How to Stick with Your Goals

Ever notice how the word “goal” is so similar to the word “gaol?” For non-English majors, gaol is an old word for “jail.” And how often my lovelies, do you feel that you have imprisoned yourself by setting non-realistic goals? Motivation is hard to keep up, isn’t it? If you have great resolutions and plans, but find your resolve fading by mid-January, then today’s post is for you.

Life is all about accountability. It is about making sure that you have that desire to plunge ahead, to reach the goals you have set for yourself. Morning Beans Blog is going to present you with three easy ways to stay on track. Nobody looks good in striped pajamas except a zebra.

Let’s get our feet wet folks. Planning. Creating a plan is the critical element in staying true and keeping to your big project. Yes, you and your life are a constant work in progress. Deal with it peeps. Planning is essential because otherwise, our goals are just vague, floaty dreams. Making them tangible requires crossing some T’s and dotting some I’s. I know, you’re uncomfortable. Let me break it down for you so you can relax and breathe.

We all have to-do lists. We keep them on our phones, planners, and our laptops. But, to have said list, you need first to prioritize. Some of your goals (and mine) have fear and doubt surrounding them. Life can be scary, and your most profound dream can be a nightmare. To get to your scheduling, you will have to face the fear head-on. You might need to make some tough decisions and realize that as a human, you are limited by time, place and other things, so the dream remains a dream. To keep yourself accountable, make a plan. You have a goal. Mine is my anthology (see, I’m sharing). Now, break that big goal into small, easy to chew pieces. Decide what steps need to be taken to achieve the little bits, order them, reorder them, and then schedule them on your calendar. Yes, it is tedious, but would you rather risk the feeling of being gaoled? I promise it makes the daunting tasks easier.

Next big thing – we fail to stay accountable to ourselves for many reasons, but a big one is that we get discouraged. This happens very quickly for some, and for the rest of us, we persevere a little longer. Think about your New Year resolutions, like the gym and clean eating. You went three days without an Oreo and a glass of wine, so you throw in the towel. NOPE. By giving up so quickly, you may feel a brief relief (ooh, a rhyme, but I digress) from persisting with something that may or may not work out for you. Instead of pushing past the beginner’s stage and taking the deep water test, we give up, and we see no results leading toward fulfilling or accomplishing any of our goals. Like learning to swim, everything takes time. It takes 90 days (yes, three months) to form new habits and see any change or progress. Maybe approach your goals as if they were experimental. This way, you will lose the all or nothing mindset that is holding you back from success.

OK, Back to accountability. You alone need to answer for yourself. Here’s a secret I learned: Don’t expect to feel motivated all the time. This is a gaol mindset. Of course, if and when you feel motivated, that’s awesome! Try and hang tight to that feeling and go with it; write, draw, work out, eat healthily, but know that the feeling is fleeting.

We all need to learn how to make sure we follow through with all of those big plans and dreams we create for ourselves. Often we won’t feel like doing anything towards those goals. A trick I use is to make my plans expecting that I will not be motivated when the time comes. It’s a much more realistic way of thinking, and it helps me either refocus or change my approach. I no longer freak out when I am unmotivated. Mostly, I take a nap.

In closing, my unsolicited advice for goal setting… be specific. Make sure to use language that is empowering, not wishy-washy. “I can; I will, I must, I’m committed,” are all good choices. Stay away from the “I wants” or land in “gaol” and do not pass Go. And by the way, willpower has a say in this as well. There are only two things to remember peeps, to follow through with our plans, being accountable is all about deciding what you are going to do and then, like the old Nike ad –  just do it.

Stay motivated and caffeinated!😘☕