1. Make friends with your goals. Good friends. It’s a strange concept, but it all has to do with changing your mindset.
At the beginning of the year, when you put to paper all the things you want to accomplish by the end of the year, you’re excited and enthusiastic. But by the end of the first month your plans have been papered over by life. You didn’t get a chance to incorporate new habits or complete the tasks required.
Your list of 2010 goals is in a drawer or notebook somewhere. It’s starting to feel overwhelming and maybe you were overly optimistic and you’ll get to them later. But you don’t.
This year think of your goals as friends. Don’t bury them, but look at them every day. Keep them top of mind — just as you would a good friend.
2. Create pathways to get to your goals. Think of it like taking a new route to a destination you’ve always wanted to reach. If one of your goals is to lose 25 pounds this year or to get your black belt, you’ll need to add training, exercise and nutritional pathways into your daily life.
Viewing the process as traveling down pathways will give you the feeling of momentum early on. It keeps you from getting stuck and quitting. Create your task list for each pathway and make room for them in your life. If you want to start a business or write a book, then break the tasks down into small pieces. Incorporate those into your daily life.
3. Stretch but don’t go crazy. I’m NOT going to be on Oprah this year. However, I expect to be hired to speak on midlife reinvention and change issues at multiple venues this year.
I’ve set up pathways in my life to make it happen.
I know I will not win a marathon race this year (or any other!), but I do expect to finish one at a pace better than the last (and better than Oprah’s!).
Stretch yourself to reach goals you want, but also make sure they are realistic.
4. Just say no. This is a hard habit to break. You want to be accommodating, you want to please your employer or your client or your family. You allow them to infringe upon the time you’ve allotted to work on your goals. Then what happens: Your tasks go undone. Your new-found habits are gone.
If only you’d said NO! No to dessert, so your weight doesn’t fluctuate. Or, no to working late so you could complete the chapter of the book you’re writing. Or, no to your troublesome client, so you could spend time getting new and improved clients. This year try it: just say NO.
5. Review and Revise. Your goals are not set in stone. It’s ok to make changes. If you’re working with your goals every day, then it’s not a big deal to make revisions. Don’t feel like your stuck with the goals exactly as you wrote at the beginning of the year — that’s a good way to give up. Keep yourself open to new opportunities.
Make Friends, create pathways, stretch, say NO and review — will help you achieve the year of your dreams!
Photo credit: GardenDivaDeb
