How To Achieve Your Goals: Tips To Help You Succeed
How To Achieve a Goal Successfully
Name a goal you have right now!
Didn’t mean to put you on the spot. But do you have a goal in mind?
OK, now pull out the map that shows you exactly how to achieve your goals.
Can’t find it?
Are you sure it’s not shoved to the back of your junk drawer? Also known as the land of every instruction manual that will most likely never be looked at but still hasn’t been thrown away! Dang junk drawers!
So, you have some goals. Awesome. What now?
I think this is where a lot of us get stuck. Deer in the headlight thing going on, maybe?
Have a goal. Check.
Achieving that goal. Empty space.
If you are ready to start adding some more checkmarks to your life, this is for you!
Let’s Learn How to Achieve Your Goals… Starting Today
1) Jot it Down
That sounds so nonchalant. Just jot it down.
But there is nothing nonchalant about putting your goals out there. This is serious business, friends!
Let’s get a little cheesy for a minute. I’m talking about arts and crafts.
I remember being in middle school and we had to cut pictures out of magazines for a project. And we cut out random words or letters and it looked like a creepy ransom note. You remember that too, right?
Two words. Vision board! (be sure to read more about how to make a vision board)
This is going to get your creative juices flowing.
Just fight the urge to start writing you love Christopher all over. Middle school memories comin’ in hot!
Go grab those scissors, magazines and some obnoxiously colored markers. Oh, and I guess a poster board would be useful.
Making a vision board can be a great start to thinking anything is possible. Unless you want to be able to fly or turn invisible. Maybe the next generation will have those options but we don’t have access to superpowers quite yet.
Can I get two thumbs up for a brain dump! That is what this vision board is meant to do. Clean out that headspace a little and figure out clear and concise goals you have.
Ask yourself these questions.
Is this worthy of going on my vision board? Does it make the cut?
Do I have a “why” for this other than that I saw that one person doing it and thought, hey that’s cool?
Would you really love to do that or are you just throwing some ideas out there and hoping something sticks. Hoping that the more goals you have your odds are better.
Take your time on this step. It is crucial in the process of how to achieve your goals!
What are my goals? What do they mean to me? What is my motivation for choosing this goal?
And don’t worry if you’re not feeling a vision board.
Bust out a journal, notebook or any piece of paper near you and write your goals down. As long as they are out into the world and not just stuck in your head, you are on the right track.
Ever set a goal and then somehow it just vanished? Literally into thin air. This is why I love to put my goals out there on something tangible. Let me touch this goal. See it! Smell it. OK, smell was taking it a little too far!
All of the behind the scenes work is great. The planning is my favorite part of things.
No surprise there. Planning is a lot less scary than jumping headfirst into something.
Let me do some more research so I feel better because I am really doing all this research and planning to avoid doing something that will push me way out of my comfort zone. That was a mouthful. But does it sound familiar?
Now, these next steps are where the real work is going to start!
2) Break it Down
A giant goal can be like a slap in the face. Wait, I have how much farther to go? Holy sh*t!
Have mini goals, small goals, and larger goals. I think it is great to dream big, push yourself, challenge yourself, and have something to strive for. All that jazz.
But if you only set those massive goals you might become discouraged along the way. You know what? When it comes to goals, I think being discouraged at one point or another is just part of the package.
It is all in the details. Breaking these big goals into smaller steps that make these goals attainable.
3) Prioritize
Picture this. Is it easier to cook one grilled cheese sandwich at a time or 12 grilled cheese sandwiches at a time? I don’t know about you. But I would be in the one sandwich group. If you can (or maybe you do) make 12 at a time I applaud you. But you get my point.
Prioritize your goals in the same way you would a to-do list.
4) Be Specific
Look at your goals again. Yes, again!
I want to write a book. I want to train for a marathon. Cool. I want (more like need) to clean out my basement. I want to get healthy. Great. These are all kick butt goals to have. But what now.
Let’s look at the goal of getting healthy. That’s awesome. But that is a pretty broad goal. You aren’t going to click your heels three times and BAM. Goal achieved. On to the next one.
Break this down into more bite-sized goals. Like little munchkin donuts.
Get down to the specifics. I want to cut out pop over the next month. I want to not eat past 7 p.m. over the next few weeks. Late-night snacking is a rough thing to give up!
Get super specific with exactly what you want to achieve and when you want to achieve it.
5) More Than Words
Do not get stuck in the planning stage. I repeat. Do not get stuck in the planning stages. It can suck you in like a good Netflix special.
Where am I at right now? What do I like about it? Where do I want to go from here? I really want to do this or that.
Next year, do you want to be saying these exact same things?
I can talk all day long. Can I get a “what what” for that? I challenge anyone to a talk off. Is that even a thing? If it is not, I just created it.
You have to do something. Putting your goals out there is great. Shout them from the rooftops if that is your thing. But you have to actually do something!
6) Attainability
I am all about shooting for the stars but keep it within reach a little. If your goal is to run a marathon, do not go out and sign up for a half marathon tomorrow if you have no experience. And the marathon is next Tuesday.
Set yourself up for success. Be a Realistic Rita. I mean that in the best way possible.
And here is something to think about!
What is realistic will change over time.
7) Responsibility
Do not let your goal get overshadowed by the new goal of getting approval from every direction. That is going to drain your energy, sista!
Your goals are yours.
Everyone does not have to approve of them. You are not turning them in to get graded. Like dang, my goals got a B+ so let me go back to the drawing board.
