It’s 1st February and those goals you set on the 1st January are a distant memory, written in your journal in a flurry of new year excitement but never worked on. You sometimes think about what you wanted to achieve, but you feel paralysed about how to start working on your seemingly huge goal. And so your hopes and dreams get left on a piece of paper until next year comes around.
Does that sound familiar?
I can understand as I too used to start each year with a new journal and pen, eagerly writing my goals down, hoping that that year would be THE year of smashing my goals, only for my goals to fade into the bleakness of the pages of my journal, totally forgotten about a few weeks down the line.
The thought of working towards my goal seemed enormous, like a giant, rocky and treacherous mountain, with no path and no safety gear. So I retreated back to my comfort zone and stayed where I was.
But you know what?
Goal setting doesn’t have to be scary or daunting.
It can be fun, exciting and you get to celebrate along the way!
Over the past few years I’ve invested a lot in learning about how to set effective goals and work towards them and I now look forward to my monthly check ins with my goals and enjoy celebrating my progress towards them.
So I’m here to share with you all the knowledge I’ve learnt to help you set goals that are achievable and that you’ll want to go out there and start working on right away.
Follow my 5 game-changing tips to setting your own goals:
1. Get clear on what you want
It’s no use searching ‘goal setting’ on Google and copying other people’s ideas. They're not your own. So, the first step is to truly understand what you’d like to work on. The best way to do this is to get quiet. Take a few minutes out of your day to close your eyes and find out what exactly you want to work on.
Once you think you’ve got your goal, re-read it a few times and ask yourself how it feels.
Does it bring butterflies of excitement to your stomach?
Does it make you want to start working towards it straight away?
If it doesn’t, think about the wording you’ve used.
Are they words you use in your everyday speech?
Or perhaps you’ve copied some fancy word that looked cool on Instagram?
Change that word to something that resonates.
The power of words in incredible and it may only take changing one word to make your goal feel truly your own.
2. Be specific
A common mistake with setting goals is that they are too vague. The vaguer they are, the harder it is to work on them. Take “get healthier” as an example. Where do you start? With your meals? Exercise? Mindful exercises?
Break the goal down to be super specific. So maybe instead of “Get healthier” it becomes “Eat three healthy meals a day” which is much more actionable and achievable.
3. Include a time frame
A goal without an end date is like not having best before dates on foods. You have no idea when that goal needs to be completed by, which will only add to the difficulty you have in starting to work towards it.
Your goal needs to include a time commitment, a date or time frame when you want to have accomplished your goal Eg. “By 1st September I am eating three healthy meals a day.”
4. Write your goal in the present tense
Avoid phrases such as “I hope, I want, I would like”.
Be bold in your goals and trust your gut instinct!
Instead of “By September 1st I hope to be cooking 5 healthy meals a week”, get rid of the element of doubt by reframing your goal, “ By September 1st I am cooking 5 healthy meals a week”.
5. Make your goal visual
It’s no use writing your goal down once, closing your journal and forgetting about it.
Write it out and put it somewhere you will see it every day, maybe on the fridge door, on your bedside table or take a picture of it and use it as your phone’s screensaver.
Re-read it every single day.
Multiple times.
Even better, write your goal out each day.
In a study, Dr. Gail Matthews, psychology professor at the Dominican University in California found that you are 42% more likely to achieve your goals if you write them down.
So, what are you waiting for?
Grab your journal and have a go!
You don’t need to wait until the first of the month or the next new moon, start today!
If you’d like some help with your goal setting journey, email me abi@thewell-beinggarden.co.uk
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