The beginning of a new year is here! Time for “self betterment” goals to be set, cookies to be hidden and rich delicious beverages to be traded in for water with a squeeze of lemon. Oh my, this is starting to sound more like a break up than an exciting new life! HA! Setting goals for success can be SO MUCH MORE FUN than that! Let me help you set goals that add purpose, passion and achievement into your life!
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I am reading my article title while writing…chuckling to myself thinking…people don’t set goals for failure so “Setting Goals for Success” seems sooo “master of the obvious”. Here is why I kept it.
We as humans generally fail at our goals to some extent. Would you agree? Well, at least parts of them in my experience coming from my profession as a Registered Dietitian. Here is an example from my life. I set a goal I successfully achieved. I told myself and the world (in a sense) I would be a blogger. Well, today I can say that I am. (Thanks to your loveliness continuing to read my mind blabber! HA. Cyber kisses and thank you!) I also set some, not to lofty goals, such as getting fit as sh**, abstaining from cussing da** it, making home-cooked-from-scratch meals daily, doing fun educational activities with my kids nightly, becoming my own version of a saint, and achieving SUPERWOMANhood. Besides being just a far shy wink from a saint and superwoman (HA) I failed the other goals miserably. Let’s look at a few ways we can ROCK our goals this new year BOSS style!
10 Ways to Set Goals for Success
- Change your mind frame! Failure isn’t an option. So here’s the deal, yes I mentioned we as humans do this BUT lets change how we view it! Let’s look at our downfalls as learning opportunities then dust your boots off and get back on the horse…or minivan or Volkswagen beetle. How we think is the foundation of how we succeed. We will be gaining so many more tools in this realm this year here at Simple Acres!
- Get real! Be realistic friends. I am not going to pay off all my debt, start a successful online business and hobby, run marathons and have time to sleep and be a decent human all at the same time! HA. Writing those above, not so lofty goals, I subconsciously expected of myself just made me realize how ridiculous and then hard we can be on ourselves. This can lead to burn out, discouragement and quitting our set goals.
- Settle for less. This was so hard to type as an overachiever BUT its true. Being the best you is not going to happen over night and it surely is not going to end successfully with a multitude of lofty, grand ideas of what we should do and be. This year I pondered 1 thing that, to me, would make me a better wife, mom, and person. That one thing in those categories is all I am going to TRY my dandiest to focus on.
- Work hard at it. This was my key for the small successes I have felt in the blogging world (the one goal I felt successful in last year). I pretty much spent all my free time after my family was sleeping digesting how to grow, blog, and create better. I would listen to CD’s in the car about it, journal about it and talk about it (family and friends I owe you a million of your favorite somethings!) So, after you minimize your goals than devote yourself to them. No matter what it is, I believe with focus and determination nothing is impossible.
- Have a support system. This also was another secret of my one success in the past year. Find another person or a few that you can learn from, reach goals together with and/or offer accountability with. This life is a journey best walked with a friend and I believe because we are created for relationship this is a very important factor.
- Be measurable. Set goals that are specific with a plan of how to achieve it. Setting a goal to “get fit” versus “run 30 minutes, 3-4 times per week, before work from 7-730 am” are two very different descriptions when it comes to goal setting. The latter being one that is not only specific but gets the mind pondering what preparation is needed to achieve it.
- Be forgiving. Set goals with ranges that allow you to be HUMAN for goodness sakes…yes I am talking to myself! This really reflects back to our first statement but this mind stuff is what is the biggest thorn in our side to success. Make everyday a new day.
- Use Tools. I am loving my new planner and goal setting app. If you are one that needs to write down your thoughts and life to, hopefully, remember it…an old school planner may be what you need too. The app I am loving is called Strides. It helps you set daily to annual goals everything from drinking more water to paying off debt. Use what encourages you!
- Find your “why” and purpose. Set goals that honor what matters to you. Instead of setting a weight goal, what about setting a behavioral goal regarding health that allows you to be more active in your children’s or loved ones lives. The “why” makes it matter more, which increases your success rate.
- Honor your passion. What fuels you to the core? What makes you tick? What do you value above all else? Let passion be the foundation to what you deem worthy to set a goal about!
What words sum up your goal setting focus? This year Simple Acres is focusing on COURAGE, CONTENTMENT and CONSISTENCY. I encourage you to pick one or even a few words that direct the goals you want to focus on. Dovidenia. XO
