How to Achieve More Goals This Year
>> Friday, January 1, 2010
Every year lot of us make new year resolutions and start with a bang. Then after a week or so the enthusiasm level starts falling and by the end of January the resolutions are lost and forgotten somewhere. Then at the end of the year we again dig up the ghosts of the past year's resolutions and put them in new clothes and they are again ready for the next year. Usually the cycle repeats each year.
When this happens for a few successive years, people stop making any resolutions at the beginning of the year. They stop feeling guilty or sorry at the end of the year. All the guilt free years come back to you with interest though later. As years pass by and when we look back we start feeling what we have lost by not taking any actions and wonder what we may have achieved if we had worked to achieve even 50% of those goals. This has happened with me as well as and when I am more focused I can see what an time waster I have been.
If you do not act on your goals then they are just your wish list and unfortunately we do not have a genie who can fulfill our wishes.
Here is how we can do to achieve our Goals?
- Write Down Your Goals
I have found it myself after implementing it. I have been reading this for a long time but once I wrote it down it somehow becomes easier to focus and achieve the goals. Here is a post on importance of writing down your goals. If you really serious about your goal write it in paper and stick it either in front of your computer or mirror or anywhere where it will be visible everyday. - Have a Goal which will excite you.
Selecting an exciting goal is very important. It should be challenging and at the same time should be something which will make you proud when you achieve that. There should be some attraction from the goal itself which draw you to the goal. For example if you want to lose weight choose a bigger picture. if you are in middle age think you will look when you shed all those flab. If you want to get a better paying job then think you will feel when you get that job everyday. You can add some excitement by making it bit difficult to achieve.
Here is an example. For example if you want walk for 1 mile every day for a month, then you can have a goal like "Start walking every day for 30 days. Start with 1 mile and at end of 30 days I should be able to walk the XYZ trek which is 5 miles long and at a altitude." Here I have presented very simple way, but you can manipulate this to suite your situation. - Take Actions Every Day or Frequently
Taking Action(s) Frequently.
Work on your goals to reach close very frequently. Take actions frequently like daily or every two or three days is very important. This keeps you on track and does not let you lose focus. The frequency can depend on the goal. For example, if you want to quit smoking, read anti smoking literature every day. Create a check list of the items which will help you to avoid smoking and read that every day.
If you are planning a dream vacation as your goal then daily action may not be required. But you may set a checklist like checking a cheaper hotel booking, planning and booking the flights at the right time to get discount, saving money and see if you not spending the money on the items which you plan to avoid to fund this vacation. - Start with a Short Term Goal
If you have failed to achieve most of your goals previously then go for a shorter term goal first. Start with a goal which can be achieved in a week or so. Then move on to month long duration goal. Making sure that you are achieving these goals will give you confidence to achieve long and bigger goals. Make the shorter goals stepping stone to bigger goals in your life.
Thing to remember is do not make the short term goals easy. They should be equally important for you to achieve and make you feel excited as mentioned in point 2.
Having goals are important for us to reach near our potentials and having a richer life and with the above steps you can achieve many of your dreams this year and in the years to follow.
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