4 Steps to Achieving Your Goals

How are you doing on your new year's resolutions?

Recent research states that only 9.2% of people will accomplish their goals this year! That is right, over 90% of the U.S. adult population will NOT accomplish what they set out to do just a few weeks ago.

Furthermore, only 58% of goal setters are still on track to achieve them by the end of January.

Wow!

First, in order to be even considered in this conversation, you have to have set goals. Meaning, you needed to detail out your expectations, your plans. Have you done this? Have you stated what you want to do in order to make 2018 your best year ever?

Now is the time.

If you have not set goals for 2018, stop reading, and set at least 1 goal for yourself. Personal, professional, or both, you need goals.

Oh, and in case you haven’t noticed, we are at month end, so you only have 1 more day to stay or get back on track!

We want this to be your best year ever. I want to see you in the top 9%, the elite of the elite. Don’t you want to make a difference? Wouldn’t it be wonderful to look back at the end of the year and know your work paid off and you beat the odds! Isn’t this a great time to live your best life?

Yes, yes and yes!

You need to decide to take action. You need to decide take that action right now. You need to decide to take the action right now that will put you down the path to be amongst those in the top.

What will you decide?

Will you be brave, bold, and better?

Better than what? Just better. Constantly aiming higher. Constantly making a difference in the world. Constantly in pursuit of your best year ever.

The action steps, the choice, and most importantly, the outcomes, are up to you. What are you waiting for? Now is the time, now is your moment. Now is all you have. Use your today wisely and keep your eyes on your dreams. You can achieve them. You can accomplish great things; but you must take these 4 very important steps.

4 Steps To Achieving Your Goals

1. Have goals

The very first step is to actually make plans and set goals. It is easy for a year to pass and to feel like we have made little or no progress in our work, personal, and home life. Goals are a great way to make sure we are taking steps towards the future we want. If you have not taken the time to do so, sit down and write out your goals for this year.

2. Tell others

We don't need statistics to tell us that keeping our resolutions and achieving our goals is hard! They are even harder when we do it alone. Sharing your goals with others not only provides great accountability, but it also provides the encouragement you will need to stay strong and preserver. Be sure to share your goals with people who will cheer you on, and find one or two who will hold you accountable.

3. Take actions each day to achieve them

Most goals we set take time and intentionality to achieve. The best way to tackle your annual goals is to break them down into smaller monthly, weekly, and daily milestones. Each morning, think of one thing you can do to get you closer to your goal...and then actually do it! Accomplishing your daily goal gives you momentum and motivation to keep working towards your bigger goals. 

4. Never give up

Achieving your goals doesn't happen over night. There will be good days and bad in your journey. Remember each day is a fresh start and a new opportunity to succeed. On the days where you feel like giving up, take time to reflect on the reasons why you chose the goal in the first place. Remind yourself why you care and the importance of this goal being met. Take a moment to reflect on the progress you have made. If you need a little more motivation, talk to one of your cheerleaders to give you the inspiration you need to keep going. 

Remember this, you only fail if you quit. 

I wish you the best, and as always, remember the world is waiting for you!

Do You Know What Matters Most?

You may hear people say, “Don’t sweat the small stuff!”

How? Might be your reply.

I saw a great quote recently (not sure who gets the credit), “One of the most important things in life is to know what is most important.” It is easy to say, much tougher to do. In the end, it is about keeping our focus on the bigger picture with confidence that we are on the right path.

So what is most important to you? What are your core values?

If it’s been awhile since you looked at them or if you’ve never created a list, now is the time!

Your challenge is to spend some quiet time alone and develop your list. These values help frame where you spend your time and attention because these are the things that matter the most to you. Once you know what matters most, it is easier to identify the "small stuff."

Here’s how you go about that process:

1. Identify approximately 10 words that describe the things (in large buckets) that matter to you in your life (personal, professional, recreational, etc.)
2. Then narrow down your list to the absolutes, the top 3 – 6. These values are your core values.
3. The final step is crucial. Put them in number order. Something must be number 1 and always take precedence over number 2, 3, and 4.

This process is a necessity in the path to success. Defining your own core values brings clarity in times of tough decisions and prevents you from being distracted by the wrong things. And in the end, it keeps you from sweating the small stuff because you now know what really matters.

Let Resistance Be Your Wind

Flying is intriguing. It is such an amazing invention. While standing on the ground, I peer up towards the sky and watch as the thousands of pounds carrying so many valuable lives are
thrust across the sky at speeds over 500 miles per hour. I see the stream of white that trails and reveals the path in which the plane has come.

I am in awe.

And secretly, I want to be up there.

It doesn’t matter where the plane is heading; I am just enthralled with the concept of being in the sky.

Interestingly enough, that is somewhat how we perceive those that have reached great heights in their lives. Whether it is success in business, a beautiful family, or other wonderful accomplishments, we all want to soar?

However, to take flight, you must first take off. You need to lift off from where you are to get to where you want to be.

Ask any pilot, and they will tell you that the most critical moment in a flight is take off. Sure you need speed and mechanics and a well-built plane with a well-prepared pilot (leader) at the helm, but none of that matters if you don’t have resistance.

You need wind!

Planes take off into the wind. They use the resistance to climb. They charge the resistance as fast and hard as they can in order to soar.

As you face challenges, failures, and difficulties in your own life, check your perspective and keep going.

The resistance and opposition you face are your wind. Go at them, not around them, and certainly not away from them.

Use the resistance to get better and to grow. And prepare yourself because you are about to fly!

Are you just winging it?

Does your team have a plan? Or, are you just winging it?

It has been said, “without a goal there is nothing to shoot for.” That statement is so true. We need to aim at something concrete and tangible.

Could you imagine a basketball game without a rim or net? Crazy for sure!

This principle isn’t just true in the game of basketball, it is most certainly accurate and needed in your organization and your life.

You need to name your goal. Write it down. Get clear focus and ensure you have alignment for success.

Too often we are like hamsters on a wheel. We just get up, go to our places of employment, work on the tasks at hand, have some lunch at our desk, and then fight our way to drive back home.

You need to be more than this.

You need a plan!

In our newest book, Game Plan: How The Best Teams Win, we reveal the 9 strategies that winning teams execute in order to find and sustain their victory. If you’re interested, you can pick up a copy here. 

If you don’t, that’s cool too…but doing nothing isn’t.

If you want better and different results, you need better and different habits!

What habits will you change? What plan will you make…and follow?

Take steps this week to position you and your team for success by clearly defining your goal and the plan to get there!