I am passionate about goals and goal-setting for the simple reason that if I didn’t set goals, I would have achieved little to nothing over the last 13 years.
Seriously.
People often wonder how I manage to get so much done from my life list.
The simple answer which is very short and sweet is that I set annual, monthly and weekly goals, and I work towards them.
That’s it – it’s not magic.
Do you know what is the number 1 reason most people don’t achieve their goals?
It’s not lack of motivation.
It’s not lack of willpower.
It’s not lack of planning ability.
It’s the inability to manage their time.
I get it.
How can you even think about writing your book/ going on a mission trip into Africa/ starting a home for pregnant teenaged girls when you’re rushing around the whole day just putting out fires?
Almost impossible.
If you don’t set out to manage your time and life with purpose and intention, chances are you’re going to stumble through life and keep wondering, “where did that year go?”
At this time of year I love blog browsing and reading all the wonderful dreams people have about being more present, living more fully and impacting others around them.
Can you tell I read lots of inspirational blogs?!
The sad thing is that after a few months these same people think these Big Dreams are merely flights of fancy or that they were silly to think that they could actually do it.
It’s not silly.
It just takes some work.
My challenge to you
1. Grab a piece of paper and jot down just 3 things you want to accomplish this year. Let’s keep our expectations low and take the pressure off.
2. Choose the ONE most important thing to you right now.
3. Create some time to work on just that one thing. I like to work with time blocks per week so that I don’t feel pressure on a daily basis. For example, you may say, “this week I’m going to spend two hours (which you can break down into 4 X 30-minute sessions) deciding on my next holiday and figuring out how long I want to stay there and how much it’s all going to cost”
4. This is the most important step – schedule the time in your planner and mark it as sacred, in other words, keep the appointment!
If you have no idea where you’re going to find time to do the thinking let alone the doing, have a look at the organize your time system.
And if you want a customized plan just for you, book a Success Strategy Session with me. These sessions pay for themselves around the 20-minute mark with all the ideas you get and then it’s free sailing after that 🙂
Have you set the time aside to work on your goals?
Marcia,
Thank you for your post. It grabbed my attention. Very well said. You are describing exactly how my life seems to go each day, putting out fires, and losing focus of a few of my major life desires, which tranlates to goals.
Thank you for this, Marcia. A lot of times I decide and plan my goals in my head. That’s just not good enough. There is something tangible and permanent about writing them down. I’ll be making my list of goals for the year today. 🙂