Four Tips to Help You Achieve Your Goals

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You can achieve your goals! Here are four tips to help you set your goals, plan to reach them, and succeed.

1) Start small and focused.

Don’t set 100 goals for yourself or you’ll get overwhelmed first. Choose just a couple. Once you’ve accomplished those or made them a habit, then set more.

2) Know your motivations.

When you list your goals, beside each one, list the reasons you want to achieve the goal and why it matters. Think about what your life will be like, or how your business will change, as you accomplish those goals.

3) Make a plan.

First, note what steps are required to reach your goal and break it down into a checklist of smaller steps you need to take to complete the big goal. Second, schedule your goals in. Use a planner or calendar to stay on top of what you need to be doing. For daily goals, I try to get the most important things done in the morning so they’re finished and before the day gets crazy and things start to come up.

4) Reward yourself!

Take time to acknowledge each goal you complete. Even if it’s as small as responding to all pending emails, getting your kitchen clean, finishing a meal plan for the week, or packing up one custom order to ship. Celebrate every goal or step towards your goal that you accomplish. Realize that you’ve completed something and you deserve to feel happy (no matter how many other things you’ve got left on your list!).

Comments

Charlene says:

December 17, 2009 at 8:59 am

Great tips to start off the new year! I especially like the Start Small and Focused ~ it is so easy to get overwhelmed when you start making a list that doesn’t seem to end.

Michelle
Twitter: SmallBizMuse
says:

December 17, 2009 at 9:27 am

That’s a mistake I’ve made a lot. It’s easy to get excited and have too many goals at once, especially if you’re the creative type who’s always coming up with lots of new ideas. But focusing on one or two can help us get so much more done.

Dan says:

December 18, 2009 at 2:51 am

Great tips.

If you’d like a tool for setting your goals for 2010, you can use this web application:

http://www.Gtdagenda.com

You can use it to manage your goals, projects and tasks, set next actions and contexts, use checklists, schedules and a calendar.
A Vision Wall (inspiring images attached to yor goals) is available too.
Works also on mobile.

MichelleShaeffer
Twitter: SmallBizMuse
says:

December 26, 2009 at 12:49 am

Thanks Dan, I appreciate the comment and will take a look.
MichelleShaeffer’s last blog ..Three Mistakes That Can Get Your Newsletter Trashed or Trash Your Responses