This is the time of year when so many people are setting new goals for themselves. They’re setting goals for what they’d like to achieve in their businesses in the year ahead. They’re even thinking about personal goals they’d like to reach as well. And setting those goals is really the easy part of this whole thing. It’s easy to come up with a goal and to say you’re going to accomplish XYZ. The hard part comes in actually achieving your goals.
Once you’ve told yourself that you’re going to make something happen, you actually have to step up and make it happen. You can’t just sit back and wait for it to come to life. You have to put in the hard work in order to get there. For example, if you’ve set a business goal to make $100,000 in the year, you can’t just chill out and wait for the money to come in. You have to bust your butt and hustle to make sales in order to get there.
But don’t let a little hard work scare you off! Here’s the good news… Achieving your goals doesn’t actually have to be difficult. You just need to know how to get to where you want to be and begin working toward it. So, to help you out and to make sure you achieve every goal on your list for this year, I’m sharing a few tips you can use.
10 TIPS FOR ACHIEVING YOUR GOALS
If you’re ready to take those goals from just an idea on paper and make them a reality, keep reading for my top tips for achieving your goals. Keep these in mind on a daily basis and you’re sure to accomplish great things!
1. SET GOALS THAT ARE FULFILLING.
To start off, you need to actually set some goals that you’d like to achieve. And no matter if these are personal goals, business goals, or any other, there’s one thing they should all have in common. The goals you set need to be fulfilling. If you set a bunch of goals that you don’t really have a desire to achieve, but you set them because you think you should, you aren’t going to want to work towards them. The number one key in achieving your goals is to chase the things you’re passionate about. Chase the things that feel good to you.
Take the example I mentioned above. For many people who are business owners, they long to have those six figure years. They want to make over $100,000 in income in a single year. And that’s an awesome goal! If you want to achieve the same, then more power to you. However, not everyone is drawn to that same goal. Not everyone is chasing that, which is totally okay. Don’t feel like you have to chase that if it doesn’t feel good to you.
2. KEEP YOUR MOTIVATION TOP OF MIND.
Similarly, it’s a good idea to know what is motivating you when it comes to achieving your goals. What’s the driving force behind accomplishing XYZ? That motivation is what will keep you going every single day. That’s what will push you to continue moving forward, even when you’re discouraged and on the brink of giving up hope. You need to have a burning desire to achieve your goals. If you don’t, you should reconsider the goals you’ve set for yourself, which takes you right back to tip number one.
3. BREAK DOWN BIGGER GOALS.
Odds are, you have quite a few lofty goals on your list of things you’d like to accomplish, which is great. It’s always encouraged to dream big. However, the thought of those big goals may seem daunting when you begin to wonder how you’re going to make it happen. Instead of thinking so much about just getting to the end result, you need to break that down into smaller steps to help you get there. So, think about how you can break them down.
Let’s take that six-figure year goal, for example. Before you hit $100,000, there are other levels of income you need to hit first. Give yourself smaller increments that you could hit each quarter so that by the end of quarter four, you’ve hit your six figures. You’ll also need to figure out how you’re going to make that money, which brings me to my next tip…
4. CREATE AN ACTION PLAN.
To ensure you’re achieving your goals, you need to create an action plan that will help you get from where you are now to where you want to be. Without a plan in place, you’re essentially wandering aimlessly without anything to guide you in the right direction. So, you need to determine how you’re going to accomplish everything you’ve set out to do.
After you’ve broken your goals down into smaller, actionable steps, you need to give yourself deadlines. It’s the only way you’re ever going to stay on track. If you don’t have a deadline, you’re going to be more likely to keep putting things off and putting them off. Deadlines are key to your success so you can achieve big things in a timely manner. To do this, think about all the work that needs to be to achieve your goals and give yourself ample time to complete it. Then, your next step is to begin taking action.
5. VISUALIZE THE END RESULT.
A warning that I’m about to get a little “woo woo” on you here, but I’m a firm believer in the Law of Attraction. What you are thinking about can very well manifest into your life, whether you really wanted it or not. With that said, you better make sure those thoughts in your head are good ones! One of my favorite tips for achieving your goals is all about visualization.
