Whether it’s New Year or not, people are always on a mission to achieve their goals. For some reasons, we’re conditioned to think that goals or making goals are supposed to be big ones otherwise what’s the point? While there’s definitely nothing wrong with the go big or go home mentality, we should also realize that it doesn’t work for everyone and every situation.
Many of us gets caught up in the ‘big promises, big disappointment’ trap mainly due to the rapidly changing, high-paced, information-rich world. This current world that we live in, though comes with a lot of unprecedented access to opportunities, could be the reason why more and more people are way more exhausted that necessary since we’re trying to keep up all the time.
Since there’s no helping how society is evolving, is it really necessary for you to get swept up? Why not pace yourself instead in a slowly but surely manner? You’re more likely to get things done without feeling like you’re spreading yourself out too thin. This then results to success which builds confidence in yourself and your capabilities!
Learn To Take Baby Steps
Majority of people like to stay in their comfort zone but also recognizes the importance of making changes and improvements in order to gain more out of life. And in doing so, people also often make the mistake of trying to do it all at once. This then results to loss of motivation early on because you either failed trying to take a huge leap really fast or that you’re not seeing the results you were expecting. Look at an area of your life you want to make changes in. Honestly and gently reflect on where you are now and where you want to be. Our natural tendency can be to set an immediate goal that is so far away from where we are now that it seems unmanageable and unattainable. We invite you to break down your bigger goal into smaller, more manageable, and achievable actions!
Examples:
Health Goals
We’ve all been here and done it! Who hasn’t tried to lose weight, be fit or simply improve their health by totally setting unrealistic goals and then expecting it to actually happen right away? Sounds like something you’ve done at least at one point in your life, right? While the long-term end goal should always be in your mind, it’s actually acing your short term goals that allows you to stay motivated and focused into reaching your ultimate goal.
Examples of short term goals that can help you reach your long term ones are:
Switching into healthier alternatives of your usual meals or snacks.
Limiting alcohol/soda/fast-food to once a week only.
Cooking your own food at least for one meal a day.
Drinking a glass of water every hour.
There are a lot more that you can make adjustments to in your daily life depending on your routine and lifestyle but setting even those tiny goals keeps you more accountable to your plans.
Career Success
Ask any working individual if they want to be promoted and their answer would be a quick and resounding YES! Because, seriously, who wouldn’t want to? But in what company have you heard of a fresh university graduate get hired as a manager right away or one who’s only been working for a couple of months to be promoted as an executive? Promotions requires time, hard work, better qualifications and better skills.
Examples of short term goals that can help you reach your long term ones are:
Take one course at a time.
Achieve one certification.
Improve one skill.
Make a few new contacts at each event, conference, or gathering and slowly build your list of business contacts.
Be More Organized
With the rise of minimalistic way of living, becoming more organized is becoming trendy nowadays. However, people seem to think this can be done in a day or two. Biting more than you can chew is a surefire way to failure. Understand that you didn’t develop whatever organizational poor habit that you have overnight. So do not assume that the transformation will happen overnight too.
Examples of short term goals that can help you reach your long term ones are:
Make a master list of everything you need to do.
Eliminate one or two piles.
Clear off your desk or the kitchen counter.
Sort through old mail.
Clear out your email inbox.
Start cleaning off your desk at the end of the day.
Study or read for one hour a day.
Gather the empty cups, bags, and papers each time you get out of the car.
This strategy is useful in almost every area of life, and when trying to achieve nearly any goal. Just work towards one mini-victory at time and make sure you celebrate each achievement in some small way—a little success goes a long way in propelling us to the finish line.
If you want to successfully change your lifestyle to achieve your goal, know that you have to be flexible. Even if you’re started to adapt better habits, always keep in mind that things may not work according to your plans every single day. Let’s say you’ve been making your own breakfast and dinner for weeks now but due to events or hectic work schedule you couldn’t do breakfast. That’s okay. Use that opportunity to find a place to grab breakfast that’s still healthy. Or you didn’t get to answer some important emails today, then just make sure you do them first thing the next day. You don’t have to actually follow your plans to a T. Improvise if you must or take alternative routes that still leads to the same direction of your plan. Try new things or different ways to achieve your goal and you might just learn that you have a lot of options to choose from when time or circumstances are working against you. They may not be what you’ve set out to do but if they’re healthy habits and changes then you’re basically still on track.