Just recently, I met with a new club owner on our team and set some goals. I was so zoned in on getting items checked off of the list in an effort to get the club open on time, that I had to stop and remind myself that this was the most important part of the process, and it takes time.
Setting goals is something that you really have to think about over time. It's something that many of us never do take the time to write down because we just don't have the time. Here's the thing- if you want to live your dream life, you need to commit and write down what it looks like for you.
“A dream written down with a date becomes a goal. A goal broken down into steps becomes a plan. A plan backed by action makes your dreams come true.” Greg Reid
So where do you start? A lot of us don't know what kind of life we want, we just know that we don't like the way that ours is turning out so far (been there, by the way). Setting goals is easy, it's the achieving them part thats difficult. If you're up for the challenge though, you really do have the power to dramatically change the course of your life.
Change your mind. The first step is deciding that you can change your life. Convince your mind that your dreams WILL happen, no matter what. Your mental shift will start attracting what you desire and will lead you to start acting as if you already have it. Once you've made this shift in mentality, it's only a matter of time.
Acknowledge that it's going to be hard work. How many times have you set goals before, then not followed through? It's ok. I've totally been there... but if you really do want to make your dreams happen, your work ethic needs to match your goals. It would be super sweet if all we needed to do was cut out pictures of what we want to attract into our lives and they would just magically show up, but that's just not the case. Decide that accomplishing your goals is going to be hard. Really hard. Otherwise, everyone would just do it. But here's the thing... it will be worth it.
Set goals. Don't let your old mindset and fears control you. At the beginning of this year, I sat down to establish my own goals for this year. I was so off track of my long term mental, physical, career and family goals coming into 2018, that I knew I needed to put some crazy things on that paper to help me get back on track. Of course, I didn't accomplish everything on my list this year, and some of the items are things that don't really light my fire anymore, but putting something down on paper held me accountable enough to get 90% of the way there and become crystal clear on what I want from 2019.
"Lame, vague goals are the best way to live a lame, vague life." Jen Sincero
Write it down. And be SPECIFIC! This one had me saying "good one, God". At the beginning of this year, my best friend Erica and I decided that we were going to crush our goals. This was the year. In our company, when you and your team achieve the top 1% of sales, the company gives you this sweet diamond pin. This would mean a stretch for her, but I decided that we were up for the challenge. (If I could call myself out on this one after the fact, I'd say: 1. You can only set goals for yourself, not others. and 2. Your effort ALWAYS must be in alignment with your goals.) Anyways, I pasted a photo of all of us on my dream board and wrote "Diamond: Erica". Well... a diamond happened! Not in the way that I expected, but equally as awesome. In October, Erica got engaged to her long time boyfriend and he gave her a beautiful diamond ring. Obviously I was ecstatic, but I also had to giggle when I looked at my dream board the next morning and realized the wording that I had used under that goal... "diamond: Erica".
"The universe responds to details." Jen Sincero
Visualize goals daily. Keep your goals list or dream board somewhere that you will see it multiple times every single day. I keep mine in my bathroom so that I can look at it when I get ready every morning and then again while I get ready for bed. In order to become a super magnet for your goals, your brain needs to be reminded constantly. Posting pictures of what your goals will look like in your life will attract exactly what you want.
Re-evaluate and grow. Now that we are nearing the end of the year, this is also a great opportunity to re-evaluate and start thinking about your goals for next year. Go back to your list and look at the items you didn't get checked off. Think: was this because I no longer desire this goal? or was it that my work didn't match what was required to achieve that goal? Use this information to help you design your goals list for next year. It's never too early to start visualizing what your best life is going to look like in 2019.
* For more on goal setting and realizing your ultimate inner badass, I highly recommend the book "You are a badass" by Jen Sincero, which was quoted a few times in this post.
Comments