Meet your goals and ROCK your year

Here we are at mid-January of the new year. I'm wondering how many of us have given up on our New Year's Resolutions or been diverted from our goals that we set as the clock struck 2018?

For subscribers of my newsletter, today I shared 3 ideas for staying on track as we live out our words for the year and work on reaching our goals. In this post, I want to share another idea with you that may help you reach your goals this year and have the best year yet!

Those who WRITE DOWN their goals are more likely to reach them. Write the goal AND WHEN you will achieve the goal.
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The big idea is this: write your goals down for the year, and then break your yearly goals down into quarterly goals/tasks. 

HOW TO

Step 1: Write down your BIG GOALS for the year on a sheet of paper. Leave some space between each goal. Even though they are called big goals, they don't have to be goals that will change the world. BIG GOALS are the ones that you don't want to have not accomplished when the year is up. These are the non-negotiable ones. 

Step 2: Write the date of completion beside each BIG GOAL. If you're trying to lose 10 pounds, write down your completion date. Is that 3 months from now? By Spring Break? Put down a specific date for each goal.

Step 3: Under each goal, list the tasks you will have to complete to reach each BIG GOAL. You may think of these as short-term goals. For example, if your goal is to run a half-marathon this year, write down the mini-goals you need to have to be able to run the half-marathon. This might include several 5K or 10K races, long runs, or a specific mileage by a specific date. Be sure to write a date of completion beside each task or mini-goal.

Step 4: On another sheet of paper, draw a line down the center vertically and horizontally to divide the paper into fourths. Label each square to represent the four quarters of the year. Transfer your goals into the appropriate quarter. Doing this will help you to visualize your work for the year. For example, let's say you're working on finishing your doctorate in the first quarter, you're also trying to lose 10 pounds, and you're trying to create an online course. All in the first quarter. Notice the stress that you would be under in trying to accomplish these big goals in the same time frame? 

Step 5: Put your tasks into your bullet journal, planner, app, or online calendar. Keep the paper copy and post it where you can see it daily. Use the quarterly goals and tasks to create your weekly and daily to-do lists.

By spreading out your work throughout the year, you will be able to pace yourself and maximize the use of your time and energy. You will become more productive when you know that you won't be overstretched and overstressed. Also, it can help you say no to certain projects when you understand the time constraints and pressures that you will be under at specific times of the year. Maybe someone wants you to teach a class at a local college, but it's right in the middle of the quarter where you have a big project going on at work, a half-marathon, and a project going on at home. (Not the best time to take on yet another project.)

Setting quarterly goals won't turn down the volume on the inner critic who works to fill you with doubt, but it will turn up the volume on the voice that says, "I can do this!"

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Want more ideas on productivity and reaching your goals? Try my free tool for goal-setting and daily habits found on my resources page. 

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