5 Quick Tips To Win At Goals!
Let’s face it, goal setting is a daunting task we dread completing. As a Recovering Procrastinator, I have pushed away setting goals many times because the hardest part is to begin.
Today, we’ll go over the 5 quick and creative ways to set your goals and make sure they stick this year.
One thing that truly helped me is creating a word/theme of the year. Instead of doing resolutions or deciding what I’d accomplish that year, having a word really helps me create everything around that theme for the next twelve months.
My word for 2018 was Intention. I made sure everything I created, attended, and engaged with was intentional. During this intentional year, I created a method of goal setting: WWHWED Goals (you can pronounce it WED) and my intention with this method was to make sure the goal and intention setting was effective, practical, and most importantly intentional.
In fact, I like setting intentions better than goals, there’s power in words and when we think of what we intentionally want to do, we feel intention deeper in our heart rather than goal which is much more analytical. Throughout this article, you will find that I use the word goal and intention kind of interchangeably. I do this on purpose so you can check in and see which word resonates better with you.
1.CREATE A BRAIN DUMP
Aren’t we talking about goal setting? Yes we are and the first thing we need to do is to write down all the things we have to do and we want to do. The brain dump allows that “mental list” you carry every day to live outside your head, literally. Once your brain is cleared and all the fog has been released, you can now take an objective look at the things you want to do. I recommend the Daily Brain Dump template that allows you to download your mental list, categorize and prioritize everything on one sheet. If you’re more on the digital side, you can also use digital tools like Google Docs, or project management tools like Basecamp or ClickUp. Make sure you have a place on your list where you can categorize the items between task and project, and a priority space also. Included in this list will be the goals you want to accomplish. To illustrate, we’ll use the example of growing your email list to 100,000 people this year. For the sake of the example, we’ll consider we currently have 10 existing subscribers.
2. BREAK THINGS DOWN
Now that you have your big list of things to do, you can evaluate the items and decide what is important. Going back to our goal of growing your email list, this item will be marked as a project on your brain dump, and a high priority. Next, we will break this project into smaller tasks. Perhaps you can use another braindump to help you brainstorm. Ask yourself the following intention-setting questions:
When do I want to complete this? December 1, 2019
How will I know this goal is completed? I will have 100,000 email subscribers
Why do I want to accomplish this? I’ll be able to help 100,000 people reach their goals, I will be able to serve a community of engaged individuals, etc.
How do I want to feel when this intention is complete?
How am I going to complete this goal? - This list represents your monthly tasks.
I’ll create an e-book and make it available on my website
I’ll promote on social media
I’ll reach out to my existing list and ask them to help me promote
And then ask yourself 2 more times How am I going to complete this goal? The second list represents your weekly tasks, and the third list represents your daily tasks.
3. ADD THEM TO YOUR CALENDAR
Do you use your digital calendar diligently? If not, I want to challenge you to start this year, one of my mentors would always say If it’s not on the calendar, it doesn’t exist. Since you have your weekly tasks broken down, you can now block a time on your calendar to work on your goal every single day. Because your tasks are broken down into daily digestible tasks, you can calendar 30 minutes per day to work on this goal. Using our example of growing your email list, we can set aside 30 minutes a day to work on the e-book for the first three weeks with a smaller intention of completing the e-book in three weeks, then the next two weeks we can begin taking care of the logistics, and finally start the marketing strategy to complete phase I of our goal in six weeks.It is also important to use your calendar because you’ll be able to see important events that might get in the way like weddings, vacations, etc. If everything is on the calendar, you can plan accordingly. You can use my yearly calendar to keep track of important dates.
4. MEASURE MEASURE MEASURE
Even if you don’t like numbers, it is important to have a way to measure progress. Every week, take a look at your task list and see how far you’ve come from your goal. Measuring also allows you to evaluate if you need to carve more time on your day/week to get more done.
There are different ways to measure, using our example, we can determine that in order for us to have 100,000 subscribers in the next 12 months, we have to consider the foundational work that will happen in the six-eight weeks which leaves us with 10 months to reach out goal, this means we have to get about 10,000 new subscribers each month, and 333 new subscribers each day. Perhaps we need to do more collaborations to create more promotion, or post more on social media, whatever you decide needs to be done, make sure it is based on measuring.
5. VISUALIZE AND PRACTICE GRATITUDE
One important question to pay attention to is How do I want to feel when this intention is complete? And a more important question is How do I feel right now?
Create a statement using both answers written in the present and look at it every day: I currently have 10 people I can serve and help them today. I am grateful I get the opportunity to reach them, and I have 100,000 email subscribers on their way to my list. I help them achieve their goals through my work, etc… Whatever your statement is, make sure you can see it and you can feel it when you read it. Believe this goal is accomplished and work on it every day.
One bonus point is to find someone to hold you accountable, do you have an accountability sister you can count on?