You can jot down your goals on a piece of paper or create a vision board that you hang up in your office and can see every day. Then, spend time each day reflecting on those goals. Visualize what your life would be like once you have achieved them. How will you feel once you’ve accomplished all of your goals? What will it mean for you? Don’t worry so much about how it will happen. That’s a job for the Universe. Instead, focus on what it would look like and feel like to reach your goals.
Related: HOW TO MAKE AN EPIC DREAM BOARD TO CREATE MAGIC IN YOUR LIFE
6. AVOID GETTING BURNT OUT.
While working on your goals is certainly fun, you can’t allow yourself to get burnt out. If you do, you aren’t going to have any motivation left for achieving your goals. If you’re constantly going full speed ahead, you’re going to notice that you begin to feel exhausted and unmotivated. And that’s not going to get you anywhere! So, be aware of the signs of burn out and look out for them.
If you do feel yourself getting burnt out or you want to avoid it, make some time in your schedule for self-care. Allow yourself to do whatever recharges you, whether it’s taking a bath, meditating, reading a book, or something else. Self-care is important when it comes to your motivation levels, so put yourself and your health first.
7. TRACK YOUR PROGRESS.
It’s important to track your progress so you can see that you’re actually moving toward the end goal you had in mind. Plus, it’s helpful for a number of other reason. When you see that you have made progress toward your goals, it’s a chance to celebrate and feel good about the work you’re doing. But if you haven’t made the progress you were hoping for, that’s your push to step up your game and get moving. Be sure to regularly check in on your goal progress so you know you’re staying on track.
There are plenty of great tools you can use as a progress tracker. Personally, I love Asana for keeping track of tasks as part of larger projects. However, you could also use any other to-do list app or just use your daily planner or calendar. As long as you have some means of tracking, that’s all that matters.
8. CELEBRATE YOUR SUCCESSES.
As mentioned, it’s always a good idea to celebrate the successes you achieve on your way to achieving your goals. Consider my previous tip about breaking your bigger goals into smaller steps. You could give yourself some type of reward for each smaller, milestone goal you hit. Even as adults, we love a little positive reinforcement and it’s sure to give you the motivation to keep going when you know something special is waiting for you on the other side.
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9. DITCH THE LIMITING BELIEFS.
Don’t let limiting beliefs like fear and doubt hold you back from achieving your goals. So many of us fall victim to that thought of, “I’m not good enough to do this.” You begin to doubt your own abilities or you start fearing that you’re going to be a complete failure at whatever it is you’re trying to do. And it’s even worse when you feel like you’re the only person who feels that way. You’re not.
And here’s a newsflash for you: you are good enough. You don’t have to be afraid of failure because you can learn from it and move on. Your mindset is up to you. It’s your choice to have a positive mindset, so choose good thoughts that empower and motivate you. Don’t give in to all the negative crap you tell yourself. You are capable of amazing things my friend. You just have to believe it.
10. ALLOW YOUR GOALS TO GROW WITH YOU.
You may find that as time goes on, your goals begin to change and that’s okay. You don’t have to stick to the goals you originally set for yourself. You can adjust them as you grow and as your desires change. Get into the habit of revisiting your main goals and see if anything has shifted for you. It’s possible that you achieved your original goal faster than expected, so you can then set your sights even higher. Or perhaps what you once wanted to achieve is no longer important. The goals you set in January might not be relevant in July if your priorities have shifted since then, which is perfectly fine. You just need to be able to acknowledge that and make changes.
Bonus: TAKE ACTION.
And finally, my last tip for you is to simply take action. You need to motivate yourself each and every day to make progress toward achieving your goals, even if it’s just one small step at a time. Those small steps will add up over time and you’ll begin to see the fruits of your labor. Make an effort to do a little something on at least one of your goals every day instead of allowing yourself to become stagnant. You want to keep moving forward in order to build that momentum that keeps you going each and every day.
WHAT STEPS DO YOU TAKE TO ENSURE YOU’RE ACHIEVING YOUR GOALS?
