5 steps to start achieving your goals

We all have goals. Some people’s goals are to run marathons (if your goal is to run a marathon, you have my utmost respect, and I would gladly cheer you on from the sidelines) or perhaps learn to knit (honestly knitting is super fun I recommend trying it out). Mine are to finish school and pay off the massive amounts of student debt I’ve accrued, but that’s more of a long- term goal. So what about the short term ones?

Everyday it seems like life throws us a new challenge or obstacle to overcome. It can be hectic, confusing, and perhaps a bit overwhelming. There’s this quote I read a while back that said, “You can either live life cautiously or courageously.”  I don’t think one’s necessarily more right than the other, but I do think one is going to push you farther than the other. Living courageously, being bold, and taking chances are all ways to achieve those personal goals we have. A lot of my life I’ve been cautious and wary. Afraid that one wrong choice would ruin everything I’ve carefully built for myself. I put a stop to that thinking at the beginning of covid. In the words of Doris Day, “que sera sera.”

I came across this article two weeks ago when researching content ideas called Life Hacks for Achieving your Goals. Achieving one's goals. Now how do we do that? I’m not going to say it’s easy because that would be a lie, but with commitment and dedication anything is possible. I’ve made a list of steps to help achieve your own goals. There isn’t a guaranteed success rate to this but personally, I’ve found this list super helpful. 

Make time to think

The biggest and arguably most important thing in my opinion is to make time to think and reflect. Being busy doesn’t always allow you to take this time for yourself to think about where you are and where you want to be. I recommend abandoning your normal routine and taking time to reflect. This can be daily, monthly, or even yearly to get back in touch with your goals. 

Accountability

Okay so what's next you're probably thinking. Accountability (yay)! In order to fully commit to your goals, hold yourself accountable, and write them down. It is scientifically proven that when we write things down, we’re more likely to remember them. According to Dr. Gale Matthews, professor of Psychology at Dominican University California, you are 42% more likely to achieve your goals if you write them down. (1)

Organization

Next up we have organization. This is one of my favorites. Making goals can get confusing and disjointed. We sometimes forget about them or tell ourselves they’re not as important as they need to be. Categorize your goals and organize them in rank of importance. Achieving goals can seem like an intimidating task, but when we organize them and recognize their importance we’re more likely to achieve them.

Timelines are key

Who here is good with deadlines? I know when I set a task that has to be done by a certain time, it's most likely to get done. This applies with our goals as well. Timelines, timelines, timelines! Setting deadlines helps to keep us motivated and get the tasks done to achieve our goals. They keep us focused and disciplined while working on them and give us a framework for achieving them.

Write it down

Lastly, I advise that you write down your goal and then what you hope to achieve. It can be hard to visualize every step necessary to achieve a goal. So take the approach of working backwards in steps. Working backwards can help you envision an action plan and obstacles early on. It gives you an idea of what you need to do and how you can overcome obstacles in your way.

Remember, reaching your goals doesn’t just happen overnight. Don’t give up on them, no matter what curveballs life throws your way.