A Guide to Hitting Your Goals

(and sticking with them!)

By Sophia McDermott

THE ACCUMULATIVE POWER OF YOUR DAILY CHOICES >>>

Focusing on the small steps that need to be taken on a consistent basis is the key to success.  In a nutshell, it is the small decisions made daily that have an accumulative and profound effect on our lives over time. Being aware of the steps we need to take (the planning part) and proactively making the choice to act on that plan (the application part)  will bring us closer to our goals. The only way to real and long lasting success is to integrate these planned out steps into our lives and make it it part of our Lifestyle.

ARE THEY JUST LUCKY OR DID THEY WORK HARD?

We look at people who have “made it” – the people who are millionaires or multiple-time world champions or totally Zen and at peace or have the perfect body or perfect relationship or whatever it may be – and it is easy to misconstrue that this happened overnight or that they are genetic freaks or they just “got lucky.”

But more than likely, these people spent years working hard to achieve these levels of awesomeness. Each day these hard-working, driven people get up an hour earlier to go to the gym, or each day they allocate quality time with their children or spouse, or each day they make the time for some mindful meditation. That is why they have succeeded. They are aware of the steps that need to be taken to reach their goals and they active make choices day in, day out to bring them closer to those goals.

Regardless of what our goals are, whether it is to be a multi millionaire or just to be healthy and feel good again, hitting those goals all follows the same basic principles, planning and application.   Here are some Step by step strategies to help you get there: 

PLANNING>>>

Firstly, what is it that you want? Work backward and lay out your long-term goals. Where do you want to be in five years? Where do you want to be in one year? Break down your one-year goal plan into months. By breaking down your goals, it becomes easier to see the smaller actions that need to be taken to achieve the bigger goals. This makes things not so overwhelming and therefore more achievable. 

Break down your goals week by week. For example, if your goal is to lose twenty pounds, then your week by week strategy may be to lose one or two pounds a week. 

Break down your goals to day-by-day. This is actually where it all happens and where this concept comes into play through you actively making choices and decisions on a daily basis. If your goal is to lose twenty pounds, then are you going to opt for mac and cheese for dinner or fish and salad? If you choose the fish and salad every day, then you most likely will achieve your weekly goal of losing one or pounds, right?

Grab a diary or journal. Write it all down and have something available to refer back to and to track. 

Put reminder and motivational notes around your house or workplace where you can see them all the time. A student of mine sent me a photo that she has on her desk. This is a great motivational tool!

Let’s use weight loss as our example for this strategy. Your goal for 2019 is to lose 20 pounds and to feel great. By breaking your goal down into months means that you aim to lose 8 pounds every month.

By breaking your goal down into weeks means that you aim to lose 2 pounds every week. You aim to visit the gym 3 times per week, meditate once a week, have a massage once a week and walk with friends once a week and limit yourself to only one dinner out a week. 

By breaking your goals down day by day means you make the decision to go to the gym or go for a walk that day or to skip that ice cream and opt for frozen banana slices instead.

AWARENESS + APPLICATION>>> 

Having awareness of the choices we make is super important which is why planning and knowing exactly what steps to take or what choices to make is essential. So now that we know what our goals are and all the steps to get there, we can create a lifestyle that makes these small daily choices easier. 

If these steps aren’t part of our lives then the decisions to bring us closer to our goals may be harder or difficult to remember. It is important to note that  the small decisions made daily that we DON’T make also have an effect. These in fact will take us further away from our goals whether we realise it or not. So because you didn’t set a day once a week to go walking with your friends and make it part of your life, you only ended up walking about ⅓ of the time throughout the year.

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