Last Updated on May 3, 2020 by ellduclos
5 ways to set & accomplish your goals
I was always someone who was on the fence about goal setting. The reason being is because every time I would set a goal, I always failed to accomplish it. A lot of this had to do with loss of motivation. Staying motivated is hard sometimes, I’ll admit it. So today I want to talk about 5 ways that you can actually accomplish your goals. I figured since 2019 is right around the corner, what better way to start off the year! BUT – you don’t have to wait until a new year, or a Monday to set and accomplish goals. In fact, you should start RIGHT NOW! Whenever you get a bit of inspiration and motivation, ACT ON IT. Don’t let it slip away. You don’t want to miss an opportunity.
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1.Write down your goals & look at them daily
I am a strong believer in writing things down. There’s just something about writing down goals that help make them more real to me. It’s like my brain takes in the goal and starts to feel motivated to accomplish the goal just by writing the goal down.
It’s really simple to jot down your goals. I keep a notebook at my bedside. When you wake up in the morning open up your notebook and write down your top 5 goals of the day.
Throughout the day, refer back to your goals to remind you of what your focus of the day should be.
- Organize the kitchen cabinets
- Write a new blog post
- Clean the bathroom
- Organize the closet
- Exercise for 1 hour
My favorite planner that allows me to also write out my goals is from bloomDailyPlanners. Their vision planner is THE BEST. I swear, this planner motivates me daily. I even wrote a blog post on how I use this planner to create my monthly blog vision!
2.Believe you can accomplish your goals
When it comes to achieving your goals you have to believe you can. This is something I always stress and I can’t stress it enough!! THE POWER IS IN YOUR MINDSET. If you are constantly telling yourself “I am never going to get this kitchen organized.” , “I am never going to lose 10 pounds.” , “I am never going to turn my blog into a career.” You will begin to believe your thoughts.
Here’s the thing: your mind is controlled by you and only you, so STOP feeding yourself negative thoughts. We are our own worst critics! I hate to say that but it’s true.
The more negative self talk, the less motivated you begin to feel. Plain and simple.
This is where finding motivation comes into play!!! It’s time to embed into your brain that YOU CAN get sh*t done.
Instead of the I can’ts and the I will nevers, it’s time to start believing you can. When you write out your goals try to write them out like this:
- I will get the kitchen organized today.
- I will lose 10 pounds.
- I can organize my closet and I will do so today.
- I will write a new blog post.
- I will clean the bathroom.
This not only acts as a confidence boost but it also triggers your brain to feel more motivated (at least it does for me!) The more I believe in myself, the more I achieve.
Let me put this into perspective for those of you who are trying to pursue a career from your passion. Before I started my blog back in April 2017, like Halsey would say “I had a dead end job & I got bills to pay.”
I felt extremely hopeless and everyday for a while I was filling my mind with negative thoughts, even contemplating if life was worth it. I was so unhappy.
One day something snapped inside of me, I started to change the way I thought about my life. I stopped doubting my abilities and I picked up my laptop and I began creating.
I started creating and I haven’t stopped since. There are no days off and even though I am not extremely motivated everyday, I am still motivated enough to continue to create and work at my passion everyday!
Here’s why:
I told myself everyday that I can turn my blog into a full time job and I can live a life that makes me happy. If I want something, I can have it.
These thoughts fueled my motivation and sparked determination in me. 6 months later I was making income from my blog and that’s when I knew that the power of mindset is real. You can have ANYTHING you want in life if you believe you can and then work hard for it.
3.Live as if you already have it
This sounds … confusing … but it’s actually simple. If you have a goal, act as if it’s already accomplished. Rather than thinking, I want to have a successful business by 2020.
Think like this: “I have a successful business.”
Don’t act as if you want these goals to happen in the future, manifest that goal into your life by believing it’s already happened.
Your thoughts are powerful and YOU have the power to create your own vision by believing you already have it.
As humans we are great at wanting more. Am I right? We always want more… more money, a bigger house, more space, a better job, etc.
Thinking this way only lowers our motivation. We get upset thinking about everything we don’t have…maybe it’s motivating to think that one day you might get it, but do you want to know what’s even more motivating? Believing that you ALREADY have it!
I have a bigger house. I have $10,000. I have a job I love.
Creating this mindset helps to motivate you to really make it happen. I know it might sound ridiculous and maybe you don’t believe in the power of mindset and manifesting things into your life, but YOU have the power to control the outcome of your life. We all have choices.
Remember, you can and you will.
4.Be productive not busy
When it comes to accomplishing your goals you want to make sure you are always being productive! There is a difference between being productive and keeping busy.
You could tell your friends that you are busy watching Netflix, but is that productive? No.
Think about your goals for the day and think about your long term goal. Is what you are doing helping you achieve any of these goals? If the answer is yes, then you are being productive. If the answer is no, then you are just keeping busy and that’s doing more harm than good.
Try to do tasks throughout the day that help you reach your goals. I also know it can be hard to focus on each task. Sometimes we get caught up on one task and before we know it, the day is over.
