How to Achieve Your Goals and Make Them a Reality
I’ve been thinking lately about goals. How do some people seem to always go after their goals and get what they want? While others seem to always fall short of reaching theirs. Find out how to achieve your goals and go from dreamer to achiever.
I can admit that I am in the second group. Don’t get me wrong, if it is a necessity I will make it happen. When I wanted to be a nurse I made it happen. When I wanted to buy a house I made it happen. BUT there is a difference between a need and a want. And when it comes to something I want it gets put on the backburner.
I want to be one of those people that goes after what they want and gets it. Are you with me? If so, keep reading.
If you like this post, check out more amazing ideas from our doable Goal Setting for Moms blog post.
There’s one thing I know for sure, and that is you have to have goals in life. Without them, you’ll be wandering through life with no direction.
When I was younger I always knew that I wanted to go to college. It had been my goal my entire life and I worked towards that to make it happen. I wanted to be in a sorority and have that whole college experience, even though I had no idea what career I wanted. So, I muddled my way through college (you bet I had a blast though!) I graduated with no job prospects in sight, but I did accomplish my goal.
The years after college were what I seemed to have the hardest time with. I suppose most people do. That time of your life when you finally have to be an adult and go out and make it on your own.
Now looking back I can see that after I accomplished my goal, I was lost. I did not aim for anything else. I did not have a new goal to work towards.
Most people have goals, dreams, and ideas that they want to happen. But for some, there is a disconnect between where they are now and where they want to be. This is the part that I am figuring out. I may not be an expert yet, but I do have a little insight and a little wisdom from years of experience behind me.
This I know to be true– whether it’s something you need to do this week or something you want to do in your lifetime we should always be working towards something– moving onward and upward throughout life.
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Some Basics of Goal Setting
These are some basic ideas that you should implement if you are trying to reach your goals.
Get Organized
First, your life needs to be organized. If your life is a chaotic mess, how will you know which direction to go? I have a real problem with getting small tasks done. A lot of these things give me anxiety, like paying bills or making doctor’s appointments, so I let them pile up. Being organized comes with having good systems in place. This will help alleviate that anxiety because you already know what to expect. When your life is organized you are better able to plan for and work towards your goals.
Know What Your Goals Are
In order to know where you are going, you need a roadmap. Your goals are your roadmap to get you where you want to be. What things do you want to happen? What ideas and dreams have you always aspired to?
Break your goals up into short term and long term goals. What do you want to get done this week, this month, this year, or in the next five years? Your big goals should be broken down into smaller goals.
That will make it easier to reach those bigger goals. So an example of a big goal would be if you want to go on a vacation next summer you need to save money for it throughout the year. Your smaller goal could be to set aside some money out of each paycheck to put towards your vacation.
Ruth Soukup of Living Well Spending Less is the queen of reaching your big goals! She has great advice on breaking down your big goals. You should check her out here.
Prioritize
For the smaller goals that need to be done this week, you should prioritize. Get some kind of system in place. Something that is reliable for you and you know you can check each day to see what you need to get done.
A planner, a to-do list, a calendar, paper or on your phone or computer, whatever works best for you. Put those small tasks in order of importance. It’s always a good idea to do the hardest task first and get it out of the way so you are not worried the rest of the day about getting it done.
Take Action
Now, this is the part that seems to trip people up. This is the part that blocks you from getting what you want. For me, I feel like I have trouble with consistency and staying focused. It could also be fear or anxiety that’s holding you back. Such as a fear of the unknown, fear of having a lack of something like time or money that’s causing you some anxiety. If you can identify what’s blocking you, you are better informed to be able to fix it.
If you are saving for a vacation but keep telling yourself you can’t put money in savings this week because you might need it for something now, then you will never make any progress toward that goal. This is where being organized comes into play.
If you are organized with your finances and know where your money is going, it takes away that scarcity factor and idea that there is not enough. And if you don’t have enough money for a vacation then you will already know that a vacation is not a probable goal at this time.
Take Away
If you want to be someone who goes after their goals and gets what they want, you must take action! But before you can take action you need to get clear on a few things first.
- Get your life organized and in order that way you have a clear picture of what’s going on.
- Get clear on what your goals are and then divide them into short and long term goals.
- Prioritize those small goals that need to be done soon. And be sure to do the hardest ones first!
- Take action. Figure out what your “block” is and remove it. Then your pathway is clear to take action towards your goals!
Making our goals, ideas, and dreams happen is a must if we want a fulfilling life. If we can figure out what it is that’s blocking us from meeting our goals and remove that block, then it’s inevitable that we can meet and exceed our own expectations.
If this is something that you’re going through, I hope that you’ll follow me along in this journey so that we can do things we know are possible if we have enough strength to make it happen.
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