7 Steps to Reaching Your Goals
Everybody has dreams. A lot of people make goals. And many people give up.
People give up because they don’t have a clear path. They begin working towards their goals with great enthusiasm; get discouraged, and eventually fall back into their old habits.
Below are seven tips to help you form good habits, stay on course and achieve whatever you set your mind to.
1. Be specific. It’s not enough to say: I want to lose weight, I want to run a marathon, I want to write a book, I want a new job. Those are all great goals to have, but unless you zero in on exactly what you want, how you plan to get there and set a date for completion, they’re too vague and hard to grab onto. Instead, your goals should be something like: I want to lose 10 lbs in 6 months by eating less fried food, cutting out sugary drinks, and exercising for at least 30 minutes, five times a week. Or, I’m going to write a children’s book about two homeless lizards who make it big in New York City and complete the first draft in 12 months. It can be whatever you want. Just be specific, give yourself a realistic deadline, write it down and stick it somewhere you’ll see it every day.
2. Make it a priority. Once you have your specific goal, you need to make it a priority. Running and writing are two priorities in my life. That means, I put other things aside to make sure I get to run and write every day. People know they need to make things a priority if they want to accomplish something, but they don’t realize this means that other things will have to move down the priority list. For me, I have to accept that my house will not be spotless, there will be unfolded laundry piled on chairs and the dishes may need to wait until tomorrow to be washed. I don’t watch TV (really). I know this is hard for some people to accept. They’ll try to do it all. But trust me, you will burn out. Something has to give. Think about what’s really important to you and let go of the things that aren’t.
3. Break it up. Break up your goal into smaller manageable tasks. I have a goal of running at least 140 miles per month. That may seem like a lot for some, maybe not for others, but it’s what works for me. Instead of focusing on the big number of 140, I break it up into 35 miles per week. Then, I break that up into 6 or 7 miles per day. I only tackle what I have to do for that day. I did the same thing when I was working on my manuscript. Instead of focusing on the mountain of things I had to do to finish the book, I broke it up. I made sure to write a minimum of 250 words per day (even if they were horrible) or complete at least one task (e.g. researching for a scene, jotting down ideas for a new scene, etc.). Just do something every day that gets you a little closer to your goal. And when you do this, you’ll be amazed how things start to fall into place for you, new opportunities will suddenly begin to present themselves.
4. Surround yourself with positive people. And be a positive person. There are naysayers everywhere. You know who they are. Most of the time, they don’t even know they’re being negative, it’s just the way they look at the world. It’s hard to avoid the Debbie Downers or Gloomy Gus’ because they might be your coworkers or family members. They can be draining and may make you question yourself. But here’s the thing, they only have as much power over you as you give them. Don’t engage with them if they criticize you. Change the subject or just politely agree to disagree. Once they realize their words have no effect on you, they’ll stop trying to discourage you.
5. Stay committed. You’ll have good days and not so good days. There will be roadblocks. Days when self doubt raises its ugly head and growls at you. You’ll want to give up. You need to believe in yourself and push past these toxic feelings. When you get discouraged, stop and look back at what you’ve already accomplished. You may need to revise your goal, but, that’s okay. As long as you’re moving forward, you’re going in the right direction. Most people don’t understand that insecurity and self doubt are part of the process. These feelings will happen, you just need to push through them and stay focused. Don’t beat yourself up. Learn from your mistakes and move on. Don’t give up.
6. Enjoy the journey. Celebrate your small accomplishments. You’re a badass.
7. Keep going. Once you reach your goal, make another one. After a while, you won’t even think about these steps, they’ll become innate. Encourage others to follow their dreams. Keep growing, keep dreaming.
Stay true to yourself and good luck achieving your goals. You can do it!
