Yeay, it’s New Year! This means it is time to tackle those New Year’s resolutions! (If you did not write any, that’s fine, too, but please let me suggest you one thing to change your life and find happiness in the New Year)
New Year, new chances and yes, the beginning of the year is the absolute best time to start over and to begin working towards your new goals and dreams! The year is full of new things waiting to be discovered, tried out, accomplished. It is a year full of challenges, changes, growth. And now it is your turn to take that big opportunity to tackle all the things you wrote down to accomplish this year!
I know, I know, starting it may be easy, but the sticking to it may not, so I am telling you to not worry because I’ve got you covered! There is a way to stick to your goals; allow me to show it to you with these 10 easy ways to stick to your goals.
1. Journal
After writing your goals down at the end of last year, don’t just leave it there, no, write them down over and over again. Make them present not only in your mind, but also on paper. This will help you get back on track if you have lost motivation. Keep the journal with you and read what you’ve written regularly. Let your handwriting make your goals real.
2. Split it up
Don’t expect your goals to be easy. Nothing worth having comes easy, as Theodore Roosevelt once said. You won’t be a master right at the beginning. Know that it is in the tiny steps you take every day where the power resides. Split your goals up into tiny bits and be aware of every little step you are accomplishing on the way. Write them down to track your progress, so that you can basically see your achievements.
3. Make them sticky
In addition to the journaling, I also want to advice you to make your goals sticky. This means, write them down on those sticky notes and glue them on spots you may be looking at throughout your day. For example on your fridge, or your mirror, your kitchen cupboards, your laptop, the screen of your phone, whatever spots you can imagine!
This is the next league of making those goals real, of integrating them into your life and mind.
4. Tell somebody
Tell somebody about your goals for this year; somebody who you know cares about you and is interested in you. Tell that person will make it more official. It will boost your motivation to strive for the goals, just because somebody else knows and will check on your progress. And you surely will want to be able to tell somebody about your progress!
5. Make it a habit
We are creatures of habit. When a task turns into a habit, it means it has become natural and we no longer need to think about it. For example, brushing your teeth… Do you need to remind yourself of brushing your teeth every morning? I bet you don’t.
And that’s why you need to make working on your goals a habit: take some time every day to focus on a step towards your goal, and I assure you it will transform into a habit automatically. It takes around 21 days to form a new habit. What are 21 days! Not even the entire January! This means you can basically assure achieving your goals in a matter of only the first 21 days of the year!
6. Make working on your goals a priority
…And you will never lack time to work on it. You always have time for the things you want to do, because you make time for them. That’s the definition of a priority. If you have clear priorities, you will never feel stressed again.
7. Make the right choices
You want to change and achieve something this year, because you developed the need for it last year, right? Then know that now it is time to make the choices from this year and not the ones from last year.
You must realize that change requires a mindset for change. When making a choice, try not to make any past experiences interfere, because first, they no longer matter and second, they are not required for what you want to change now. What matters is NOW and what choices you take now.
8. Don’t fall into the excuses trap
If something does not go how it was planned, if you just skip what you should have done… don’t look for excuses. If you did not do what you had planned, you simply did not have the right attitude towards it.
Maybe it was not the right thing to do and you copped out of it. When this is the case, then deep down you actually know it is, and providing excuses is only a poor try to justify it. You may not be aware of it, but once you start justifying, you are most definitely only deceiving yourself. And do you know what? Justifying gives you nothing, it only makes you lose time.
If something did not work out, think again and analyze why. Then find another way to handle it, and try again.
9. Remember why you are doing it
When motivation fades, it can be helpful to take some minutes to close your eyes, sit still and travel back to when you decided to set that goal you are working on. Maybe it was a specific moment in time, or a succession of moments, or a general period of time, whatever… think back to those moments and recall how you were feeling during those moments, what brought you to take the decisions and what emotions were connected to them. Remember why you started. It will boost your energy to keep going..
10. Visualize
Visualization is a powerful tool to manifest your dreams into reality. Close your eyes and visualize what you and your life will look like when you have reached what you are currently working on. Bath in that vision for some minutes, savor it, then open your eyes, and with the freshly gained motivation, get up and continue or start working for it!
Watch this inspiring video to find out more about the benefits of visualization!
11. Don’t be disappointed. Ever.
Please, whatever happens on your way, don’t ever be disappointed in yourself. If you lose your motivation, you make some cheat days, you skip some days of gym, or you even don’t even start or don’t stick to the work… don’t be disappointed. Being disappointed is the worst you could do. Being disappointed is being rude to yourself.
You probably will be telling yourself things like “You were not able to do it”, “You messed up because you are not good enough” etc., and with those thoughts, you are most likely to just give up and stay where you are.
Like this, you not only blame yourself for everything, but you block your personal growth and basically lay yourself down before your feet. Yes, disappointment will have you standing in your own way again. And the self-doubts will eat you. Solution? Don’t blame yourself. Don’t be disappointed.
Instead, accept what happened, find out why it happened and think about how you can improve next time. Read this post to find out how to stop beating yourself up.
So, once again; to make sure you stick to your goals, I advice you to write them in your journal, split them up into tiny bits, stick them to the walls, as well as tell them somebody. Make them a habit and a priority, but make sure you don’t beat yourself up for not following through. Also, visualize yourself when you have achieved your goal, and keep away from excuses. And whenever motivation fades, make sure you remember why you are doing it!
If you are interested in achieving your goals together with me, check out my project called GOALS for GROWTH here!
Related:
The ultimate 5-step-guide to allowing personal growth
5 limiting beliefs keeping you from living up to your true potential
I hope I could help you with these tips! If you have any thought or tip you feel like you want to share, feel free to write a comment!
Love,
This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.
Tell me what you think!