New Year Goal Hangover? Hope is Not Lost...

We're nearing the end of February and it's entirely possible that some of us are already losing steam on our 2020 Goals (if we haven't abandoned them entirely).

Worry not! I've got some ACTIONABLE tips to use right away to ensure we get back on track.

First let’s talk about Goal Setting in case this is situation where we need to re-start or re-set our goals. Many of us have heard of using SMART Goals, but here's a refresher and an easy to understand breakdown:

Specific- Get hyper-focused on our goals; too broad and we won’t be able to focus in on what needs to get done

Measurable- “If you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it." Numbers!

Attainable – We need to find the sweet spot between impossible and easy. Think STRETCHING, not breaking.

Relevant- Think about what is aligned with where you want your life and career to be.

Time-bound- Use a chronological timeline to determine the best way to tackle your goal and designate a specific amount of time you will work towards the goal (many experts agree this shouldn’t be longer than 6 months) including the deadline.

Taking this a step further, here are some things for us to keep in mind:

• It’s important not to take on too many goals.
• Set goals that motivate us (actually write down our WHY)
• Speaking professionally, we should look at aligning our goals with our overall company's goals/vision
• Speaking personally, we should look at setting goals that relate to the high priorities in our lives.
• Find out what works best for us in terms of how we WRITE DOWN our goals. That could be pen and paper or it could be electronic. Just as long as it’s “written down” in some manner (Vision boards are a good bonus for this too!)

Now, once we have our goals set, let’s talk about some tips that separate those who actually achieve their goals and those who don’t:

Don’t underestimate the power of immediate benefits- Whether or not something is enjoyable, fun or interesting to us in the moment plays a HUGE role on our persistence in achieving the goals we set that often have delayed benefits. Many of the goals that we set for ourselves take time (as they should!), BUT our ability to stay the course over several months or even years is largely dependent on how much we can enjoy, stay interested and have fun along the way. Otherwise, we are less likely to stick with it since we won’t see the “end result” benefit until much later.

Big goals only work if we tackle them in bite size chunks- We’ve all seen some version of a motivational poster with an eagle on it saying something to the effect of “Dream Big,” or “Go big or go home.” The problem of course is that achieving those big goals at all once is not only unrealistic but it’s also often the catalyst of a downward spiral for many of us when the goals are inevitably not achieved. Instead, we need to think of our big goals in terms of smaller habits, tasks and jobs that together all build towards something much bigger. The key to these small habits is to think REALLY small. As in SO small that we begin to even question if it will make a difference. This is because we are aiming for the ability to stick to these small habits on a DAILY basis and we can only do that if the habit is small enough to make that a reality. Otherwise, we will find an excuse to put it off until later or skip it entirely.

Keep our tracking process simple- If it’s too complicated to track our small habits and desired actions then we are less likely to keep an accurate measurement of what we are doing (and not doing). This is where a simple to-do or checklist comes in handy and it’s best to keep it to a simple “yes” it was done or “no” it was not. Want to really get the most out of our small habits? Pay attention to the patterns in our checklists to see the areas where we really move forward and where we go backwards.

Don’t get overly confident and move too fast- Even small habits take time to fully develop so we need to be careful to not add on too much or move too fast after only a short period of time of sticking to our small habits. Many studies have been conducted to determine just how long it takes for a habit to become automatic and while experts agree it can depend on each person, the average time is just over 2 months. So, before we start increasing a small habit make we need to be sure it’s a constant staple in our life. Otherwise, we could increase it too much or too fast only to find ourselves giving up the habit entirely.

Don’t go it alone: Get a buddy- While we all would like to think we can handle small habits on our path to achieving our goals on our own, the truth is that we all need support. It’s not that we’re not capable, but rather we’re just that much better off with help from others. That help and support comes in the form of someone holding us accountable, cheering us on, and offering useful tips/guidance along the way. Keep in mind that we often need more than one buddy because there are different types of support. There’s the straight-talker, the cheerleader, the security blanket, the guru, and the brainstormer. It’s possible that a few people fit this roles for us, so we don’t necessarily need to find a bunch of buddies. We just need be clear on making sure the buddy fits each role we need filled.

Hope you find this helpful! As usual, feel free to reach out to me with ANY questions! I am here to assist and support you!

Cheers,

E