There is so much content available on achieving your goals in online videos, books, podcasts, or other sources and it’s easy to feel overwhelmed. While all of these resources are valuable and should be used as you progress in your journey, there are some really small steps you can take now to get the momentum going. The key is to define the goals you’re trying to achieve and make sure that you’re working toward accomplishing them. Try to think of achieving and working toward goals like working a muscle. Start off small and before you know it you’ll be taking bigger steps.
1. Write Down Your Goals
Just about any material on achieving goals or working toward goals will start with writing them down, and there’s a very good reason for that. If you don’t define what you want to achieve or what you’re working for, it’s really hard to know what to do or to stay motivated to do it. Don’t worry too much about what you write down to begin with, but be open to refining and clarifying what your goals are and why you want them. For example, fitness is a fine goal, but if you are after fitness in order to look better in a bathing suit then you might want to clarify that you also want weight loss and muscle definition. If you want to be able to run a 10k, write that down.
2. Review and Act Every Day
Take a few extra minutes each morning to review your goals and write down an action you can take to get closer to those goals. The important thing is to do something toward that goal, but it doesn’t have to be huge. It’s in the daily focus and attention that you’ll find your momentum builds, and once that momentum gets going you’ll find yourself taking larger steps toward those goals naturally. Perhaps your goal is to travel and see more of the world, but your circumstances may make that hard at the moment. One of your actions can be to pick a location and review all different modes of transport and lodging, research the best times to travel, and figure out the best prices. Even if you can’t actually visit your dream destination at the moment, you could start learning some of the language to make the experience better when you do go. Whatever you do doesn’t have to take lots of money or energy, but make sure you do something.
3. Revisit and Adjust Goals Monthly
Every month review your goals and the actions you’ve taken toward them each day. Honestly assess if you’re closer to your goals now than you were a month ago, and don’t be afraid to change your goals. You may find that a goal you have is really something a family member wants you to do, and it’s just not compelling or important to you. You may find the reason you wanted a goal originally changes the goal itself. For example, you may want to change your line of work because you think it will give you more meaningful time with your kids, but you may realize there are more effective ways to accomplish that meaningful time. Each month, be sure you review your goals and your progress toward them, and ask if anything needs to change about your goals.
Remember, there are inexhaustible resources out there for working on goals and achieving them. You can find books, seminars, strategies, and all other sorts of resources. Just keep in mind that the most important thing to do is to make a start, no matter how small. If you make it too complicated in your head before starting or feel you need to complete a seminar before you can begin, you’ll probably never start. Setting written goals and working toward them every day will ultimately guarantee your life goes in a much more satisfying direction than just going with the flow.