Look behind you. Is someone there with a huge sign saying you can do it? Please say no. That would be really scary if there was. Unless you are at some kind of sporting event. And in that case, get off your phone.
But my point (yes there was a point) you will not always have a fan section. At least not one that follows you around to pat you on the back and show off the glittery sign they made in your honor.
No more telling yourself but first, let me do this, let this event happen or let this day come and go.
This trains you to hold yourself accountable.
Be responsible for the outcome!
Set a goal and then respect that goal. Treat that goal like you would your grandma. You would not break a promise to your grandma unless you absolutely had to.
Give yourself that same level of commitment.
8) Be Proud
The real struggle is that we can feel like it is often our responsibility to convince others that our goals are worthy. Like, say we love plaid but that is not in fashion right now. So who are we to rock it when pastels are where it’s at.
We do not owe people an explanation for how we live or want to live our lives.
Imagine if there was a note on your bathroom mirror that said you are looking rough. You would probably not be a huge fan of looking in that mirror. You might start looking at that note and agreeing with it. Yes, you pink sticky note I am looking quite rough.
But what if that sticky note said dang girl you are looking fierce and ready to take on the world. You might say, yes pink sticky note that I have now named Holly, I am feeling fierce too.
When blogging came into my life, I was so scared someone was going to ask me about it. Say what! I was like a deer in the headlights when someone asked what it was or anything related to it.
This is not the way to live.
You have to be proud of your goals. Stand behind them. Don’t hide behind them.
9) Rough Roads
Dang, I didn’t make it, better quit. Think about this. How much closer is quitting going to get you? Spoiler alert. Not any closer.
Your goals are not going to magically appear.
Every day will not feel like a power day. So when you have those days where you are firing on all cylinders hold on for dear life and do the dang thing.
When you see a goal or a thought grab it before it hides from you.
Listen, friend, you are not a robot. And you know what? Even the best technology has a flub or two every now and then.
Do not let yourself stall out! Keep it moving!
10) You Have the Power
What happens if I fail? Failure. I don’t like that word. Come to think of it, I am not really a fan of any word that comes with a negative connotation attached to it.
But here’s the thing. It is a word. Failure is a thing. Despite all those sayings we hear. Failure is an option.
Give fear the middle finger! Or stick your tongue out at it. Whatever works for you!
Let me tell you something right now. There will come a time when your brain is going to try and cut you off. Fear is going to be like a rude driver getting in your way and not even using the blinker.
You may have a stumble or two (or 36). I say this for everything. But if this were easy peasy lemon squeezy everyone would be out there constantly crushing it.
Do me a favor?
Write yourself a letter. Yes, girl. I am referring to writing yourself a motivational speech. A love letter of sorts. Heck, call it a get your as* moving letter.
You have to find the motivation from inside. You can get it from others, yes. But at some point, the cheers are going to quite a little. Then it is solely up to you to be your own hype person.
Do you know what the best reward is?
Being proud of yourself. Sticking to something you said you would stick to. Yes, sister! That is better than any ice cream I have ever had. But I’ll still take the ice cream!
11) Problem Solving
Find the answers.
Listen, up. How much time do you spend on social media? Too much. Put that time into finding an answer to the question. Information is out there. It is just waiting for you to grab it.
Don’t change your goals when they become hard. And they will.
There is no next day delivery here. You have to put in work. Don’t say you are just somebody that procrastinates. Or you are someone who has a hard time deciding on something. OK, me too. I think this may be true for quite a bit of the population.
Give it your best effort to not let a problem completely derail you or stop you in your tracks.
12) Don’t Search for Excuses
I’m gonna go as far as to say sometimes we feel relieved when someone shoots our goal down.
Then we have an excuse. A reason to say, “oh yeah what was I thinking?” So glad Sarah crushed my hopes and dreams over a text message today. Moving on.
Yes, I think we are sometimes wiping our foreheads with a holy cow expression on our faces. It was getting real for a hot second but now someone knocked us back down to size and we know better.
You will always be able to find an excuse. They are everywhere. Especially if you have your binoculars out searching for them.
What is the worst that could happen? Really what is the worst? If it is not something that will put you in the hospital than it is not a good enough excuse to not try.
When it comes to how to achieve your goals, excuses are not welcome!
Ready for a truth bomb. I am nervous typing all this. Putting myself out there and my thoughts and ideas out there is hard. But the difference is this. I see the fear and then tell it to scoot over. I have something to say. I got work to do and I do not have time right now to deal with it.
You get to choose how you are. You did one thing in the past. That does not mean that you have to do it forever. I used to wear low rise jeans and wear the same makeup two days in a row. I changed.
You ever look at successful people and think they just have it all? They must never feel fear?
My guess is that if you asked them how their journey has been it would be filled with many more ups and downs than you assume.
OK, if you take one thing from this whole shebang please let it be this!
Just do something.
Do not fall into the “that won’t work for me” category.
How do you know? Have you tried it? And if you have, then try something else.
We sell ourselves short a lot. We have the tendency to give ourselves less than what we deserve. Stop watching other people doing it. Stop reading something that motivates you and then doing nothing about it.
Like you, I can talk myself out of going for something really fast.
I challenge you to not do that.
You are the one holding yourself back because ultimately it is your choices that will get you closer to your goal or stay right where you are.
You choose what happens in your life. That can be scary as heck to think about.
Make it happen. Or don’t. The choice is yours.
But you’re obviously going to make it happen!
Drop a comment and let’s chat about how to achieve your goals!
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