Focus in on Goals

I see you there, a list in hand of goals you are determined to accomplish. You are not willing to let the year pass by without making progress towards your dreams. I honor you and I’m here to share 8 steps to help you on your path. By the end of this post, I have confidence that you will be empowered to achieve your goals and it will be of your own conscious choosing should those goals not be met.

Determine Shift Goals Vs. Shallow Goals

First there needs to be a shift inside of you in order to truly want something you’re not currently experiencing. Be it better health, a degree, a specific job, more quality time with family, hitting a milestone… This is not the standard New Year’s Resolutions (we’ll call them shallow goals) where you list 10 goals you think would be nice to reach but there’s no real meaning behind them. You’ll know the difference between a shift goal and shallow goal because the shift goal is going to mean something to you. It’s going to activate a drive in you that causes you to take action because even if you have no clue how to get there, you know you’ll do whatever it takes because the alternative is unacceptable.

2 Identify Values

If you’re going all in on chasing this goal, you need to make sure you have your ladder on the right tree so to speak. Take the time to identify what your core values are. It only needs to be a few, 3-5 is a great place to hang around. Family, Wealth, Knowledge, Fun, Travel, Charity, Health… just to name a few possibilities. You can google core values and note the ones that stand out to you. Go back through a second time to narrow down just a handful. When core values are identified, its simple to determine if your time and energy are going to the values, you say you hold. Sometimes you’ll find other things are draining precious time and energy and those things need to be cut or reduced from your life.

3  Get Clear

Get really clear on what you want to achieve. You may have come to this post with one goal in mind but leave with a different one. When we look inward and examine what we think we want and start to dig deeper, sometimes we uncover more than we imagined under the surface. I witnessed the perfect analogy on my walk home from running this morning as to why its so important to get clear. The moon was visible, bright, and clear one second… the next it was covered by a cloud. It took several minutes for the cloud to pass and the moon to become visible again. This is life. We have a goal in mind but the everyday burdens of life overwhelm the vision of that goal. It Is only when we are very intentional to hold that vision in our mind, even when it seems out of sight, that we can receive the satisfaction of seeing it through.  

4 Write your goals

As you clarify your destination and what it means to you, it’s important to write down specifically what those goals are. It’s best to stick to around 3 or less at a time. You can always add more when you’ve established habits and made progress on one. Writing your goals down solidifies what it is you actually want. It makes it concrete. It takes the vagueness and wishy-washy mindset out of it and gives you something solid to stand on. When you write your goals, you’re then able to identify small action steps toward them. For example I my goal is to get fit, I may set action steps of walking 10 minutes every day after dinner and reducing sugar from my diet. It’s also important to start small. Make the steps SO SIMPLE that it would be insane to NOT do them!! Instead of going from not working out at all to 30 minutes 7 days a week, start with 5 minutes 3-4 days per week…then bump it up each week as you cultivate the habit.

5 Prioritize Your Happiness

Science shows that when we engage in actions that make us happy, we are more likely to repeat those actions. Every morning and evening visualize yourself taking steps toward your goal, feel the satisfaction of completing those steps, the point is to generate an enthusiastic and happy feeling to rewire and train your mind that doing those tasks are a GOOD thing. Make it a point to shift your mindset to feel happy that you have the opportunity to work toward those goals. Gratitude is always a great way to shift into a happier attitude.

6 Get the Motivation Flowing

 Next, take a little more time each morning and evening to visualize yourself achieving your goals. You can be specific or general here, just make sure the emotion behind it stays positive. If you find yourself feeling overwhelmed or anything other than positive you most likely just need to be more general in your visualization. Another great way to stay motivated is to have a visual reminder. This could be a photo, a post-it-note with your goal, or even a vision board. Whatever visual cue works to make you feel happy, excited and motivated to action. One more super important way to stay motivated is to surround yourself with support. It’s not always easy to find people in your life who support your goals, don’t let this discourage you. There is an abundance of online mentors, speakers and groups we can benefit from.

7 Prioritize and Manage Time

Getting to the specifics now that you have action steps towards your goals, its time to schedule them into your days. If you don’t already have a daily schedule, make one now. Choose a time to work on those action steps and write them into your schedule. Be sure to block out a set time for this. Do not try to multi-task. This goal is important and deserves your undivided attention. In many cases we need to identify time-wasting activities in order to carve out time for pursuing our goals.

Evaluate

Each week, do a check in. Evaluate how you’ve done the past 7 days. Did you stick to your routine? Did you prioritize your happiness? Did you use your visual reminders to keep you on track? This step is going to be vital in holding you accountable as well as bringing to your attention any tweaks you may need in your plan. This also the perfect time to celebrate your victories and add on another goal if you’re ready.