6 Steps To Help You Stay Committed And Inspired To Achieve Your Goals
“If you want to live a happy life, tie it to a goal, not to people or things.” ― Albert Einstein
The difficult task people often face is remaining consistent in the pursuit of their goals.
At the start of a New Year, we are often bubbling with energy and enthusiasm for all the great changes we are going to make and the resolutions we are (hopefully) going to stick to. We are full of the best intentions, until life shows up with unexpected demands and then all goes out the window!
Let’s face it, life can be demanding at times. The capacity to manage your finances, health, relationships, career and a host of other things can sometimes feel like juggling many balls at one time. - That is why it is really important to not only set goals, but make an action plan to reach them.
So let’s get into it...
1. Don’t Make Resolutions: Set Goals
It might seem like resolutions and goals are the same, but to me they are different in a very important way. People seem to make New Year’s resolutions like they’re a wish. Something they’re hoping will just happen. But when you set goals, you make a plan so that you know what work you need to do for that goal to actually happen.
2. Make your Goals Specific & Realistic
This is important so that you can achieve your goals!
Specific: It is important that your goals are specific so that you know if you’ve achieved them or not. If you want to eat healthier, how will you know if you’ve done it? But if you want to eat at least four servings of fruits and vegetables and drink six glasses of water a day, then you can easily tell if you’ve done it or not.
Realistic: If you set unrealistic goals, you’re setting yourself up for failure. If you want to save $5000 for an emergency fund, but you usually only have $45 left at the end of every month for savings, you most likely will fail (unless you have a specific plan for making extra income). I want to set a goal that I can realistically achieve so that I can succeed!
3. Write It Down
Yes, you might have read it a hundred times, but did you actually do it? Write down your goals and place them somewhere you’ll see them!
Sticky notes to your refrigerator, or on your office wall or bathroom mirror. Make a screensaver for your phone or laptop. Put a note inside your wallet so that you see your savings goal every time you spend money. - This isn’t a resolution that we’re going to wish for and forget about. This is a goal that we are going to work towards.
4. Break Down Your Goals Into Categories of Short, Mid & Long Term.
By breaking your goals down in this way, it helps you stay realistic in terms of what is achievable in a loose time frame and keeps you motivated in the attainment of them.
Here are some examples:
Short Term Goals
Remember, these are goals that are to be accomplished in a year or less.
Write in your gratitude journal every morning
Practice Yoga 4 days a week
Meditate for 10 minutes every morning
Save a specific amount of money for an emergency fund
Save money for further Yoga teacher training
Learn a new language
Try a new class
Go on monthly dates with your special someone
Mid Term Goals
These goals might take 3-5 years to accomplish.
Finish a bachelor’s or master’s degree
Move to a new city
Make a career change
Build a business
Purchase a house
Pay off all debts
Start a family
Long Term Goals
Long term goals will likely take 10 or more years.
Pay off mortgage
Expand business
Have a saving fund for your children
How do you come up with short, mid, and long term goals?
Ask yourself, “What do I want my life to look like in 1, 5, or 10 years?”
By thinking about your future and what you hope you will have accomplished in the next “however many” years, you can create goals that will get you there. Setting goals for how you would like to grow and change through the years inspires you to commit to them and take consistent action.
But setting goals isn’t enough. To really make your goals happen, you need to figure out what steps need to happen for you to accomplish those goals.
Just saying that your goal is to create a daily yoga practice won’t make it happen. You need to decide what time of day you will do it, how long for, where you will practice, so that you set yourself up for success and don’t let excuses get in the way!
If you want to change careers, figure out what training and skills you will need to get that new job. Create a schedule for how you will take classes that you need so that you will be ready for your new career.
5. Be Accountable To Someone
Having a good accountability partner can help you make serious progress toward any of your goals.
An accountability partner is a partnership where you mutually agree to coach each other and provide feedback on a regular basis. With an accountability partner, you each agree to talk daily or weekly through a call, voice notes or text sharing your wins and talk about your current challenges.
It could be as simple as messaging each other once a day to update your progress. For example: “Felt really tired today, but rolled out my mat and did a 30 minute gentle flow, and felt amazing afterwards!”
By saying our commitments out loud to one another and agreeing to support each other to stay committed, raises our level of commitment significantly!
6. Create positive habits
If you’re aware of negative habits, replace them with affirmative ones. For example if you find yourself wasting time surfing the web or scrolling instagram, recognise how you are buying time from the real task at hand (insert goal).
Stop this habit by disabling your internet connection or putting your phone in flight mode so you can focus on what you really want. The more you redirect yourself toward your goal, the sooner the NEW habit will become ingrained; thus disabling the old negative habit. Ta da!
What are you committed to? And what steps do you need to make it happen?
Let’s start the year as we mean to go on. Reflect upon our hearts desires, and set the wheels of change in motion. Goals + Action = Creation!
With love,
Jemma
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