5 Tips for Setting Goals and Sticking to Them

Now for the plan. We don’t want to be like one of those 97% that “didn’t make a plan or follow through”, referenced on our 2020 Goals Post! – Remember that goal planning weekend in DC? – The one where Uriah and I established our business AND personal goals for the year? Well, if I’m being honest, I came back feeling instantly overwhelmed – HOW IN THE WORLD is this actually going to happen? Well, we made a plan we intend to stick to.

5 Tips for How to Set Goals and Stick to Them

Brainstorm to Set your Goals 

A good starting place when it comes to setting goals is to ask yourself some questions. 

• What do you enjoy? 
• What do you want life to look like in 5 years, 10 years? 
• What is your legacy going to be? 
  

Then, once you come up with a good vision, break it down into smaller measurable ideals that each will have a one year time frame, prioritize based on what is most realistic and achievable, given your current situation. 

One of my closest friends recently told me she and her husband asked each other two simple questions this year: 

• What do you want more of?
• What do you want less of? 
  

What a clear and refreshing way to goal plan! No fluff.

2. Don’t Over-commit

Guilty!! I am the first to admit that my tendency is to overcommit. As a dreamer and someone who struggles to say “no”, I can easily set myself up for failure. Are you the same? I’d like to encourage you to keep it simple. Like Uriah said in our Personal Goals post, small, gradual adjustments are how habit change happens. If you have an off week, day, or month. Give yourself a day – tops – to beat yourself up, then start again. It’s okay to show yourself grace. That’s what I love about my goal planner, Cultivate What Matters by Lara Casey.

3. Decide and See it in Action!

Next, decide what tasks only you can do, what you will say “no” to and what to delegate.

For example, this year, I chose to gracefully say “no” to serving lunch at my kids school on Fridays, because it was a work day and even though it only took 1 hour, severely affected the productivity of my day. I’m only giving myself three work days this year, so it had to go. (and there are many other ways to serve that won’t cut into my work day)

4. Divide and Conquer those Goals!

Break those year goals into mini goals, prioritize them and create tasks for each mini goal. Then, separate the tasks into two separate lists – items that can be delegated and items that can not, at least not initially. 

I looked over our business goals and found there are many tasks related to my role I can delegate. For example: photography, communicating with vendors, editing a blog post, filing and organization, etc…  

** This is, of course, my initial plan for learning to delegate – I’ll let you know how it goes. Reading this book on how to delegate to an assistant helped me – maybe it will help you too! It’s a fairly quick listen – high-fives Audible.

5. The Plan: See it in Action

It’s time to implement the plan and put it in the calendar. Next gather all those tasks that only you can do. Organize your tasks by type, so you can block out time on your calendar accordingly and see your plan in action.

For example: I have a time block named “Workin’ on Da Business” – it’s for process writing. I reference a running list called “tasks to delegate” which is prioritized based on importance, so I know what processes to research, write up, then train my admin next. Later, that task will no longer be on my list, freeing up even more of my time.

** You can assume that most of my work hours fall into the “Workin’ on Da Business” time block until further notice, but I know it will be worth it.

Put EVERYTHING POSSIBLE in one calendar, not just your work tasks. This way you see a realistic view of your days: every school event, practice, game, date night, self-care time and family outing. We even added a reminder for weekday evenings called “decompression time” and a bedtime notification on our phones. Uriah and I also use a shared google calendar so we can see what we each have going on. 

(I find this is a good time to re-evaluate and ask yourself – “Is this too much? Do I need to cut anything out of my schedule?” )

How to Stick to Your Goals This Year

Monthly and Quarterly Check-ins

It’s a good idea to “Check-in” once a month and once per quarter. The purpose of a check-in is to pause & re-evaluate the status of your goals and determine if one needs to be moved to the next year. It’s also a good time to review your budget, schedule those dates or one-on-one’s that are so important, and re-evaluate / reset again. The fact remains that we are mere human beings, bent towards inconsistency. Measures like this help keep us in check. 

Uriah and I love this change in our daily flow – and even started doing a mini check in at the start of each day, five minutes max. They help to anchor my expectations of him when I know what he has going on and I’m sure the same goes for him. We’re using the monthly check-ins to make sure we’ve schedule our date night, one-on-one time with the kids and their activities are in the calendar, along with business related priorities for work. 

Accountability

Whether it’s a mastermind, a dear friend or mentor, accountability is another crucial for sticking to your goals. If you don’t have this formally set up – initiate it!

That’s I have for now, friends. I hope these tips inspire and motivate you to push yourself further, create a plan and help you achieve your goals. Don’t forget to show yourself the grace you will most certainly need. Life is not rigid, but fluid and sometimes you need to go with the flow, rest, then get back on track.