New Year, New Goal Setting Strategies

“Success is not final; failure is not fatal: It is the courage to continue that counts.” — Winston S. Churchill

I think anyone can agree that it’s quite simple to do the physical act of creating a goal. What might not always be the easiest is staying motivated to achieve those goals. Maybe it’s because you have difficulty focusing, or perhaps it’s because you don’t honestly believe you are capable of accomplishing what you have in mind.

As we’re coming into 2021, I sat down with myself and thought, “what can I do this coming year to ensure I achieve my goals and stay motivated enough to follow through with them?” I wanted to make sure I was realistic, but not too lenient with myself, as I still wanted to strive for the stars.

Here are some simple yet effective tips that I’ve come up with in helping you achieve all your desires!

Love Yourself and Trust Yourself

First and foremost, I think this is key to following your dreams. Going hand in hand with manifestation, how can you expect great things in life if you don’t believe that you are capable of such great things.

Waking up every day and doubting your abilities and talents is your first roadblock to success. If you genuinely believe in yourself, you can do anything you set your mind to — I know, super cliché, but it’s true.

Smaller # of Large Goals, Larger # of Small Goals

A couple of years ago, I heard on the radio that if you give yourself too many larger goals — such as writing and publishing a book, being on the cover of Vogue Magazine, starting a business — then you’re setting yourself up for failure. Your mind can only handle so much before it becomes overwhelmed.

Large goals take time and effort, so don’t bombard your mind with too many at once. Instead, stick to maybe 1–2 larger goals, and maybe 3–5 smaller goals — such as drinking 2L of water a day or taking the dog for a walk every evening.

Limiting the number of goals you have is realistic and sets yourself up for success.

Plan Out Your Goals

Outlining your goals and writing down certain milestones is a great way to ensure staying on top of achieving them.

Striving for and focusing on each milestone makes reaching your end goal much more attainable, as you need to take baby steps to reach your destination.

Something I like using is a planner geared explicitly towards goal setting — this will help you outline your baby steps and milestones.

Exit Your Comfort Zone

Part of achieving your goals is by growing. How do you grow if you don’t challenge yourself?

Let’s say your goal is to write and publish a book. You love sitting in your room writing, but you are terrified of networking and emailing publishers. If you don’t push yourself out of your comfort zone, then you will never publish that book.

It’s so easy to stay within your limits, but you will never hear a great success story from someone who didn’t push past their fears and exit their comfort zone.

“Opportunities don’t happen. You create them.” — Chris Grosser

Daily Reminders

This is key, especially in the beginning. If you wake up every day and remind yourself of your ambitions, then you’re going to put it on your to-do list that day and take another step towards it.

Something that goes along with daily reminders is habits. I heard it takes roughly 60–90 days to form a habit, so if you remind yourself of what you want to achieve and push through during those 90 days, then it will become easier and more natural to stay on top of your goals.

Push Yourself, but Don’t Hurt Yourself

No one in this world wakes up every single day feeling motivated — maybe some people more than others, but no one does. Everyone has lazy moments or moments of doubt. The difference between the ones that succeed and those who don’t are the ones who push themselves even when they are feeling unmotivated.

This can be tricky, though. You can’t overdo it, and you need to listen to your body. Are you feeling unmotivated because you’re feeling lazy, or is it because your mind is overwhelmed and you need a day to relax and do nothing? There needs to be a healthy balance between pushing yourself and listening to yourself.

Surround Yourself with the Right People

Something I bet most of you don’t ever stop to think about is how influenced you are by the people you surround yourself with. It’s very simple to form the same habits as your friends and family, considering you spend so much time with them.

If you surround yourself with individuals who are lazy, unmotivated, and negative, then you are bound to form those same habits and attitudes. This is why it’s essential to be surrounded by inspiring people. If your friends are striving for success every day, have positive mindsets, and push you to be the best version of yourself, then it makes achieving your goals ten times easier.

The best things in life don’t come easy, which is why all success stories involve blood, sweat, and tears. If you follow these tips and work hard, then you will achieve everything your heart aspires to.