Motivational
Five Things You Can Do Today To Achieve Your Goals
There is a lot more to achieving any goal than just having the goal. But it is a first step. You may wonder how some people seem so great at achieving their goals while other people aren’t so good at it. Part of the reason why some people fail is that they do not have a specific goal, one that is clear and focused. In addition, they do not have a schedule of action to actually work toward achieving the goal. In order to meet any goal, start doing these five things today.
1. Craft Clear, Specific and Doable Goals
For any goal to be achievable it must first be clear and very specific. But, it also must be possible. You do want to challenge yourself a bit, and set the goal high, but you want to ensure that any goal you set is possible. Therefore, you will need to do a little research in order to set a goal. For instance, let’s say your ultimate goal is to lose 50 pounds.
Obviously, anyone who needs to lose 50 pounds and sets their mind to it can do so, but they can’t and shouldn’t do it in one month. So an unreasonable goal is “I want to lose 50 pounds in a month.” Instead, a more reasonable and doable goal is to state “I want to lose 50 pounds in 30 weeks.” This is in line with health recommendations not to lose more than 2 pounds per week, and gives you a little cushion for plateaus and other issues.
2. Each Goal Needs Set Actionable Tasks To Monitor Progress
Additionally, any goal that you really want to meet needs to have the “why” and the “how” included with the “what” of the goal. In the example above you want to lose 50 pounds in 30 weeks, which will be a little less than 2 pounds per week. You’ll need to look at your diet, compute the number of calories you should consume and the amount of exercise you need to see those results.
Thankfully, today there are online calculators to help you determine this easily, but let’s say that you determine that if you consumed 1800 calories a day, and walked for 20 minutes each day, you would achieve your goal that you set within the time limit. So, now you need to include planning your meals and fitting in the exercise necessary to reach your goal. But because of the research you did, you know exactly what is needed to be successful with the goal you set. You can see a clear path to success just by going further and adding these actionable tasks:
* Eat 1800 calories a day
* Walk fast for 20 Minutes per day
Seeing that in black and white you can see that it’s very doable and achievable. But, there are a few more steps necessary to achieve your goals.
3. Schedule Everything
Do not leave anything to chance. Instead, schedule in the work necessary to reach your goals into a real calendar. Writing a list isn’t good enough – you need to schedule in everything so that you don’t miss a single day due to losing track of your schedule. You’ll need time to eat healthier, which requires more chopping and cooking, and you’ll need time to fit in the exercise, which is going to really take more than 20 minutes due to prep time and recovery time. You need to be realistic about how long each thing will take and schedule them into your day properly.
4. Take Action
No goal will ever be achieved if regular action isn’t taken each day. Each morning, look at your calendar and follow through on the plans that you’ve made and the criteria you’ve set for yourself to get things done. All you have to do is the minimum necessary each day to reach your goal. When you get through each day having done the minimum, you’re a success – each and every single day. There is nothing else that can be the result of daily action other than success when you think of it this way.
5. Repeat
Finally, you’ll need to repeat these steps every single day. When you make very specific and clear goals with very specific steps to achieving the goal, based on reality, you will soon discover the secret to success that seems to escape so many people. The real secret is in the doing. It’s like going on a long hike – if you take one step at a time, moving in the direction of the map that you’ve planned out for yourself, you will get to the end and you will be a success.
Reaching your goals is just a matter of setting reasonable and realistic goals, and then setting up a schedule of actionable tasks and steps that bring about the end result you want. You can start today to achieve your goals.
If you would like to learn more about goal setting and improving your mindset, and using both to increase your success in your business then please take a look at Building The Business Within now
ĂŔĔ ŶŐÚ ŚĔŤŤĨŃĞ ŤĤĔ ŔĨĞĤŤ ĞŐĂĹŚ ŦŐŔ ŶŐÚŔŚĔĹŦ?
There is a lot more to goal setting than just picking a goal and moving forward. While that is important, it’s also important to ensure that you are setting the right goals at the right time so that you can truly be successful. In order to ensure that you are setting the right goals for yourself, answer the following questions:
Arє чσu sєttíng spєcífíc αnd rєαlístíc gσαls?
It takes a little research to ensure that a goal is realistic. If you’re not sure if something is actually achievable then you’ve not done enough research. Once you’ve set a goal that is indeed realistic, then you need to be specific enough in your description of it so that it’s also easy to take the goal, and work backwards to create a schedule of actions needed to succeed.