A trick that I like to do is set a timer for each task! Once the timer is up, I will bring my task to the bottom of the list if I didn’t complete it. Then I move onto the next task. This helps to make sure I don’t get sucked into one task all day. Definitely helps!
5.Consistency
Keeping consistent with your goals is so important! It’s so easy to make a goal and then forget about it. That’s just a waste. Rather than forgetting about it, refer back to your long term goals daily, and work at them consistently!
It’s so easy to lose motivation and want to give up on our goals. TRUST ME, I KNOW. But the moment you decide to push aside your goals is the moment you become inconsistent and before you know it your dream is no longer happening.
Making your goals happen is hard work, especially your larger goals.
For example, I have been working hard on turning my blog into a full time career. Last year that was my biggest goal. I knew that it wasn’t going to happen unless I consistently worked at it. So what did I do? I worked at it every damn day. Even if somedays it was for only a little bit of time. I made sure that everyday I was doing something that helped me get closer to that goal.
If you consistently work towards something, eventually you will reach it!! 6 months later I was making income through my blog and now it’s my full time job a year later.
Just like anything in life, consistency is KEY when it comes to accomplishing your goals! Taking really long breaks away from your goals can really hurt your outcome. It’s okay to take breaks, especially if you start to feel burnt out. BUT, try your best to stay focused and keep the length of your breaks to a minimum. It’s hard to pick it back up once you stop.
In conclusion,
Anything is possible if you stay consistent and believe that you can. Your mind is a powerful thing and the more positive you keep your mind, the more positivity you attract. You tend to stay more motivated when your mind is positive! I am a big believer in manifesting the life of your dreams. Words of affirmation are HUGE when it comes to accomplishing goals. If you believe you can, you WILL.
I really hope you found this post helpful! What are some tips that you have that help keep you motivated and accomplishing your goals? Would love to know in the comments!!!
Thanks Ell, This is timely. I recently made a goal to finish some topic I needed to study, the first two days I was serious and all that, but later on I just deviated 100%. I guess I’ve really been busy and not productive. Thanks for the tips, I’ll apply them and tell you how it turns out.
Salvage Readers
Lovely article! Much love to you and your inspiring words. I put these thoughts into action every day of my life as an artist and it truly made me a better and more successful person for doing so.
Thank you Justin! Love you!
Great tips! I write some pretty in-depth goal strategies to help people with professional development. This post was nice though! And helpful. Good work.
Thank you so much! That means a lot to me and I am so glad you found it helpful (:
Thank you for this! I also have goals to make blogging my full time career but I never write down the steps I want to achieve this – maybe I should start! Also, I need to start believing that my goals are achievable. It’s so easy to fall into that hole and think that nothing is possible. It also doesn’t help that I’m a negative Nancy.
Also, I’m so happy that you were able to make a career out of your blog in just a year! That’s honestly so inspiring! I really hope that your blog continues to expand (but you don’t need my luck!). XX
Alicia | http://www.aliciabynature.co.uk
Thank you so much! That means a lot to me!!! You can definitely achieve anything you put your mind to (: Don’t ever give up!
Needed this! Esp with the new year coming up. Time to get after it.
IG @neeloofathi
http://www.fromneetoyou.com
Yes exactly!!!
Great read!
Thank you Renee!
One thing I really like to do is write it down. It’s proven to be so helpful for me. But I need to work on consistency. Thanks for this post. Very helpful tips.
Yes, I love writing things down!! So glad you found it helpful. Thank you (:
Thank you for this! It sounds so simple and still – it takes all of my strength sometimes to follow these steps. It’s goal-setting, and it’s the Law of Attraction all together, working with us to get where we want to be 🙂
Yes exactly!! You are so welcome, glad you enjoyed it!
Love your blog and your work. Articles like are so inspiring. I also love your Tweets. They are so motivating. I write down daily to-dos and my top 3 intentions for the day.
My intentions are typically based off my goals for the week while everything else that I want to make a note off is on my to-do list. Just started doing this in November. Hope I can keep up with it.
Thank you so much!!! That means a lot to me! I have faith in you, you can accomplish anything!
So many useful tips! I tend to keep my daily goals to 3 maximum. That way it’s more realistic to get through and I have more focus. If there are more than three I usually feel overworked and don’t always meet my goals.
This is very helpful! I’m excited about your success and appreciate your encouraging words here.
Thank you so much Audrey, that means a lot to me!
I really love this post!! I felt so much more motivated reading through it!
That makes me so happy to hear! Thank you so much (:
Do you have a book or downloadable for me to read. I do better reading paper, but I am so ready to make my transition.
I don’t ): But definitely something I should consider!
The part where you speak about mindset is so key! Visualizing yourself having already achieved these things and thereby believing they’re 100% possible makes the difference between success and failure! Unfortunately that is easier said than done! What are some of the strategies you use to stay in a positive mindset when it comes to difficult goals?
Thank you so much! It can be really hard to keep that positive mindset going when it comes to difficult goals but I just tell myself, “Remember what you want to achieve and don’t give up because you got this. It’s time to get what you want.”
You are so right, mindset is everything. This post was the encouragement I needed today! Thanks!
Thank you! So glad you can relate and find this helpful!