will ask follow up questions and won’t be afraid to hold their partner’s “feet to the fire.” One way to make this partnership more fun is to make a consequence whenever someone doesn’t deliver on their weekly goals. Whether that’s paying for lunch or donating to a charity, it raises the bar a bit higher.
I have had an accountability partner for 3 years and she’s worth her weight in gold! Every Monday before the week starts, we report back on the previous week, we talk about our goals for the upcoming week, check for obstacles and ways around them and then we ring off. It’s definitely not a social call. I have learnt so much about myself and my processes as well. I am clearer about how I earn a living and how I want clients to experience my work. Without my weekly accountability call I would be distracted by every shiny thing that turns up in my inbox!
5. Know and understand the real purpose of your goals.
This step requires digging a bit deeper into your life and your WHY. Why do you want to get that promotion? To be able to make decisions that impact more people? So, you can move your family to your dream home? So, you can donate money to local charities? There are no right or wrong answers. Your answer will make these goals important to YOU.
A client recently shared that while she was happy in her job, however her hobby of writing a screenplay puzzled her. She was unclear why she was doing it and as a result questioning whether it was worth even doing. After a couple of deeper questions, she was able to identify and connect with the message of her screenplay, which motivated her to keep at it. Without recognizing that, I suspect she may have mothballed it instead of seeing it through.
If you’re ready to dive deep into goal setting and set yourself up for success, check out my newest webinar, 5 creative ways to set goals, (the fun goal-setting alternatives to SMART goals).
In my webinar on Tuesday, 18th January 2022 at 1pm (AEST), I’m sharing 5 Creative ways to set goals, (the fun goal-setting alternatives to SMART goals). Because after all, you should be excited to wake up every day and work toward your goals; if you’re not, then maybe you need to mix things up a bit and change how you’re setting your goals.
Attendees receive a free gift and a goal-setting template/worksheet!
