Reaching my goals part 3
Humans are creatures of habits. Many of the bad habits we have are a result of poor education or a lack of knowledge. Good habits are usually perceived as harder to acquire. This is a myth. Your mind can equally do both good and bad habits with the same amount of effort and energy. This is a good thing because whatever you train yourself to do for while, will eventually become automatic and effortless.
Properly setting goals is one of the good habits that every “doer” must gain in order to set way for genuine victory. This isn’t the first nor the last time will you hear this, about the importance of goal setting in your overall achievements. If you missed the first two parts of goal setting here’s a quick summary. In the first part of goal setting we defined the big picture of your success, your ultimate dream becoming real. The importance of visualizing the bigger picture is that it keeps you motivated and gives you direction in your daily decision making. If you missed that part you can check it here. In the second part of setting goals and reaching them, we targeted every element of your big picture and turned it into a SMART, precise, achievable goal within a time frame. Now in this third and last part of properly setting goals and reaching them, we will take each smart goal you have and make it work on a practical daily basis. By the end of this article you will have the right action-plan needed to take that huge leap forward towards your goals.
Here are the 3 principles for effectively reaching your goals:
1- Organize to prioritize:
Now that you have all your smart goals right, it’s time to organize them to be able to stay focused on one at a time. In order to do that, I usually put each goal in his proper category. Categories might vary from: personal development, family needs, finances, business progress, fitness & health; etc. Let’s say I wanted to lose an amount of weight in the next six months. That goal would belong in a big category called fitness & health along with other goals like reducing the amount of sugar intake for example. Another goal like: “saving 5000$ in the next three months”; would belong in the finance category along with other money related goals. The idea here is to group together different goals under one category to be able to center your attention on the most urgent goals in every grouping. Once that pressing goal is achieved you can move forward to the next urgent one.
2- Set your call-to-actions:
After organizing your goals in big categories, you can start with the most vital ones and move along to the less pressing goals to set your action plan needed to attain every target. Personally, I set action strategies for as long as 6 months ahead, but you can go ahead and plan trimesters or even a year in advance. The secret element to nailing your action plan is to be as precise as possible. You start from the bigger picture moving to the smaller details, set your yearly & monthly objectives first, then your weekly intentions all the way to your daily tasks – which will move you gradually closer to a week successfully achieved, then a month triumphing, all the way to your long term vision victory. I personally suggest giving enough time for the execution of every errand. Allow yourself to set the maximum time limit, this way you won’t create mental pressure on yourself and if you happen to finish before that point in time, the feeling of being ahead of your work will give you a boost of motivation to keep you going stronger and fiercer than ever before.
3- Regular follow-ups:
Having an organized schedule and the right action plan on your calendar is not quite enough to completely succeed at nailing your goals. You must regularly visit your program chart to make sure that you are moving according to the plan. Eventually, changes are inevitable so be flexible with that and most certainly true to yourself. No matter how much you plan ahead, something will almost always get in the way. If you get off track of your original plan, get back to it at the very first chance. If you have to delay a few meetings, make sure to get to them as soon as possible. If you must go ahead and jump into another chore, make sure you go back to the ones you missed and complete them. The important thing is to be flexible, patient and consistent.
Anticipating change is the greatest solution to all your worrying. I say worrying because many clients feel the pressure of having great dreams and greater plans to follow through them. Once they set their action plan, it might seem a bit too overwhelming for them. I always tell them: worrying won’t get the job done; worries will only create mental pressure and stress which will only sabotage your success before you even begin. Keeping a positive mental attitude based on patience and presence, is just what you need not only to kick start your journey, but to make it till the end with your head held high. Make sure you keep track of your thoughts and become aware of any negative vibes you might be carrying around with you, because without awareness, you might as well be blindfolded.
At the end of this 3 parts blog of properly setting and achieving your goals, you are now fully ready to target your destination and reach it with more efficiency, less time and greater impact (as I promised you)! I want to thank you for reading and taking the time to build the right good habits that will equip you for long-term success. If you are having any difficulties with any subject discussed please do not hesitate to contact me to ask me any questions; I will be happy to assist you! Don’t forget to follow my blog and support my page to never miss a post!