6 Steps for Reaching Goals When You Suck at Goals
Goals, right? Have you ever understood them? I didn’t.
Perhaps, you recently set a goal. But then months passed and you weren’t any closer to your goal then when you set it.
I sucked at goals.
So, I gave them up. Phooey to goals, I don’t need them.
Do you feel this way?
That’s changed. I now set goals, crush them and set more goals. I’ve written more, exercised consistently, lost weight and been more productive. No, I’m not super human. I just follow the same method each time.
Define your goal and set an endpoint
Before you can reach your goal, you need to know what it is. That’s hard.
Ask yourself, “What do I exactly want?”
If it’s to lose weight, how many pounds do you want to lose?
Perhaps it’s making more money. Well, how much more? Give it a dollar amount.
Once you have your specific goal, write it down. I use my Living Well Planner for my goals. I love having them easy to reference. Make sure you have something like this for yourself.
Get a planner, put it in your phone or paste it on your wall. Whatever method you choose, make sure you see your goal once a day and know when it’s due.
Also, is your goal right for you? There may be other reasons that you are not accomplishing your goals.
Tell someone about your goals
Accountability helps. When you tell someone else what you want to accomplish, you run the risk of looking bad if you don’t follow though.
Your brain doesn’t like to look bad. So, it’s going to do everything possible to crush that goal.
Go tell your goal to someone right now! In fact, you should come post it in our Whimsicle Moms group! We have Goal Wednesday. Find it and post.
Set mini checkpoints
If your goal contains a number (which it should!), divide that by the number of months or quarters that it will take to achieve that goal. Then set your mini checkpoints.
For example, my goal is to earn $8000 a month through this blog by the end of the year. I like to work in quarters. So, I divided 8000 by 4 and established my checkpoints.
According to my plan, I need to be earning at least 2000 a month by the end of quarter 1 to meet my goal. If I find that I’m miles away from this number, I’ll readjust my plan.
Set aside the time
When is your most productive time of day? In the morning? In the evening? Block that time off in your schedule to focus on the tasks you need to meet your goal.
I’m serious. Block it off right now!
If you want to lose weight, that’s when you will track your food or meal plan. If you want to write more, that’s the time you do it.
I can not emphasize this enough.
Do a brain dump
Write down everything that you need to do to accomplish your goal. EVERYTHING. Free write. It doesn’t have to be organized at this point, it just needs to be out of your head and down on paper.
I like using Google docs to write down my brain dump. I list each task I need to complete. When I’m done, I can copy, paste or move things around.
Don’t feel locked into one method either. I also use the Project Planning sheet of my Living Well Planner for brain dumps. The “Must Do” and “Brainstorming” sections work perfectly for this.
Develop a plan for the time
I like working in checklists. I create a checklist from my brain dump and then during my work time, work myself down the checklist. This method eliminates all the time-wasting decision making. You simply sit down and do what the checklist tells you.
I’ll give you an example.
Each month, I plan what my one focus will be each day.
Each day, I’ll list my top three priorities and then work on those first. I keep track of how I use my time on each hourly slot to keep myself accountable.
That’s it. That’s how to constantly hit your goals. Make sure you set up your system and then work to follow through.
What goal do you want to achieve?
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Great article!