How to achieve your goals: 4 essential steps
We all have goals in our lives, whether they are consciously written in our minds or not. In our daily lives, not a day goes by without us having a goal to achieve in order to move forward in our personal or professional projects.
However, achieving your goal is not always easy. How many times have we sworn to take ourselves in hand physically when the good weather arrives? How many times have we felt guilty for having given in to our food urges? And typically, the process is often the same : we set ourselves a goal, we are motivated and we start working, we encounter the first difficulties, we try once or twice to persevere then we find something better to do, we become demotivated and we give up...
Accomplishing a goal is not easy, it is even often frustrating, but it can be learned! Especially since setting goals in your life in the short, medium and long term is totally linked to well-being and mental health. It ensures you are spending your time, energy, and effort on something that matters to you. It allows you to live more consciously. In this sense, to achieve this, you must keep in mind some key factors.
The 4 secrets to achieving your goals
Life has no manual on how to succeed every time, it's an adventure filled with trials, errors and lessons. To achieve your goals, you must go through several stages and very often go through the "failure" box . The worst mistake is not to fail but not to try. Before you even want to pursue your goal, first learn to be grateful for mistakes for the lessons they teach you.
Fortunately, there is a method that not only allows you to set your goals effectively, but also allows you to persevere when the going gets tough. Here are four tips for doing so:
Determine what your process is
Whatever goal you set for yourself will all lead to you becoming a better version of yourself. The biggest difficulty is not so much setting a goal, but choosing the process you will pursue to achieve it. That is, determining specific actions to get results and move you closer to your end goal.
To get the right results, ask yourself, "What task or activity do I need to accomplish to achieve this goal?" You can list the different options available to you. For example, if you want to lose a few pounds, the process will be to improve your eating habits and start exercising on a regular basis. Answer in writing in a notebook and be specific. What kind of foods should you eat? Prepare a meal plan for the week, lunch ideas, a list of foods to plan.
Let go of the emotional attachment to results
Don't focus too much on short-term results. Remember that we are emotional beings and if you don't get the results you want within the time frame you set, you may be demotivated. The results of each objective may change due to different factors, many of which are completely beyond your control.
Keep looking ahead , reminding yourself of the end goal, which will give you constant motivation to achieve your dreams. Every morning will be one less day to get closer to your goal. Focus on small results that are your fuel to keep moving forward.
Add your goals to your daily planner
Start adding to your schedule the tasks to be done (the process) to achieve your goal. If you want to visit your friends this week but also need to work out, make a plan for each day and stick to it!
The secret is to organize your days by week , to have a plan of all the activities you need to do, which will prevent you from having to change your plans at the last minute. All goals, no matter how small, are important for your personal development.
Don't put off reading the book you're interested in because you don't have time or put off your gym membership because you have other chores to do. Even if these same tasks seem insignificant to you at the moment, they are actions that are necessary to move towards your goal. Give yourself only one "joker" to miss your task, especially in the event of the unexpected, but not one more!
Empower yourself and be disciplined
Self-discipline is a rare skill in our modern culture and yet a fundamental part of our personal and professional development. Self-responsibility is the most complicated . As human beings, we tend to prioritize the most easily met needs.
It's time to change and start empowering yourself, believing in yourself and your process, trusting every step you take, and in times of demotivation, remembering why you started. This is arguably the hardest part, but once you get there, nothing can stop you.
Set deadlines for getting results. For some, it's easier to hold themselves accountable when they have an estimate of how long it will take to achieve their goals.
Self-discipline is also the power to commit yourself to action, whether you feel the need or not. Sometimes, rethinking the why of your goal will not be enough to remotivate you. But acting only when you feel like it is a common mistake that obviously doesn't work in the long run.
Respect your process and act whatever your emotional state and you will see, your feeling of satisfaction and your self-esteem will come out greater!
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Find real goals and stay positive
Everyone talks about the value of having goals and aspirations in life, but no one talks about how complicated the process of achieving them can be. It is essential to have realistic goals, that is to say to adapt them to your possibilities and your needs, by ensuring that you have the adequate resources to achieve them, but self-discipline is THE secret of all successful people today.
Challenge yourself, it's the most effective way to realize your full potential and prove to yourself that the impossible does not exist. To make the process enjoyable and bearable, keep the goals in mind with a positive outlook. Don't forget to congratulate yourself on any results you achieve and to monitor your progress.
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