Goals. We all have goals – some long-term, some temporary. Whether it’s getting a promotion, putting up a business, losing weight, exercising regularly, or quitting smoking, achieving our goals takes time and effort.
Most of the time, there is no easy way. Your first few weeks spent chasing or months of hard work may seem enjoyable, as time goes by, tolerable, and then after even more effort you may come to a point of leaving behind those goals, delaying them or totally quitting.
So how do you stay committed to your goal?
How do you hard-wire your mind and body towards reaching your short or long-term goals? Below are some great ideas to try.
It all starts with the right mindset.
Before you start taking action, it is very important that you develop a proper mindset. How do you do this? Simple – by determining why you are pursuing that goal in the first place.
How important is it to you? And how will it improve your life? If you cannot find any compelling answer, there’s a big chance that you won’t stick to your goals when the going gets tough.
You don’t want to spend too much time and effort on something that is really not valuable to you, aren’t you?
Stay inspired.
Surround yourself with people who share the same interest or goals with you. Better still; interact with those who have already achieved the goal like yours.
They can share a lot of insights and wisdom, and help keep you inspired and motivated all through the way. Listen to their stories of success and failure, and you will learn valuable lessons from these people. The more time you spend with them, the more you become like them.
Create a good habit.
Realising your goals starts by creating a habit.
For instance, if you want to lose some weight, start by making a habit of doing some form of exercise every day, drinking water before taking your meal or having a fruit for dessert. These may all seem like small and insignificant habits but they usually have a big impact.
Plan the journey.
Every goal needs careful planning and timeline to be achieved. You wouldn’t travel to some unknown place without looking at a map, would you?
It is not enough that you know what your goals are and why they are important. In order to make them a reality, you must come up with a plan on how to get there.
A step-by-step strategy of all the small strides, and then the larger leaps should all be planned. Your plan should be SMART: specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and time-framed.
Good health is vital.
While they may seem like too busy to have time for such things, successful people share common healthy practices.
These often include: eating healthy, getting up early, exercising and getting enough sleep. Incorporating these habits make you a healthier and mentally stronger person, which in turn, make you more capable of reaching your goals.
Commit yourself completely.
Don’t just tell yourself that you might do this. Tell yourself that you will definitely do this. No, I’ll go one further – Tell yourself you ARE doing this. Committing your mind 100% to it is one of the key steps to achieving your goals – whatever they are.
Keep track of your progress.
Keep a record of all the steps you’ve taken along the journey to your goal, so far. It is important to track your progress so you would know if you’re still doing it SMART-ly.
Keep the positive spirit.
There will be times when it won’t be as easy, when it won’t be as comfortable, for sure. If you think solely of negative things, you are headed to fail. But if you think of positive things, you’ll be bound for success.
* If you follow these steps.
Let me know if this helps, and please share it with others.
Richard Scott
SNHS Dip.CH, SNHS Adv Dip.CH.Psy, PHPA, ICHM, NHSTA