Practical Advice And Tips For Achieving Your Goals
Whether your goal is to become healthier, learn something new, break an unhelpful habit, or just to become a better version of yourself, setting and sticking to a goal can be difficult.🤔
Sometimes, we are our own worst enemy and we let ourselves get in the way of achieving what we set out to do. 🙈 Other times, we can face the roadblocks that life and circumstances send our way. Either way, seeing a goal through from start to finish is easier said than done. Here is our best practical, real-life advice for setting and reaching goals successfully. 🙌
Start With The Right Intentions
One of the most integral parts of goal setting is that you have to really, really want to achieve your goal, whatever it may be. If your goal is centred around other people’s goals or opinions, the chances of you achieving them are low. For example, if you’re setting a goal because it’s what your spouse or friends are doing and not something you personally want to accomplish, that goal won’t be relevant to you and what you really want, making you less likely to succeed. 😩
If you’re starting out on a journey to achieve a goal, it should be something that you are doing for yourself and your motivation behind it should be you and not based on what others think you should do ✨. That is the only way you’re going to create real change and stay motivated to keep going when things get challenging. 💪
Have A Plan In Place
A goal without a plan can easily be derailed by the first obstacle you experience.😱 When you set a goal, the prize at the end of your journey can’t be the only thing that drives you. Plot your goal over a timeline into bite-sized (and far more achievable) steps. 📅
The other thing you need to plan for, where possible, is what you’re going to do when things get tough. If things don’t go your way, how are you going to get around this? 🤔 What happens if you fall off the wagon for a few days? 😩 What happens if you come down with a cold? 🤒 Having a backup or contingency plan in place will help you stay on track for longer.
Have A Clear ‘Why’
Without clearly knowing and understanding the benefits of reaching your goal, it’s going to get tricky trying to stay on course to achieve it. When things get hard and your willpower is wearing thin, you need to be able to reference the ‘why’ behind what it is you’re working towards.
If your goal is to lose weight, for example, what will the benefits be? In the short-term, you’ll feel healthier 🥗, and you’ll have more energy. ️ In the long-term, you’ll be preventing a whole list of health conditions and prolonging your life. 🙌
Write It Down ✍
Writing your goal down has two benefits. First, you can see your goal from a visual perspective, and this may help make it feel more tangible. 👀 You’re more likely to intellectually engage and emotionally connect with the result of your goal by writing it down.
Secondly, research has proven you are 62% more likely to achieve your goals by writing them down. Writing things down makes them real and sends a signal to your brain that you’re serious about making them happen. 🧠
Create A Reward System
If you’ve created a plan that breaks down your goal into smaller chunks, be sure to reward yourself as you reach each of these milestones.🏅Treat yourself to something real that you can truly enjoy. This adds a little fun to the process of self-control and self-discipline as well as helping motivate you to keep going to meet the next milestone.
And, of course, set out a very specific reward for when you actually reach your goal and celebrate.🏆 Whatever your plan is to celebrate, make it personal and enjoyable so that you look forward to it. This will help you stay motivated if you struggle along the way.
Setting and achieving goals isn’t the easiest thing to do. But it is so incredibly rewarding to put everything you have behind achieving something that is important to you. 🙌 And if you have a plan in place, you are aware of your ‘why’, you write your goal down, then you’re really setting yourself up for success. We wish you all the best in achieving your goals! 💪
