BurntHam: Goal Achieving--Back to the Basics

Wednesday, January 21, 2009

Goal Achieving--Back to the Basics

“Goals. There’s no telling what you can do when you get inspired by them. There’s no telling what you can do when you believe in them. There’s no telling what will happen when you act upon them.”
Jim Rohn

The beginning of a new year is one of my favorite times of year. I get energized and excited by the possibilities a new year will bring, the changes that may occur, the challenges I may face and overcome, and the progress I will make in becoming a better me. The last three weeks I have focused on New Year’s resolutions, and today I wish to continue on the theme of goal setting.

One of the main reasons I get excited around this time of year is because I always review my goals from last year and set new ones for the coming year. I do this individually, with my family, and at work. Facing the prospect of accomplishing new goals in these three areas of my life, and working together with those around me whom I love, gets my heart racing, my mind focused, and my energy level high. Goals have a way of motivating us, and the challenge of it all is exhilarating. Today I wish to share three very basic things I do each year that personally help me accomplish my goals.

#1 Tracking

While setting new goals, one of the first things I do is I develop a way to track my goals. For me, it is hard to get excited about a goal without a scoreboard. Though I’ve used different tracking methods, the one that works for me now is a simple spreadsheet that allows me to mark whether I am accomplishing a goal or not. This spreadsheet provides a quick picture of my progress and success. The spreadsheet has each month across the top and then based on the type of goal (whether it is a daily, monthly, or a goal with a specified deadline) it allows me to track my progress. Each morning when I wake up, the first thing I do is fill out the spreadsheet based on how I did the day before. This allows me to see how I’m doing, and it reminds me at the beginning of each day what I need to do that day to reach my goals.

Closely tracking my goals also helps me to not only remember them, but it forces me to think about them often. Seeing my progress, or lack thereof, continually motivates me to do better. Without a solid and consistent way to track my goals, I know I would fail; but because of it, I am much, much more likely to succeed. Indeed, I cannot emphasize enough how important this is in obtaining goals! So find a way today that works for you to consistently track your goals!

#2 Routine

The next thing I do is I establish a routine. This routine helps me to stay on top of goals, and itallows me the opportunity to work toward accomplishing my goals each day. This routine is not so rigid that it prevents me from addressing unexpected important matters, but it is consistent enough that working towards my goals becomes a habit. For example, as mentioned above, one of my routines is to check my tracking spreadsheet each morning. Developing a pattern for my days and planning time to work toward my goals greatly improves my success. I’ve also learned that having an established routine in my life helps me to accomplish more and stress less.

#3 Write it Down

Studies have long proven that writing down goals can dramatically increase our potential to fulfill them. Thus, I always write them down and keep them in a place where I will see them frequently. Doing this serves as a constant reminder and motivator to me of what I am trying to accomplish. Failing to do this simple step will often result in failure.

I hope you love this time of year as much as I do. It is a brand new year, what’s not to love about it!? New challenges, new opportunities, and endless possibilities. So how will you have changed at the end of this year? What great things will you accomplish? Who will you become? Learning from and reviewing the last four blogs on burntham.com on achieving goals will help anyone accomplish their goals this year—and hopefully that is exciting to us all!! Just think of the possibilities… And when you look back at the end of this year, you will feel proud about what you’ve accomplished and who you’ve become, and you will be energized to do it all again the next year. I hope these three simple personal insights and the last four blogs on goals help you in your efforts to accomplish goals this year and in the years to come. Make 2009 an excellent and successful year by achieving your goals!

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