“A goal without a plan and action steps is just a wish……”

Every year usually in December I have been really excited to set goals for the next year. I’m not talking about those New Years resolutions that we make around midnight with a bunch of celebrating friends or family. Or those goals you excitedly share with your bestie over lunch. Or even the goals you write down somewhere but either lose, throw away, or never look at again. Even the ones you make look pretty in some journal or nice paper. Been there, done that. Forgot about them or  - worse - remembered them in October and felt briefly like I had failed the year. Does this sound familiar? 

After years of doing  this, I finally discovered the keys to making  my goals WORK and have been able reach most of my goals year after year in the last decade or so. 

Here’s 4  ESSENTIAL things I have learned that WILL make your goals work for you!

1. Start with writing down 3 or 4 big goals. Then drill down, down, down and down again and figure out WHY you want those goals. Knowing WHY you want those goals, at a really deep level, will let you connect  with them especially at times when you are having a harder time finding the power inside you to keep going. If your goals don’t REALLY mean that much to you, you simply won’t make it a priority to do the things you need to do to accomplish them. For example, if you want to lose weight, ask yourself  - why? If you say it’s to look and feel better, ask yourself - why? If you say so I can fit into my clothes again and do active things with my kids or grandkids, ask yourself - why? If you say so I can wear my favorite dress to my friend’s wedding in June and so my kids will have great memories of me doing active things with them, ask yourself - why?  Then you might be at the emotional connection level where you can say “I feel free and confident and outgoing when I wear my fave dress” and “because I had (or didn’t have) great memories doing activities with my own parents”. 

See where I’m going with this? You want to drill down over and over until you get to the source of the reasons why you want your goals: the emotional connection and the JOY you will have if you achieve them. Your goals have to have meaning to you at this deep level if you want to do the things you need to - when life gets hard or you get a case of “I don’t wanna” or “I don’t feel like it”. 

2. Take each goal and write down the things you actually have to do in order to achieve those goals. At this level you want to write down the bigger things you have to do. What are the things you have to learn, do, get, make happen in order to make your goals happen. List them. Then figure out how you are going to learn, do, get, make happen in the next step. 

3. Make an action plan for the steps you need to take to do the things in step 2. Write down each action you need to take. Depending on your goals some actions might have to be taken every day, some at a certain day/week/month etc. Some actions might have to happen in an order: one has to happen or be completed before the next one can. Break down the larger items in Step 2 into small chunks of things. 

4. Make the activities you need to do a priority and SCHEDULE them in, protect them from distractions. Do them before you do the other things that will take you off track. Big changes happen with small actions, done consistently. So it’s super important to schedule the little things you do and prioritize them. Thing things that are most important to you in terms of reaching your ultimate goals, are the things you need to make the highest priority in your days. 

5. Read and review your goals EVERY DAY. Connect to your “why” each and every day. This will help focus and motivate you when the going gets tough. If you remember, on a deep level, WHY you want something, you’re likely to take the necessary actions every day. Protect your priorities and DO THE THINGS!

Remember: goals without an action plan and good habits to DO those actions every day, are just dreams.  Also, it’s the small actions, done daily, that lead you to accomplishing your goals. Now GO FOR IT! 

Download my FREE guide and workbook "Ten Steps to Set Yourself Up for Optimal Health, Fitness and Joy"  HERE. 

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