How to stay motivated and achieve your goals
Goal setting is a key part of any successful endeavour. Whether you’ve got a health goal you’re working towards, saving for that house deposit or overseas holiday (now that we finally can again!!!), or you’re working towards yet another qualification – no matter the goal, we want to help you keep your motivation high and not get discouraged along the journey.
But what makes for a successful goal? In this post, we’re exploring it all and sharing our favourite rituals to help you actually achieve them. Keep reading to find out more.
What is goal setting?
Have you ever wanted to achieve something, but felt like you didn't know where to start? Or maybe you started working towards your future vision, but got sidetracked along the way. If so, then you could benefit from the power of goal setting.
Goal setting is the process of deciding what you want to achieve and then taking specific steps to make it happen, turning your dreams into reality. Sounds pretty simple right? But goal setting doesn’t have to all be about making lists and ticking off to-do’s. Let yourself dream a little and get creative with the process.
If you’re not sure where to begin, you can try this short, simple goal-setting exercise:
Take a deep breath and close your eyes.Think about how you’d like life to look in one month, six months or a year from now – whichever feels most comfortable for you to dream about. Ask yourself:
What things would you like to have accomplished?
What are you most proud of?What does your day-to-day life look like?
Now that you have a picture of what’s lighting up your heart, it’s time to take some action. Grab a notepad and pen (or download our goal-setting worksheet available at the end of this blog post) and write down what you envision.
When it comes to staying motivated towards achieving your goals, there are a few golden rules that can help you be successful. First, it's important to have a positive attitude towards achieving your goals – it won’t always be easy, but it will be worth it. Second, you need to be committed to taking action and persist even when obstacles arise – yes, even when it’s the middle of the cold Gold Coast winter and you can’t be bothered getting yourself to Pilates… C’mon, it’s not that bad! Finally, you must be willing to continuously learn and improve in order to reach your full potential.
How to set goals
If you’ve been to one of our goal-setting workshops, or you’ve explored using goal setting before, you’ve likely heard of SMART goals. But if goal setting is brand new to you, then you might be wondering what ‘SMART’ goals are.
Although SMART goals is an acronym to help you set goals that you can achieve (which we’ll explore in more detail, in just a moment), the crux of it is all about gaining clarity. Clarity over what you’re working towards, when you want to achieve it, and what it means to your life.
‘Clarity is the child of careful thought and mindful experimentation.’
- Brendon Burchard
But before we dive into the formula for great goal setting, it’s important to not just look at the thing you’re wanting to achieve, but also determine the feeling you’re wanting to create. It’s therefore important to ask yourself as part of the process, ‘how do I want to feel when I achieve this goal?’.
Don’t be afraid to get creative with your goals. Experiment. Try new things. Research new ways of doing things. Ask questions. Make it fun.
How to achieve your goals with SMART goals
No matter what type of goal you're setting, there are a few key components that will help you stay motivated and on track.
Specific & Measurable:First, make sure your goal is specific and measurable. Vague goals, such as "getting in shape" or "doing better at work" are difficult to track and easy to forget about. Instead, you could try setting a goal such as finally being able to hold that 45 second plank, without feeling like the earth beneath you is quaking, or making it to 3 mat classes every week for the next month.
Achievable:
Achievable goals are realistic goals. Creating achievable goals gives you something to strive for, something to measure your progress against and motivates you to keep going even when things get tough.
Relevant: Your goals should align with your core values – which are the basis of how you want to show up in life.
Time-bound: Set a deadline for yourself. It could be in 4 weeks, 6 months, or it could be in 3 years. It all depends on the size of your goal and where you’re at now.
Why you should start writing out your goals
Writing out your goals creates a visual reminder of what your goals are, which, according to neuroscience, helps you to achieve your goals as they stay front-of-mind and increases the likelihood of achieving them!
Writing down your goals also helps you keep accountable – there’s no wiggle room when it comes to a goal that’s been written down. It acts as a commitment you’re making to yourself, provides you with a clear purpose to your actions and allows you to take ownership of the outcome of those actions.
Tips to keep yourself motivated
No matter if you’ve been setting goals for aeons, or you’re a brand newbie to the goal-setting game, the truth is, sometimes even when you’ve set yourself some goals, it’s not always easy to stay motivated.
Here are our top tips for keeping yourself motivated towards achieving your goals:
Memorise your goals – when you know what you want to achieve, it’s easier to make sure you’re taking positive action towards it, and the decisions you’re making on a daily basis align with those goals.
Make visual reminders of your goals – you might like to create a vision board, that you can place on your fridge or bathroom mirror, or create a phone screensaver using your goal statement, so you’re visually reminding yourself of your goals daily.
Plan moments of inspiration – surround yourself with positive inspiration to motivate you to achieve your goal. If you’re saving for a house deposit, you might visit some open houses every few months to get excited for the future possibilities. Or if you’re training for your first triathlon, you might spectate at an event to help reignite your passion for your goal.
Keep track of your progress – whether you’re using progress art, a habit-tracking app, or simply ticking off each step towards your goal, make sure you’re celebrating the little milestones along the way. These little dopamine hits are great for helping you keep up momentum to achieve your goals.
Say no to goal thieves – when you’re working towards a goal, sometimes this will require sacrifices in other areas of your life. You might need to switch off the devices an hour earlier at night, so you can make it to your 6am Pilates class. Or you might need to start meal-prepping, instead of eating out, to save some extra cash for your next holiday. Just remember, when you say no to the things that are stealing your goals from you, you’re saying a big YES to achieving your goals.
“When you say yes to something, it’s imperative you know what you’re saying no to.”
- Gary Keller, The One Thing.
Now that you understand the basics of goal setting and how to stay motivated, it’s time to take action. Start by downloading our free goal-setting worksheet, created by our very own instructor Jennie. This will help you track your progress and stay on track. Remember, Rome wasn’t built in a day so don’t expect perfection. Just keep taking small steps every day towards your ultimate goal and be sure to celebrate each accomplishment along the way!