Reaching your personal goals is not something that you just hyper focus on at the beginning of each new year. You should always have your personal goals at the forefront of your mind, especially as life is busy and seemingly out of control. Personal goals are goals that you set for yourself. Oftentimes, they are the goals that get put on the back burner when life starts to happen.
We all have so much going on in life, literally all of the time. There’s work, career, school, home and family. The list goes on and on. It’s so easy to lose sight of what our personal goals are or were. Maybe you want to finish a degree, complete a certificate, write a book or just learn a hobby or skill.
You might say that you don’t have time, but the truth is you don’t make time. Have you ever noticed if there’s something you really wanted to do, you find the time to do it? Even if means taking a sick day and doing nothing once in a while.
As women, many times we are programmed to put everyone and everything before ourselves. We get a lot done, but oftentimes it’s not the stuff that move us closer to our personal dreams and aspirations.
Here are 9 really cool ways to create personal goals and how to achieve them:
⦁ Choose one goal at a time – Let me start by saying this is soooooo hard! I looked at my goals for last year and there were 24 of them! All this to say, that I am learning how do this right along with you! Because we are hard working, overachieving women we all have the habit of getting overzealous in our personal goals and start out wanting to lose weight, diet and exercise, clean out clutter, take a class, earn a certificate, etc. and then we spiral out of control and fail at all of the above. Or maybe, hit 6 out of 24 and still feel like a failure. The danger here is that we might stop trying because we climbed too high, too fast and fell way too short. Start with smaller goals. It’s almost like a no-fail system. It’s a win/win. Start with one goal – even the type A personalities (like myself) out there can do this. By starting with one goal and one goal only, you have no place to go but up. Once you conquer that one goal, you can move on to the next one.
⦁ Take Baby steps: If you want to learn a new sport or foreign language, for example, start by simply exploring what’s involved a little bit at a time. Don’t buy 15 books off of Amazon, talk to 20 different people about it and research for hours on end on the internet.
⦁ Don’t talk to too many people: Talking to too many different people will only leave you vulnerable and exhausted, especially when it comes to reaching your personal goals. So many people don’t want to leave their comfort zone and they want you to stay there with them as well. Pick one person you trust to talk to about your fears, excitement and concerns. They can keep you encouraged, supported and accountable.
⦁ Pick an one to three action steps for the week and stick to it. To get it done, Spend small increments of time each day and set the timer. You might spend 30 minutes one day and 15 minutes another researching your new personal goal and stop there. Don’t underestimate the power of small steps done consistently over time. This alone can change you into a new person.
⦁ Continue to reward yourself as you go along and reach these milestones. Don’t wait until you fully accomplish your goal before you celebrate. Small wins add up to huge victories, so celebrate along the way, it will help you to stay motivated.
⦁ Slowly begin to incorporate this new goal into your life through small, actionable and measurable steps. Here’s where the fun begins. Let’ say for example that you are learning to speak Mandarin. Try visiting a restaurant or other service business where the management speaks Mandarin and start a conversation with them. They will love it and it will start to feel real to you.
⦁ Acknowledge the success you are feeling on a small scale. Don’t rush and don’t get ahead of yourself. In other words, recognize that success is a journey. The greatest reward is not necessarily the destination but who you become in the process. That’s where true fulfilment and happiness lies.
⦁ Notice you are gaining momentum on your goal. It’s not bigger than you. It’s actually happening in smaller increments. You are not where you were, or who you were for that matter. You are gaining momentum and transforming in the process.
⦁ Begin to get excited, and it will show. Bonus tip – the more you get excited about what you are doing, the more inspired you will feel and the more momentum you will create.
Always remember, personal goals are the goals that we set for ourselves. They are just as important, if not, more important than the multitude of goals that we set for our careers, families, etc. Don’t underestimate the power of reaching your personal goals. It will not only serve you well, but make you a happier more productive person in the long run.
All the best!
Elaine