What? Goals That You Can Actually Achieve?

It’s that time of year again. Time to make some new resolutions, which strangely enough will closely
resemble the same resolutions we made last year and the year before that and the year before that.

Ever wonder why we keep making resolutions every year when we never keep those resolutions and achieve our goals?

Most people would agree that goals are important. They would also agree that goal setting and achieving are needed to be successful in different areas of your life. Then why can’t we keep our resolutions past the first few weeks of January?

I would say that one of the main problems most of us have is motivation over time. And this is typically what that looks like:

1. We set a GREAT BIG GOAL (usually the same goal we’ve been setting for the past five years or more)
2. We are super motivated to get started and just know that “we are going to do it this time”
3. We plan out what we need to do to reach our goal
4. We start charging through the steps to reach our goal…for the first few days
5. Then POW! We miss a step or two and get off track or we run into a problem or we are too tired or it just isn’t working out and we just aren’t motivated anymore
6. And we shove that goal back into the closet to drag out next year when we are more motivated

So how can we carry that motivation into February and all of the other months in the year? How can we keep ourselves psyched to conquer that GREAT BIG GOAL?

It’s easy and a lot simpler than you think. You need to set one small goal that you can accomplish during the next week…I’m talking super small.

And I’m not talking about breaking your GREAT BIG GOAL into smaller chunks; I really just want you to make a small goal. But it can still be related to that GREAT BIG GOAL that you want to achieve so badly. Let me give you some examples:

• If your GREAT BIG GOAL is to lose 80 pounds, then make a small goal of drinking eight glasses of water one day this week...only one day!
• If your GREAT BIG GOAL is to get out of debt, then make a small goal of packing your lunch one day this week and saving the money you would have spent eating out.
• If your GREAT BIG GOAL is to read 60 books this year, then make a small goal of picking out a new book to start reading this week.

The purpose of these small, very achievable goals is quite simple. You need momentum to stay motivated, and nothing builds momentum like getting a few wins under your belt.

But remember, these small goals are not steps toward achieving your GREAT BIG GOAL they are goals in and of themselves. They can be related to your GREAT BIG GOAL but they don’t have to be. They just need to be small things that you can achieve within the coming week.

So let’s try this whole goal setting thing one more time.

1. Review all of the goals you’ve set in the past, but didn’t achieve
2. Identify ONE goal from that list that you’d still like to accomplish (One of those GREAT BIG GOALS)
3. Then come up with a small goal (one you can accomplish in the next week) – This goal can be related to the GREAT BIG GOAL but it doesn’t have to be
4. Take action and complete that small goal during the next week
5. Then pick another small goal
6. And achieve another win
7. Keep setting small goals for the next 4-6 weeks, until achieving goals becomes second nature
8. Now take out that GREAT BIG GOAL and break it down into steps
9. Turn those steps into your new small goals (goals you can achieve within 1-2 weeks)
10. And CHARGE AHEAD!

It’s a lot easier to move a large bolder once you get it rolling and the same holds true for achieving goals. Once you get the ball rolling with some small goals, that GREAT BIG GOAL doesn’t stand a chance.