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Setting and Achieving Goals

Stephanie
06-10-19 10:23 PM Comment(s)

Setting and Achieving Goals

Setting goals is easy. Actually achieving those goals isn’t so easy. People choose to set goals for a multitude of reasons. Some goals are set to help people achieve lifelong dreams and other goals are set for short term motivation. No matter what the reason is, setting goals is proven to help people stay productive and make the most of their time. Having goals gives you clarity, focus, more drive and more structure. When you know what you’re working towards it naturally leads to more efficient use of your time and resources.


Your goals should be things you're passionate about or things that you’re truly going to be proud about accomplishing. You want to set specific and achievable goals but don’t be afraid to challenge yourself. A goal that doesn’t challenge you is just another thing on your to-do list. Getting really excited about your goals is the only real way to achieve them. It’s very unlikely you will reach your goal if you’re not excited about it! In a perfect world, excitement alone would be the only thing we need to accomplish our goals, but we know that’s not the case. We know that reaching your goals takes work and commitment.

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Goals can be short term or long term. Short term goals are things you want to accomplish within a 1 year with daily or weekly action items. Long term goals are things that will take more than a year to accomplish and have action items that might be monthly or bi-monthly. To successfully achieve your goals you need to determine and list the multiple steps or milestones involved with completing that goal. You want to make sure these are realistic milestones & action items. Don’t put more on your plate than you can handle or you will quickly find yourself ready to give up. Think of these steps as your ladder to reach your goal! To keep yourself motivated to complete the steps and reach your goals you can give yourself rewards for reaching certain milestones along the way. Decide ahead of time how you will reward yourself as each milestone is completed. They should be things that you will look forward to and will help you stay on track. Anything from some scheduled downtime or something tangible like a new pair of shoes.


To stay committed to achieving your goals you also need to stay accountable. Commitment & accountability go hand in hand. It’s easy to say we’re going to stay committed when we set goals. What’s the point of even setting a goal if you know from the start you likely won’t reach it, right? There are several ways to be accountable--share your goals with a friend, colleague, life partner. Maybe they have a goal they can share with you and accountability can go both ways. Social media accountability groups are a very popular option as well. Look for groups that have the same or similar goals. Personally, I like to keep myself accountable by sharing with people that also help me stay motivated. These people inspire me and truly support my goals. Accountability involves more than just checking in with these people or a group to say “Hey! Still trucking along to meet my goal”. It’s about being specific and making sure accountability checks correspond with your goal milestones. This keeps you on track and more importantly, keeps you honest if you’re not on track!


Another important step to achieving your goals is making sure you see them and are reminded of them on a daily basis. Write them, draw them, display them. Include the reason why those goals are important and what completing these goals will mean to you. Seeing your goals everyday is a helpful reminder to stay on track and helps prevent you from making decisions that would interfere with them. 


Achieving your goals isn’t going to be easy. I’ve definitely had my share of incomplete goals and learned some lessons over the years as I strive to set and achieve bigger goals. It’s important to keep going and not to give up if things get a little off track. Goals can change and morph with time so be flexible with yourself as things come up. Don’t limit yourself or get tunnel vision. Sometimes our original goals spawn new goals or a goal within a goal so to speak. Are you ready to get on your way to achieving your goals and becoming more productive? If you want to learn more ways to reach your goals, check out the Productivity Boosters and Stress Reducers Podcast. The team at YourChoice Concierge can also assist you with setting up and completing milestones along the way!

Stephanie