Top Five Steps to Achieving Your Goal
Setting goals is great, but it’s hard to know where to get started. Sometimes having a lofty goal is self-defeating as it can be overwhelming. We are taking a look at some tips that can help you achieve your healthy mission. This is our first blog! We’ll most likely touch on the idea of goals and achievement frequently and it’s good to start as you intend to continue!
Goals aren’t just about thinking big and hard work. They’re about focus, hard work and persistence in the face of adversity.
1. Start by recognizing your failings.
This is a grim step. Simply telling yourself, “This goal is what I want and I will work hard to reach it,” feels good, but it might not work. As a strategy it lacks, well, plan. Instead, take a long hard look at yourself and see where the pitfalls could be. It’s okay to need to make changes to your habits before working on your primary goal.
2. Don’t be too harsh on yourself.
We just said you should examine your own flaws, but that doesn’t mean you should tear yourself down. Self-evaluation and -evisceration are very different things. You’ve got this; you will achieve your goal! Don’t dwell on mess-ups or setbacks. Every plan has shaky moments and elements; they do not define your work. Being too hard on yourself can kill your dreams. Accept that it’s okay to have missteps or mistakes.
3. Trick yourself into not procrastinating.
Instead of giving into temptation and working on something other than the task at hand, why not look at your thoughts and move on? Psychiatrist Judson Brewer says curiosity is your best weapon against procrastination. Consider why you want to give up for the time being and then, having recognized the problem, get back to work!
4. Celebrate the small stuff.
When you set a giant goal, it can seem like an impossible challenge. But, once you break it down into steps, it’s easier. Keep it personal to help you remember when you care about the goal. And, when you finish those steps successfully, celebrate appropriately. Given up cigarettes and are using the nicotine patch? Great! Started exercising for 10 minutes a day instead of none? Excellent. Stopped snacking as part of your new diet? Congrats! Pat yourself on the back, tell people and then keep going!
5. Tell people.
There is nothing quite so useful as accountability. Tell your friends or family; start a blog. Get people rooting for you and counting on you and it’s going to be a lot easier to accomplish your goal. Not only will this give you the pressure to succeed; the people who know will bolster you up!
Those are our top five tips to help you get the job done. If you are looking for someone to be accountable to, we would love for you to drop us a line! Are you losing weight, working on your cholesterol, starting a project or maybe making changes to your social life? Let us know!
