How to Make This the Year You Achieve Your Goals
With the New Year in full swing, most of us have a goal or two in life that we had every intention of setting, but we never achieve. Setting a goal is the easiest part, but when it comes to achieving our goals, but a lack of motivation can prevent us from even getting started. Getting motivated and reaching your goals doesn’t have to end your New Year if you know the steps you need to take to get there.
The first step in setting and achieving your goals in 2023 is to know exactly what you want. Don’t set a goal that you really don’t feel passionate about. For some of us, we have a habit of setting goals for reasons that aren’t our own. We want to please others, so we set goals that align with what others want for us, but not what we really want because we are so used to the demands of others. Let’s get one thing straight. You, my friend, are your own person. Take charge and decide what you really want in life, not what someone else wants for you. Set goals that you really want in order to be motivated to achieve them. If it’s one thing that I have learned from setting goals of my own, it’s that you’ll never accomplish a goal if you’re not passionate about it. So make sure it’s a goal that truly stokes your passion.
Once you have the goals you want to achieve in mind get specific and start by asking questions like:
“Why do I want to achieve this goal?”
But don’t just ask why. Also ask the tougher questions like:
“How will I accomplish this goal?” and “When do I expect to achieve this goal?”
Now dig deeper and really get in-depth with your goals by thinking about how your life would change if you were to achieve those goals. Imagine that you have already achieved your goals and you are living your dream life! How do you feel? Do you feel inspired? Motivated? Are you living your best life?
Once you have all of the details noted, the next step in achieving your goals is to make a visual reminder. I honestly never believed that a vision board would be anything other than another project that I haven’t completed, but I was wrong! Creating a vision board has allowed me to see exactly what my goals are and has helped me stay forced and motivated toward achieving my goals. Vision boards work because when you see them visually, you start to turn that vision aka goal into reality.
Whether you use an online vision board that you’ve saved on a social media site like Pinterest or a physical one that you hang on your office wall will depend on your mindset. If you’re anything like me, you may want to create both a digital and physical board to achieve your goals. I love the idea of a digital board, but my problem is, I can’t see it without logging online, which means there is a 90 percent probability I never will.
“Out of sight out of mind!”
When you’re able to see your goals in front of you, it’s empowering as well as motivating and a physical board is great at doing just that. You can create a physical vision board using a posterboard or corkboard for the base of your vision board, office supplies such as glue, tape, pushpins, scissors, or markers to help create your vision, and magazines or other printed images that represent the goals you want to achieve.
Keep in mind that the images you add to your board should inspire you and be related to the goals that you want to achieve. Don’t just pick an image you think is cool, but you could also like another. Be specific and choose images that represent your goals. When I first started creating my digital vision board on Pinterest, I would just add images that I thought could relate to my goals with no specific path in mind. I soon learned that once I narrowed down my images with specific step-by-step goals, I could see where I was headed next.
The choices you make, and the actions you take, you are in control of. If you continue to make choices that you really don’t want, then you will keep making the excuses that you feel are necessary and live a life you don’t want until that cycle breaks. The excuses you make tell your brain that you are okay with your life and you don’t need to change anything.
When you start taking the steps that lead you to your goals, your brain begins to acknowledge and accept those new habits. And the more specific you are with your goals, the more your brain welcomes your dream life. What do you feel like you really deserve? You can achieve your goals if you are willing to take those steps. And If I can do this, you can do this!
That step you take doesn’t have to be big. Just one small step can motivate you to the next and so on. With every step you take, you are creating a path toward reaching your goal. If you’re ADHD like me, don’t overwhelm yourself, just focus on one step at a time.
Yes, tiny steps count!
One of the most difficult decisions we often face when we want to achieve a goal is actually starting it. Starting anything is the hardest part, but once you do, you’ll feel motivated to keep going. Just remember, that those steps you are taking, won’t always go as planned. There will be struggles, but it’s all a part of the process of reaching your goals. If you feel like things aren’t going your way, step back and reassess your goals, rather than getting discouraged and just stepping out permanently.
If fear is your enemy then maybe it’s time to fight back. Ignoring your fears won’t help you to succeed with your goals, but you can use that fear as a motivational tool to push forward and keep going with your goal. If you’re still struggling with the idea of facing your fears, figure out what goals are important to you and whether or not you would regret not achieving those goals if you didn't follow through with them. If your goal is important enough, you will find the courage to face your fears and crush your goals.
Once you’re ready to push past that fear, you will want to break down the goals that are important to you and focus on the steps needed to achieve those goals. Start with the smallest step that you need to focus on until it's completed and then move on to the next step. Creating smaller steps allows you to focus on the bigger picture without feeling overwhelmed by how much further you have before you reach your end goal.
If procrastination is preventing you from achieving your goals, try focusing on your goals during the time when your productivity is at its highest. If you find that you are more productive in the morning, use that time to your advantage. If you’re more of a night person, focus on your goals then. If you find yourself able to concentrate in the afternoon, use those midday hours to your benefit. Taking full advantage of your peak hours will boost your productivity level which in return may even get you to your goals faster!
There is never a guarantee that achieving your goals will be easy. And you may find that some of the techniques I’ve mentioned, may not work for you, while others do. And finally, above all else, you must be willing to put in a lot of hard work. Without it, how else are we going to succeed at every single thing our heart desires and create the life we have always dreamt of?
