Learn to Set Good Goals and The End of 2015

Phew.

This has been a year and in most ways this is the first year I’m glad it is the end of 2015.

To say it nicely this has been the most challenging, exhausting, overwhelming, frustrating and hard year of my life. Yet through that I feel like I have come out the other side learning more about my self, my husband and my purpose in life. I am blessed beyond measure and believe that while I hope not to trudge through another year as the past, I also wouldn’t change it because of how it has shaped me, created a drive within me and a deeper understanding for all the important things in life.

I have to say that I laughed (because I wanted to cry) looking back on what I had written as my goals and resolutions last year. Just chalk me up as one of the millions of people who never met their resolutions.

Yet through it all, something I’ve come to realize in the last month is that goals and dreams mean nothing without an actionable plan to get there. This has proven true with me. It’s not that I wasn’t doing things, trust me I was busy and very busy at that, but for the amount of “work” I was doing, I was really getting nowhere. Things weren’t being achieved and instead it felt like I was beating my head against the wall. I say this all as I sit nearly in the same position as I began the year in 2015.

Now I don’t say any of this for pity (Although it does sound like I’m having a major pity party. In my defense, I live with three humans who have daily pity parties, it’s a part of my life right now) but to help encourage and motivate you.

What if I told you that you weren’t lazy, unproductive, or even unable to meet your goals. [Tweet “What if instead of it being a fault in you it was a fault in the system or lack of system?”]

Here I was all along thinking that I needed goals and they had to be S.M.A.R.T. and that for sure in setting them I would achieve them.

But the reality smacks you right across your face and I realize a couple of things about myself:

• I’m a dreamer and I can dream up a million and one ideas all day long. I’ve learned while you can never take the dream out of the dreamer, that for my own benefit I’ve learned how to process this into a freeing thing rather than pressure to accomplish everything I ever dream up. ->The hubs appreciates this lesson I’ve learned<-
• I can’t do everything. In fact, I can do very little at once. A new lesson after last year when I would have told you I’m great at multi-tasking. WRONG! Even though I can handle for a moment juggling multiple things, I can’t do it well. This leads to me being disappointed in the work I put out, how (or if) I play and interact with my kids and my relationship with the hubs.
• I have a lack of belief in myself. I want to trust, believe and have faith that I am capable but there is this little ship that holds me back. It is the ship of stability, comfort and control. Whether it be from my exercise goals, life goals or business goals, comfort and stability have trumped the true longings burning inside of me. It’s only because I haven’t sunk these ships and fully committed to running hard after these longings that I will not set out and accomplish everything burning inside of me.

Now I want you all to STOP and write out your lessons learned, good or bad in my free goal setting guide that you can download instantly.

The ULTIMATE STEPS you need to crush 2016:

Pick something.

Pick something, not everything, and focus on accomplishing that before you move onto something else. In other words, STOP trying to multi-task. It doesn’t work, and has actually been proven that there is not one human being on the face of the earth who is actually good at it. So stop lying to yourself and recognize the fact while you can get some things done multitasking it is never as good or efficiently as it could be if you would just pick one thing at a time and focus on that.

Believe in yourself.

You are capable and you will succeed if you trust, let go and run, even if it means running amongst “failures” not accepting anything until you reach your goals. It’s time to take the negatives and turn them into positives not letting anything stop you from accomplishing what you’ve set out to do. Lets face it, life is messy and nothing ever goes as planned. Don’t let that sway you instead use it to your advantage.

Break up the year.

Looking 365 days in ahead is way, way too overwhelming. I’m not opposed to having long term goals and dreams but break it up. Make it more attainable by focusing on what you should get done in the first quarter and from there what you can do this month, week and day to achieve your first quarter goals. Once you are done move onto another goal. Having a long term goal is useless as is a plan unless it is actually achievable daily.

Make an actionable plan.

As I mentioned above, a goal without a plan is a dream and a plan without action will never be achieved. You must take action daily! Thinking, planning, and good intentions are worthless without action. It doesn’t have to be crazy big and overwhelming task daily but really it is all the little things you do consistently that add up to something big.

Live mostly in the present.

Trust me I’m a dreamer and while I would love to live 80% of my time in the future, planning, creating and dreaming up new ideas this too has only held me back because it has made me blind to the present. Now I’m not saying that we need to take the dream out of the dreamer or erase the memories of the past, but instead we need to use both of those things to make the present the most meaningful, productive and actionable as possible. [Tweet “It’s not about what you did yesterday or what you will do tomorrow. The only next step is what you will do right now.”]

Work hard.

There really is no way around this one. If you want something, it is probably going to take work which also means sacrifice. Don’t hate the process, be willing and unafraid to devote time to it if you want it. Nothing comes easy and if it does, it probably won’t be lasting. Do hard things, make sacrifices, be willing to give up and embrace the path to get there.

Listen to your intuition.

Trust your instinct, you have it.  Make wise choices, even if they are hard choices. Don’t be swayed by something that seems easy, possibly less expensive, an excuse or a flashy new offer. No matter what you set out to do, trust, believe, have faith and listen to that voice inside of you.

Take time for what’s important.

Although it sounds like I’m eating my words but taking time for what’s important is the key to your joy meter. Remember your faith, family and friends around you taking time, without distraction to be with, learn from and most importantly laugh with. Trust that playing hard is just as important as working hard. Finding joy in all things and remembering the reason for all things is only going to help you successfully reach your goals, plans and greatest dreams for 2016 and beyond.

Now it’s your turn. Create your action plan:

Listen to your heart, your soul and focus in on what you believe. This isn’t about what other people are doing, the quick fix or what you think you should be doing. This is all about what you deep down in the pits of your bones want, need, and feel. Know your long-term goals but make your action plan only for the next three months. Focus on one or two things and don’t quit, move on or add anything else until you meet them, make them a habit and create a new norm.

This is our year! 2016, here we come!