As we reach the end of January, how many of you are thinking “Well, I only have 11 months left to achieve what I need to do!”?
It’s important to keep your lens looking forward, and we’re calling it, 2023 is the year to unleash your greatness and inner potential – step out of your comfort zone, become comfortable with the uncomfortable, be ambitious and be intentional!
We’ve said it once and we’ll say it again – while we appreciate New Year’s resolutions – we’re not about them. Often, New Year’s resolutions are made with great intentions but they are ill-defined, which means they often can be here today and gone tomorrow. We easily lose the momentum and become unsure how we’re actually supposed to achieve this massive goal! Does this sound familiar?
What is the point of setting goals if we never achieve them! So, we’ve given you 3 tips to setting achievable targets and even better, setting achievable long-term ones.
1. Divide and Conquer
The first step to investing yourself in a goal is knowing what you want to achieve. If you’re not specific about your goals, it’s likely you’ll hear yourself making excuses to not complete them, and soon enough they become undesirable. Set your overarching goal and begin the process of dividing it into smaller, accomplishable chunks which can be used as milestones. This sets you up for victory. As you reach your smaller targets and get to physically tick something off your list, it will impart a sense of accomplishment to encourage you and motivate you to press onwards.
Finishing a smaller one-week or one-month goal is much more achievable than focusing on your 12-month, end-of-year goal looming over you. For example, your goal might be upskilling yourself in a completely new area of professional development over 12 months. Your first step would be ‘identify courses to complete’. Your second step might be to complete a short course over 30 days to get the ball rolling and give you a feel for your learning style. Your third step will be set up a 30-day schedule for when you can set aside time to study and revise. Additionally, what healthy habits will you need to implement to ensure you can achieve this 30-day goal? Once you have conquered this achievable goal, you can expand it into larger chunks to reach your 12-month goal.
2. Put Pen to Paper
According to experts, writing your goals down creates a physical reference guide which you can come back to. It also enables you to physically cross things off and see your progress visually. A study done by Gail Matthews, showed that by writing your goals down, you are 42% more likely to achieve them. Whether you use a paper checklist, an excel spreadsheet or sticky notes up on your fridge – there are many ways to have your goals written down. Sticky notes are a great way to have a bright and colourful reminder in places which will grab your attention – be it your fridge or around your computer station (somewhere which isn’t flooded with documents!). Use your phone or your outlook calendar to set tasks and reminders to check your progress throughout the week. We know work weeks, and weekends for that matter, are quickly built up with a multitude of things to keep you busy and distracted from your goals – so make sure you take the measures to bring your goals back to your conscious attention.
3. Internal Boosters and External Rewards
The journey to success can sometimes seem gloomy without the necessary support systems around you. While goals are often achieved alone, it is beneficial to share your goals journey with someone. Having a colleague, friend or family member as an ally on the journey with you not only keeps you accountable, but can help motivate you and cheer you on as you kick your milestones. This ally can help fight in your corner when you don’t have the drive to persevere or cope with the stress.
If you are more of a lone wolf, encourage yourself and keep on the track of motivation by incentivizing yourself with a sweet treat, a walk in the park or a nice coffee break once you have fulfilled your milestone goal. Motivation never needs to be extravagant. Career Advice reported that giving yourself a booster can not only aid your own success in your journey, but can inspire those around you to reach their full potential too. If internal encouragement isn’t enough, then surely the ability to inspire those around you is incentive enough to pursue your goals – it’s a gift that keeps on giving!
Small achievable steps, healthy habits, physically reporting your progress, having self-motivation and external support are all things which will set you up for success in 2023. The outcome of your goals depends on intention, discipline and a streamlined focus on your tasks at hand. They aren’t about overnight triumph, but pursuing one day at a time.
11 months of achievements, here you go!