Like many of you, I’ve spent the past month or so trying to set priorities and goals for 2016 and part of that process was establishing my plans for this blog.
If you have set goals for yourself for this year, you should give yourself a pat on the back– because you’re amongst the minority.
In fact, fewer than 20% of people ever actually set goals.
However, setting goals and making resolutions are only the first steps you need to take to accomplish your goals. What steps have you taken toward achieving them?
If the answer is “none,” it’s time to get started now. Here are 10 tips for turning those resolutions into reality.
1. Write down your goals and keep them someplace you’ll see them daily. Even better, create a visual representation of your dreams and put it someplace you’ll see multiple times a day.
2. Be specific. Don’t say, “I want to lose weight,” instead say, “I want to lose five pounds by February 28.” Don’t say, “I want a better job,” instead say, “I want a position as X with a Fortune 500 company with a salary of $X, by June 1, 2016.”
3. Tell someone. If you share your goal with another person, it makes it more real.
4. Find an “Accountability Partner”. Having a partner who will check in with you periodically to monitor your progress can help keep you on track with your goals. However, choose your partner carefully. You don’t want someone who is going to be a nag, but at the same time, you don’t want someone who is going to “let you off the hook” too easily.
5. Break your goals into manageable pieces. Focusing on a big goal can seem overwhelming. However if you break a goal into smaller, manageable parts, it will not only be easier to achieve the main goal, but you also create mini “wins” along the way that can be very motivating.
6. Track your progress so you can see how far you’ve come. It becomes very easy, when goals are difficult, to focus on failure and how far you still have to go. Tracking your progress allows you to look back and celebrate your wins and see how far you’ve come.
7. Plan for potential obstacles so they don’t stop you in your tracks when you hit them.
8. Be willing to adjust your goals and deadlines. Sometimes other life events take priority over the goals we’ve set. Other times, we don’t do a good job of being realistic. Although you don’t want to be constantly resetting your goal deadlines, better to reset them and keep moving forward, than to give up.
9. Maintain a positive mindset. You will face challenges and you won’t always meet your milestones, but don’t give up. Stay positive and keep going.
10. Celebrate small successes. Don’t wait until you’ve achieved your ultimate goal to celebrate. Celebrating along the way will provide motivation to keep going.
The steps above are no guarantee you’ll achieve your goals. There are many factors that affect goal achievement. However, if you take on the challenge to implement the actions above, the odds are greatly increased that your goals will become a reality in 2016!