Arє чσur gσαls multífαcєtєd?
Focusing on only one part of your life is a bad idea. People live multifaceted lives and need to make goals for all areas of their lives in order to feel successful. If you have a wonderful business and career but your personal life suffers, then no matter how successful you are, you will not feel successful. Something will always feel as if it’s missing from your life if your goals aren’t inclusive. Therefore, make sure your goals include something from each aspect of your life.
Is чσur schєdulíng rєαlístíc tσ íncrєαsє chαncєs σf succєss?
Once you create the schedule for yourself to reach each goal that you’ve set, you need to truly consider how representative it is of reality. Say your goal is to be healthy and reduce your cholesterol by 10 percent in six months. But, you haven’t set aside the time needed to exercise and eat right. If you don’t schedule in the time needed, you won’t succeed because something will always be in your way taking time away from you. It will be very frustrating to practice your schedule because it doesn’t represent reality.
For instance, if you are going to exercise 30 minutes per day, setting aside only 30 minutes isn’t going to be realistic. You’ll probably need to set aside an hour to account for getting ready as well as cooling down or getting cleaned up to go back to work.
Arє чσu lєαrníng frσm fαílurє?
Many times when setting goals and schedules, instead of learning from failure, people give up. Using the example above, once you implement your schedule to reach the goals that you have set, when you notice there are things you’ve forgotten to take into account, don’t give up. Learn from the failure and change the schedule to be more realistic.
You might find that in practice you have to rewrite all your goals and your schedule, but this is perfectly acceptable. Many people believe failure is something negative, but the truth is, if you don’t fail sometimes you’re not going to learn much and it’s likely your goals are too easy.
Ayє чσur gσαls trulч чσur wαnts αnd nєєds σr sσmєσnє єlsє’s?
A lot of people set goals that represent what someone else wants instead of what they want. This can really cause a lot of bad feelings and resentment which can derail the best laid plans. As you set your goals for your life, ask yourself if they’re really what you want for yourself or what someone else wants for you. Ask yourself if you’re okay with any goal you make being for someone else before you embark on your journey.
It’s okay to do things because of someone else, but it’s important that you are honest about that and make some goals for yourself too that don’t involve anyone else’s needs or wants.
Arє чσu mєαsuríng чσur prσgrєss?
Schedules are very important to the success of reaching any goal in life. To do lists pale in comparison to a well laid out calendar of tasks and activities that get you from point “A” to point “B”. Ensure that you look at your schedule every morning and every night and note when you succeed on sticking to your schedule and where you don’t. Noticing a pattern of activity can be helpful in fixing a poorly written schedule as well as staying realistic about whether or not you’re sticking to the plan.
Arє чσur gσαls fσcusєd pσsítívєlч?
When writing a goal it’s important to write them in a positive way, or at least a way that feels positive to you. In the quest to improve your life, try writing down a goal and then changing the words to sound more positive to see if it isn’t more motivating. For instance, “losing weight” seems like a good goal, but for some people it might signify deprivation. So instead, the person might frame the goal as “improving my BMI by 10 points” or “improving my cholesterol by 10 percent.”
Arє чσu wσrkíng σn tσσ mαnч gσαls αt σncє?
Just as setting too few goals can be a problem, so can setting too many. Everyone has a personal life and a career life and points in between. If you have set goals in too many areas of life at once, you might tire yourself out and get overwhelmed. Instead pick one personal goal, and one other type of goal to focus on until you reach them, and then you can add more goals as time goes on. You don’t need to do everything today. Slow and steady wins the race is a good motto to hang on to.
Setting the right goals for yourself takes some thought and consideration. Don’t try to set all your goals in one day – instead, set some goals in different stages and in different areas of your life and give a lot of thought to why you’re making the goal in the first place.
Are You Setting the Right Goals for Yourself?
There is a lot more to goal setting than just picking a goal and moving forward. While that is important, you also need to make sure that you are setting the right goals at the right time in order to be successful. To check that you are setting the right goals for yourself, answer the following questions:
Are You Setting Specific and Realistic Goals?
It takes a little research to ensure that a goal is realistic. If you’re not sure if something is actually achievable then you probably haven’t done enough research. Once you’ve set a goal that actually is realistic, then you need to be specific enough in your description of it so that you are able to take the goal, and work backwards to create a plan of action to succeed in reaching your objective.
Are Your Goals Multifaceted?
