School is back in session which always has me setting a new goal. I dropped off my daughter at college and my son is starting his junior year of high school which means we are back to the busy schedule. We have 5 months left in the year, plenty of time to reach your goals! What is something you wanted to do this year but have been putting it off? Now is the time to get serious about a goal and go get it before the year is up!
Now that we’re settling into 2023, it’s time to get serious about a goal and make a plan for how you’ll accomplish it this year. What is something you’ve thought about doing this year but have put off getting started? Do you have a big goal in mind?
Once you have that goal set, block out time to accomplish whatever you’re setting out to do. It’s all about making room in your schedule to go after your big goal — if you want to write a book or start a new business venture, you could wake up 30 minutes earlier each day to make sure you have time.
It’s natural for feelings of doubt to creep in. What if I can’t reach my goal? What if no one cares about what I do? Try to work through these feelings and avoid overthinking. The point of a big goal is that it’s yours and yours alone, and you’ll feel amazing once it’s accomplished. Remember the ‘why’ behind your goal as you put in the hard work to finish it.
Here are some easy ways to help you set SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and timebound) goals that you can accomplish:
- Specific — State what you want to accomplish and the benefit of achieving this goal. If you aren’t specific, it will be hard to measure. Instead of saying, “I want to work out more,” say “I want to attend one yoga class a week,” or “I want to be able to bench press 100 pounds.” That way, you can track your goal easily.
- Measurable — How will you measure your progress so that you know you’ve achieved your goal? You can keep track of your progress in a written journal, or in the Notes app on your phone. Make sure you’re staying on top of it.
- Achievable — What steps do you need to take to achieve your goal? Sticking with the yoga example, is there a yoga studio close by your home where you can easily pop into classes before or after work? If you want to do yoga at home, do you have a dedicated space where you can lay your mat out everyday? When you set out for your goal, make sure you have the right infrastructure/resources in place so you can achieve it.
- Relevant — Why do you want to accomplish your goal? Know why you’re doing what you’re doing and remind yourself of it daily. There will be days when you don’t want to work toward your goal, but having small reminders in place (like a sticky note on your mirror or a goal statement at the top of your planner) will help you remember why it’s important to you.
- Timebound — How long will it take you to achieve this goal? When do you hope to accomplish it by? Map out how much time it will take you to accomplish it and set aside time each day to get there. I like assessing my goals every 30 days to make sure I’m on track for my deadline.
It’s great to have goals in all areas of your life. Maybe you’ve wanted to start a new nutrition plan or workout routine but haven’t figured out how to do it yet. Or maybe you want to set the goal of reading one book a month, or something scary, like starting your own podcast. Whatever your goal is, now is the time to get serious about it, commit to it and work on it every day until you get there.
Goals can be in all areas of your life. Maybe you’ve wanted to start a nutrition plan or workout routine and you’ve fallen off your current plan since the beginning of the year. Or maybe you want to give yourself a goal of reading a book a month or something scary like write your own book or start your own podcast! It’s not too late to get serious, commit to a goal and work it every day until you get there!
Commit to your goal and tell someone about it so they can hold you accountable. Now is your time to do something scary!
