We can all relate to setting goals and abandoning them at some point in our lives. I recall creating long New Year’s resolutions lists filled with unrealistic goals. Whenever I didn’t achieve these goals, it would leave me feeling discouraged. After repeating this process for many years, I stopped with resolutions all together. As I started to uncover why I was “unable” to achieve my goals, I realized that it was my system and approach needed to change.
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Without goals, we lack focus, direction, and purpose. Setting a goal is the first step in creating better habits to live a better life. Whether you’d like to start a new career, bring in more money, focus on personal development, it all starts with a goal. Once your goal is set, it is now time to put in the work. Here are 6 things I’ve learned with goal setting that will help you achieve your goals in 2022.
1) Set realistic goals. I understand the excitement when it comes to creating new goals. We often choose to set the bar high. We can strive to challenge ourselves, however when you are aiming too high to start, it can be unrealistic to meet your goals. For example, if you want to incorporate exercise into your routine and haven’t been active in a while, don’t start with regular or high intensity workouts for 30 minutes per day. Instead, start with low impact workouts for 5-10 minutes per day. As you start to work on your physical health daily and find that you can endure more than 10 minutes, switch it up to 15 minutes, 20 minutes, and so on. By doing this, you are challenging and pushing yourself the right way.
2) Take small steps. Much like setting realistic goals, taking small steps is crucial to achieving your goals. Think of it as climbing a mountain. Each step you take gets you closer to the top. You can try to take big leaps along the way or find shortcuts, but you risk falling and having to start your journey all over again from the bottom. Take small steps and enjoy your journey along the way.
3) Keep track of your progress. When you keep track of your progress, you can physically see how far you’ve come in reaching your goals. You can choose to keep track on your phone or physically in a journal. This is a helpful tool that also helps you to identify what areas you can improve on.
4) Celebrate your wins. Each day you spend working on your goals is an achievement to be celebrated. In reference to climbing the mountain example, each step is considered a win and should be celebrated. It may seem small, but those small steps are what granted you the beautiful view from the top of the mountain.
5) Support. If you have loved ones who share similar goals, you can choose to work together! Having that extra support can keep you motivated and on track. Going back to the exercise example, you can each create a Spotify workout playlist that’s 5 – 10 minutes long, share your favorite workout videos, and even exercise together through Zoom.
6) Rest. Whether your goals are physical, mental, or spiritual, it all takes a lot of time, energy, and effort. Make sure you are allowing yourself to get some rest and prioritize self-care. If you need to take a break for a day or two, allow yourself to do so. Always listen to your body.
I believe in every single one of you. You can achieve anything you put your mind to as long as you have a good system in place. I hope these 6 tips were insightful and can be applied towards your goals for this year. What are some tips you have for achieving your goals this year? Is there anything specific that you’ve discovered that has helped you along the way? Share your thoughts below. For more posts on productivity, visit the tag here.
I really love the look of your site. But also, I enjoyed this post. Setting SMART goals and taking small steps are what help me achieve my biggest goals in life, that’s for sure. Thanks for sharing!
Small steps make the biggest impact! Thank you so much Stuart!
Great post! I definitely need to start keeping track of my progress, it’s a great reminder to keep going.
It’s very useful to look back and see what’s been working and what hasn’t! Thank you for reading!
Great post! I always struggle with the realistic expectations. I usually set really lofty goals only to not meet them. I really need to start following some of these steps….Thanks for posting!
Thank you for reading Tim!
This really is a great checklist for success. I especially appreciated your tip keeping track of progress. So many times it’s too easy to forget to celebrate the small daily wins that are the key to achieving our larger goals.
I agree! It reminds us to celebrate our successes! Thank you for reading Heidi!
Great ideas for keeping yourself accountable. I try to write down progress and acoomplishments along the way.
They’re such helpful ways to track your progress! Thank you for reading!
totally love these tips!
wishing you a wonderful year ahead
xoxo
style frontier
Thank you so much! Wishing you a healthy, happy, and successful year ahead!
Such amazing tips! Its always so motivating to read your posts. Thanks for sharing uplifting post.
Thank you so much for your kind words! I’m so happy to hear that!
I love this! I used to set really ambitious life-changing goals . . . and meet basically none of them lol. Now I pick an area of my life I want to improve over the year and will continuously set small achievable goals each month to try to achieve them 🙂
mia // https://miasdiyprojects.com/
That’s such a great approach to achieving your goals! Thank you for reading Mia!
Great reminders own setting realistic, achievable goals! Thanks for sharing.
Thank you for reading Jodie!
All these are great! I think for me, support is the most important.
Support is very important! Thank you for reading Wendy!
Fab tips! I definitely relate to the feeling of not keeping up with new year resolutions – they always make me feel so down about myself. This year I tried to set much more realistic ones and I think keeping track of it in a journal like you suggested will really help! Thanks for sharing x
I’ve created more realistic ones this year as well! Good luck on achieving all of your goals! Using a journal will be a helpful visual tool! Thank you for reading Ceri!
These are great ways to achieve your goals. My husband and I set a lot of financial goals and one of the ways we make it more exciting and approachable is by writing things down on a dry-erase board that we leave on our fridge in the kitchen. Each time we put something into our savings, we mark it on the board and celebrate! It’s a good way to set small goals that lead to bigger ones and it helps us recognize and get excited about our progress!
I’m a huge fan of dry erase boards and I love that you both keep one on the fridge! That’s such a wonderful idea, as you’re bound to see it everyday and celebrate! Thank you for sharing and reading Stephanie!
Great post! I too have fallen victim to setting unrealistic goals and feeling discouraged when I don’t achieve them. I took a different approach this year that is very similar to your list of suggestions. It’s been working great so far! I really like that you included rest as one of the tips. Not many people realize that taking time to rest will actually boost productivity. Thank you for sharing!
I’m so happy to hear that your new system is working well! Resting is such an important thing that we all overlook! And I agree that rest boosts productivity. Thank you for reading Angie! I hope you have a great weekend!
Great tips here x
Thank you Kayleigh!
Great tips! At the start of every year I write a list of goals I’d like to achieve and cross them off as the year goes on 🙂 it keeps me on track and focused as sometimes I start doing other things and get side tracked, then I have my list to refer to when I need a kick up the bum 🙂
Lindsay | http://thetravelvine.blog
Haha having a list is such a game changer! You can celebrate the goals you’ve checked off and see what to work on next. Thank you for reading Lindsay! Have a great weekend!