Achieving goals can be rewarding. It can help Improve your well-being and sense of self. Although there are benefits to creating goals, and implementing them. It can be hard for most people to sustain the goals. It can be difficult to remain consistent, and continue to achieve the goals in place.
I have set many goals this year, and I have been able to be consistent and motivated, because of some tools I have set in place. I will list some things that have been helpful in staying on the path to reach my goals. Hopefully these can be helpful for you as well. Some of these listed have also been mentioned by others as well.
1.Be Motivated.Well duh,right? It sounds simple enough, but this is very important. This has to be something you really want to do, not because someone else is telling you to do it, or not because you feel you have to do it. That will never work. The goal has to be something that is important to you.
2.List your Goals. This creates a sense of accountability when you write down your goals. If you just think it in your head. There is no accountability, or concrete evidence of the goal you want to reach. If it is written down. Now you will see evidence of what you want to do, and it can motivate you to get it done, so you can check it off your list of the goal that was achieved. Oh yeah, it is good to check them off as you achieve each goal. That can give you a sense of accomplishment. I usually check them off at night, but you can do it after the goal is done to stay on track, or in the middle of the day. I am pretty used to my schedule, so it isn’t hard to keep track, so it easier to do it at night(weekdays), or in the middle of the day(weekends), since I get most of my goals done in the morning. It is up to you, and what is best for you. Below is a link of some goal journals you can try. I just recently bought one to stay on track.
https://www.amazon.com/slp/goal-and-gratitude-journal/2juhc2w3j3htbs2
3.Take Steps, increments. When people create goals, they tend to try to do too much. For example, if you want to lose weight. A person may think about going to the gym 5 times a week, since that is the best way to lose weight, but it may not be the best idea to start out that way. Maybe one, or two times a week would be better.
You may think that won’t help you lose weight faster, but you got to think long-term, and people tend to think short-term, but if you think that way. The goal will fail, because of how demanding, and difficult the task is for someone who barely, or never worked out.
No one wants to do something that is too demanding. That is why it is best to start small, because it is much easier, and manageable to do simpler task, and you will most likely stay with the goal, because of the simplicity, which will eventually lead you to want to increase the goal when you get habituated to the simpler task. You really got to think long-term, rather than short-term when creating a goal. It is a marathon, not a sprint.
4.Set Modest,achievable goals. Pretty similar to the one above. Just try not to create a goal that is too demanding or difficult. You will most likely not want to keep doing it if it is too hard. Who wants to do anything difficult in life? Make it easier for yourself by doing something that is manageable. Also, try not to have too many goals, so that it gets overwhelming. Try to space it out if it is too much, or move it to another day. You want to have some breathing room. This is about being productive and relaxed, not busy and overwhelmed.
5.Make goals specific: For example, try not to list, ‘I want to lose weight,’ ‘I want to cook more,’ or ‘I want to eat healthier.’ These are way too broad, and it makes it harder to implement a plan of action. It may be better to say, ‘I will work out two days a week for an hour,’ ‘I will cook on the weekends for dinner’, or ‘I will eat a fruit everyday.’ These goals give you an idea, and a plan of what you can do to achieve your goals.
Although these are listed by numbers, none is more important than the other. I think all of these things have to come together to be able to stay consistent on the goals you want to achieve. And I am sure there are some other things that can be helpful as well, but these listed have been helpful on my goal journey, and many others, so it may be beneficial to try these things when trying to reach a goal/goals in life.
Psychology of Mindfulness 