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We’re coming up on the new year, which means we’re likely being inundated with ways to achieve our resolutions.  This is a perfect time to reflect on how we’re living our lives – personally and professionally – and make any necessary changes.

We all talk about setting goals, but how do we actually achieve them and keep the momentum going well into the new year?

Read along for some best tips and advice for achieving your goals.

Choose a reason

It helps to keep your motivation high when you know why you’re doing something.  If your goal is to make more money, is there a specific item you’re looking to purchase that you can envision?  If you want to make more time in your schedule, will you fill it with more fun with your kids or friends?

Find something inspiring to use to visualize your goals, which will make follow through much easier!

Make it realistic

It will only lower your confidence if your goal is completely unlikely to happen. You can always start small and build from there.

If you’re looking to achieve a certain position in your organization, and you’re quite a few positions away from this, make small goals to keep achieving the next position up.  It’s much more fulfilling to meet and achieve your goals, versus spending a long time without the satisfaction of meeting them.

When your goals are realistic, they also push you to do real things, versus picking a very “out there” goal that you won’t even attempt to truly achieve.

Stretch yourself

While setting realistic goals is very important, you should also stretch yourself a bit.  If your goals are much too easy, you’re really not achieving anything beyond the norm.

Pick a goal that is realistically achievable – but also scares you a bit. A little bit of apprehension can be a great kick start towards action.

Change the timing

Often times, people set goals that can only be achieved in many months or even years.  Pick a few goals and set time limits to keep you going.  You can even break your goals into categories of short term and long term, or by days, weeks, months, and years.

By setting goal dates and setting them incrementally, you stay in the mindset of thinking about them on a regular basis.  Plug these into your calendar for more accountability, reminder, and visual aid.

Create a plan

A famous quote says that “A goal without a plan is just a wish.”  A plan is a very crucial component of a goal!

Start by writing out what you want, then proceed to determining your “why” for your goals, as explained in our first tip.  From here, create your timing – short or long term goals, or by days, weeks, months and years.  Then, you’ll want to put these goals into your calendar and/or schedule.  To really take things up a notch, you can include visualization and meditation practices to truly solidify your process.

Achieving your goals takes work, but it should also be uplifting, fun and inspiring.  Determine what process works best for you, and do your best to stick with it as you achieve your goals in the new year!

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