It happens every January—people set new goals for the New Year. But by the time March rolls around, most of those goals are long forgotten. Most of the time, goals aren’t achieved because they either weren’t the right goals or people lose the motivation to work towards them.
Here are five tips to help you set and crush your goals, so they don’t go to waste.
It’s hard to set, track, and achieve your goals if you aren’t organized. First and foremost, write down your goals and keep them in a visible place. Writing your goals makes them more of a serious commitment, and seeing them often reminds you to work towards them every day.
This also means organizing the way you track your progress. Use a chart, bullet journal, spreadsheet or any other tool that helps you stay organized. That way you can measure your goals by time, milestone or whatever else, in an organized manner.
Your mother probably told you not to bite off more than you can chew. This goes for your goals, as well. If you set too large of a goal then you may get discouraged if you aren’t making progress fast enough and give up. Setting small goals helps you build up to your bigger, powerhouse goal. The success of each smaller goal keeps you feeling positive, but always having another goal lined up keeps you motivated.
Look back on what you’ve accomplished in the past and see what you reasonably can achieve in the upcoming months. Be honest about your skills, your experience level, and the amount of time you’re willing to put into your goal. That way you can set realistic goals that will motivate you to work hard, yet are achievable.
It’s really hard to stay engaged with goals that are long-term. That’s why people who set New Year’s resolutions have trouble keeping them past spring. But if you create a timeline of where you want to be at different time points, you can better stay on track.
Pick a timeline that feels right for your goal. Set reminders to make sure you’re tracking towards your milestones along the timeline. If you can break down your goal into daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly tasks, it can help you stay committed.
The most common excuse people use for not seeing their goals through is that “life gets in the way.” This is true—and for some people, really major events do come up, causing them to have to shift their priorities.
But the everyday things that come up—things like work stress, social drama, holidays—should not be derailing you. Hold yourself accountable for the situations you can control and the things you really can accomplish, even when you don’t feel like doing it.
Holding yourself accountable doesn’t just mean punishing yourself when you’re not productive—in fact, it’s quite the opposite. You can save things you really want to do or buy as rewards for achieving a milestone. You can also have someone else review your work periodically to give you feedback and help keep you on track.
The best way to stay motivated to keep working towards your bigger goal is to reward yourself as you achieve the smaller goals along the way. Rewarding yourself for each small win will not only keep you motivated, but it will make you feel great, as well. Each time you achieve a small goal, show yourself some love because you earned it and you can achieve anything you put your mind to!
Joining the Viv community as a Life Consultant lets you set and achieve goals using these steps. As a Viv Life Consultant you will be part of a community of dynamic, engaged people who want to make life better for themselves and for others. They will provide feedback, share in your accomplishments, and help you achieve your goals. Whether you’re celebrating a weekly win or a long-term achievement, your Viv family will be there every step of the way.