Focusing on only one part of your life is a bad idea. People live multifaceted lives and need to make goals for all areas of their lives in order to feel successful. If you have a successful business or career but at the cost of your personal life, then no matter how successful you are, you will not feel successful. Something will always feel as if it’s missing if your goals aren’t covering all aspects of your life. Therefore, ensure that your goals include something from all aspects of your life.
Is Your Scheduling Representative of Real Need?
Once you have created your action plan, you need to truly consider how realistic it is. Say your goal is to be healthy and reduce your cholesterol by 10 percent in six months but you haven’t planned in the time needed to exercise and eat right. If you don’t schedule in this time you won’t succeed because something will always be in your way taking time away from you. It will be very frustrating to practice your schedule because it doesn’t represent reality.
For instance, if you are going to exercise 30 minutes per day, setting aside only 30 minutes isn’t going to be realistic. The chances are that you’ll probably need to set aside more like an hour as you will need to get ready and then cool down and get cleaned up before going on with your life.
Do You Learn from Failure?
Many times when setting goals and schedules, instead of learning from failure, people simply give up. Using the example above, once you implement your schedule to reach your goals, if you notice there are things that you’ve forgotten to take into account, don’t give up. Learn from your “failure” and adjust the schedule to be more realistic.
You might find that this means that you have to rewrite all your goals and your schedule, but there is nothing wrong with this! Many people believe failure is something negative, but the truth is, if you don’t fail sometimes you’re not going to learn much and it’s likely your goals are too easy. You must push beyond your comfort zone to grow.
Are Your Goals Yours or Someone Else’s?
Many people set goals that represent what someone else wants instead of what they want. This can cause a lot of bad feelings and resentment which can derail even the best laid plans. As you set your goals for your life, ask yourself if they’re really what you want or what someone else believes is best for you.
It’s okay to do things because of someone else, but you need to be honest about it and make some goals just for yourself that don’t involve anyone else’s needs or wants.
Are You Monitoring Your Progress?
Schedules are very important to ensure the best possible chance of reaching your goals. “To do” lists pale in comparison to a well laid out calendar of tasks and activities that will enable you to get from point “A” to point “B.” Look at your schedule every morning and evening and note when you succeed on sticking to your schedule and where you don’t. If you notice a pattern forming for when you don’t succeed, you can rectify it and keep on track.
Are Your Goals Positively Focused ?
When writing a goal it’s important to write them in the positive, or at least a way that feels positive to you. In the quest to improve your life,write down a goal and then change the words to see if you can make it more positive and see if it isn’t more motivating. For instance, “losing weight” seems like a good goal, but for some people it might signify deprivation due to dieting. In this instance, try making the goal “improve my BMI by 10 points” or “improve my cholesterol by 10 percent.”
Are You Setting Too Many Goals At Once?
Just as setting too few goals can be a problem, so can setting too many. We all have an active personal and career life and many points in between. If you have set goals in too many areas of life at once, you can easily become overwhelmed. Try picking one personal goal and one other type of goal to focus on until you reach them, and then you can add more goals in future. You don’t need to do everything today; remember that life is not a race.
Setting the right goals for yourself takes some thought and consideration and whatever you do don’t try to set all your goals at once; try to set goals in different stages and in different areas of your life and give a lot of thought to why you want to achieve the goal in the first place.
Do Your Actions Support a Strong Mindset?
It’s clear that life doesn’t divide up all good things evenly among all people. Just look around you for the evidence of that; some people are more attractive than others. Then there are people who are richer or more successful than their peers.
There are people who come from a good background. They are well-educated, intelligent and well-liked. And from the outside at least, it appears that the world is their oyster.
Then, there are people who are average in looks. They don’t have a lot of money, let alone all that they want in life! They come from backgrounds full of various struggles. They may not have attended a prestigious college;in fact they may have little or no education at all.
Yet, so many times, it’s this second group of people who end up far more successful and enjoying more personal satisfaction than the first group. The simple reason for this is their mindset.
Just because someone appears to have it all doesn’t always mean that it is true or that it will always stay that way. And what you see on the outside – the nice car, the fancy clothes – doesn’t necessarily reflect inner happiness and fulfillment.
It’s not enough to wake up every day and tell yourself positive things. Don’t get me wrong; positive affirmation is great, but mindset alone isn’t enough to change your life. You need to take an active role in taking action to leverage that mindset into a new existence for you.
Next time, we’ll look at understanding mindset…