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It's time you started reaching the goals you've set.
By Diane Quintana — Written on Aug 05, 2020
Everyone, from the youngest among us to the oldest, wants to feel successful at achieving their goals.
An unspoken goal for the incredibly young might be to roll over. For someone a little older, accomplishing a perfect score on a spelling test might be a goal.
As you age, your goals become more complex and generally require that you complete mini-goals along the way before accomplishing the stated goal.
It's rare that someone intentionally sets themselves up for failure, so why is it that so many of us have trouble accomplishing goals?
I do not have all the answers, but I use some strategies which may also help you set yourself up to be successful, and thus accomplish what you set out to do.
Here are 3 steps to successfully achieving your goals.
1. Identify your goal.
Identifying your goal needs to come first. Think about what it is you want to accomplish. You may have a lengthy list.
There may be some things on your list that you can tackle and accomplish today or this week. There may be other goals that require more time, planning, and effort to accomplish.
Decide where to focus your energy.
2. Write your goals down.
Set yourself up for success by doing a brain dump and writing down every little goal that you want to accomplish.
Take this master list and separate it out into things that are simple to do and more lofty goals that will take more planning.
3. Decide what you need to focus on first.
Now take the lofty goals and decide which one you want to spend your time concentrating on.
I like to refer to two systems that help me focus on my goals. You may have heard of them.
One is the "SMART" acronym. This acronym asks that you look at your goals and make them "Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Time-Bound."
This makes total sense to me, and I’m hoping it does for you, also.The more specific a goal, the easier it is to work toward.
If a goal is measurable, you will know when you have accomplished it. When a goal is attainable, you know it is within reach. You're setting yourself up for success by working toward a goal that is attainable.
Relevant goals make sense in your life right now. By assigning a time frame to the goal, you're creating a work schedule for yourself.
The second system I like to use for reference is from David Allen called "Getting Things Done." He has five basic steps in his system. They're similar to the ones outlined above.
The fact of the matter is that we all, each and every one of us, accomplish things each day. If you're breathing, you're doing something.
Ask yourself if you're going through the motions and doing things because they need to be done, or if there is something lurking in the back of your mind that you want to accomplish.
Do you have an idea? Is there a project you’d like to tackle but don’t know where to begin?
Do you have a vision in your mind’s eye of how you want your home to look or to function? Is it time to remove the clutter from your home?
Begin by writing it down.
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Diane N. Quintana is a certified professional organizer who focuses on chronic disorganization. She’s also a master trainer and the owner of DNQ Solutions, LLC based in Atlanta, Georgia. Diane teaches busy people how to become organized and provides them with strategies and solutions for maintaining order in their lives.
This article was originally published at DNQ Solutions. Reprinted with permission from the author.