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How To Achieve Your Goals This Year
It’s a new year, full of potential, and it’s up to us to help realise that potential. One of the easiest ways to do that is with goals. I know, we’ve all talked about them. Some of us have set them. Some of us have realised our goals. Some of us have given up on them, put them in the too hard basket and stayed right where we are.
There is, unfortunately, no set formula for knowing how to achieve your goals. Goals are funny things: although they are generally there to help make our lives better, they can soon become overwhelming and things we come to dread. This is why it's important to think carefully about the goals you set and the way you go about achieving them.
Here are my five steps to increase your chances of goal success in the new year.
1. Make Them Realistic
When you set goals, they have to be realistic. Sure, we’d all like to pay off the mortgage this year, or save $50,000, but for 99.9% of us, those goals just aren’t realistic; there’s no easy way we can make them happen. To help make sure your goals are realistic and achievable,, make goals that are actionable and measurable. For example, instead of saying you will lose weight this year, tell yourself that you will lose x kiloss by March, by walking to work every single day. This kind of goal is specific enough to achieve, and is the first step in knowing how to achieve your goals.
2. Make A Plan
Once you know what your goals are, you need a plan to make them happen. The last point touched on this fact: if you can make a solid plan for a goal then you know it's a realistic one. This may mean breaking down goals into smaller steps you can take every day or every week. For example, if you want to de-clutter, you might aim to declutter one item a day. If this is overwhelming, aim for one item a week. This will help to prevent overwhelm.
3. Set A Deadline
If your goal has no deadline then you'll just keep putting it off. If you want to know how to achieve your goals, you're going to have to set a date by which you want to meet all of them. We all know things may eventually change, but setting a date in the first place is the best way to make sure you put in some real effort. See point one above – the goal was to lose x kilos, and the deadline was by March.
4. Take Action
Although it sounds obvious, a goal will never become a reality unless you take action. So many of us make goals every January only to forget them a few weeks later. Don't let this happen to you! Start working on your goals immediately, even if you're only taking small steps to make them happen.
5. Keep Track
Now you've started taking action, it's important to keep track of how you're doing (use the Goal section of your Living the Cheapskates Way planner to record your progress). Keep yourself accountable by taking an honest look at how you're doing to meet your broken-down steps, and change the way you do things if you think it'll help. Realise that everyone does slip up from time to time, but measuring your progress can help you to keep going.
Knowing how to achieve your goals is one thing, but it's up to you to put things into action. Make this year your year to achieve every goal you set!
There is, unfortunately, no set formula for knowing how to achieve your goals. Goals are funny things: although they are generally there to help make our lives better, they can soon become overwhelming and things we come to dread. This is why it's important to think carefully about the goals you set and the way you go about achieving them.
Here are my five steps to increase your chances of goal success in the new year.
1. Make Them Realistic
When you set goals, they have to be realistic. Sure, we’d all like to pay off the mortgage this year, or save $50,000, but for 99.9% of us, those goals just aren’t realistic; there’s no easy way we can make them happen. To help make sure your goals are realistic and achievable,, make goals that are actionable and measurable. For example, instead of saying you will lose weight this year, tell yourself that you will lose x kiloss by March, by walking to work every single day. This kind of goal is specific enough to achieve, and is the first step in knowing how to achieve your goals.
2. Make A Plan
Once you know what your goals are, you need a plan to make them happen. The last point touched on this fact: if you can make a solid plan for a goal then you know it's a realistic one. This may mean breaking down goals into smaller steps you can take every day or every week. For example, if you want to de-clutter, you might aim to declutter one item a day. If this is overwhelming, aim for one item a week. This will help to prevent overwhelm.
3. Set A Deadline
If your goal has no deadline then you'll just keep putting it off. If you want to know how to achieve your goals, you're going to have to set a date by which you want to meet all of them. We all know things may eventually change, but setting a date in the first place is the best way to make sure you put in some real effort. See point one above – the goal was to lose x kilos, and the deadline was by March.
4. Take Action
Although it sounds obvious, a goal will never become a reality unless you take action. So many of us make goals every January only to forget them a few weeks later. Don't let this happen to you! Start working on your goals immediately, even if you're only taking small steps to make them happen.
5. Keep Track
Now you've started taking action, it's important to keep track of how you're doing (use the Goal section of your Living the Cheapskates Way planner to record your progress). Keep yourself accountable by taking an honest look at how you're doing to meet your broken-down steps, and change the way you do things if you think it'll help. Realise that everyone does slip up from time to time, but measuring your progress can help you to keep going.
Knowing how to achieve your goals is one thing, but it's up to you to put things into action. Make this year your year to achieve every goal you set!
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