If you are reading this post I bet you are already an achiever and a "go after it" kinda person. And if you don't think you are maybe you have a voice rumbling about and saying things like, "Hmmm, I wonder if I could do that?"
Last year in January, I wrote down 2 personal physical goals that I wanted to complete by September. The first was passing the Women's Empowered belt examination through Gracie University. The other was completing an open water sprint triathlon.
Now, these may sound like big things to you but I have been laying the groundwork for several years now to achieve these two goals. I do have self-defense and karate training as well as a training location and practice partner. I used these resources to earn my Women's Empowered pink belt. Same with the triathlon- I have done two previously, so I have had some experience to draw from.
"This is the secret sauce of achieving your goals- creating a journey that your subconscious mind tells you- this is a part of your life now."
Goal making has to be in proportion to the resources you have in your life. In other words, your goals should be realistic and broken down into bite-size pieces. Once you have achieved that very small and seemingly insignificant first bite, it gives you momentum. You use that momentum to achieve your next slightly larger bite to keep that momentum going. Your momentum will morph into a journey that, you rather like and enjoy. This is the secret sauce of achieving your goals- creating a journey that your subconscious mind tells you- this is a part of your life now. Once you accept and allow all those bite-size pieces to be a part of your path you will get to your goal.
Your "why" is so important to achieving your goals. My why for doing an open water triathalon was to be an example of a strong woman to my two daughters. Over the course of the year, I talked to them about how scared I was to swim in a lake and how I needed to fuel my body before and after workouts. They may never want to push themselves physically- but hey- at least they had exposure to someone setting a large goal and then getting it done.
So what would you like to achieve? Imagine a life without credit card debt! Imagine you and your husband in Hawaii for your 20th wedding anniversary. Imagine transforming your ugly backyard into a beautiful oasis ( one of my next goals). Imagine losing twenty pounds!
Use these steps to go after what you want (you know you want too!)
1. Establish your why and dig deep into it. Why do you want to be debt-free?
2. Write your goal on paper and then hang it on your wall or mirror. Read it daily.
3. Write down your bite-size pieces- "First I will put out my running gear." Check. "Then I will go on my first 5-minute run." Check "Then I will go on a 10-minute run." Check. You get the pattern.
4. Build in a safety net or back up plan for when things come up- about 8 weeks prior to the race I knew that I needed to workout every day. As much as I wanted to- realistically it wasn't possible because of parenting and work responsibilities. So as much as I could, I stacked my workouts. On days when I did have time I tried to double and triple up and decreased the times for my runs, bikes, and swims.
5. Honor the promise that you made to yourself before meeting all of the needs of others.
6. Manage the fear- How realistic are your fears? Let's talk snakes for a sec. I don't mind snakes but I was not super excited about swimming in the same body of water as them. When I seriously thought about the likelihood of meeting up with a snake in the lake during the triathlon I actually can't believe I allowed headspace for that ridiculous fear.
Tell me why you think it is or isn't important to you to feel like you are moving forward and achieving goals. I would love to hear from you!
Happy achieving!
-Carolyn