If you think about it, most of us go through life mindful of things we’d love to accomplish. Maybe not this week, or this month, but the need to achieve personal goals feels important nonetheless. After all, what better way is there to exhibit growth that keeps us feeling productive and in control of our lives?
As we all know, however, the demands and responsibilities of life too often take priority over plans, dreams, and things we’d like to do just for ourselves. When you have to choose between practicing your Spanish on the Duolingo app or getting the car serviced, those personal ambitions just have to take a back seat. (Yes, pun intended!) Learning how to stay on track with goals isn’t easy!
You may feel annoyed with yourself for failing to meet ambitious timelines for achieving what you want. In fact, you may go as far as to accuse yourself of lacking drive or needed organizational skills. The truth is that setting and achieving goals amid a busy life actually has little to do with motivation.
Instead, it’s the practice of formulating goals that are clear and manageable. If you’ve been struggling with how to stay on track with goals and looking for a better way, the six ideas below may help you.
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1. Focus on one or two personal goals at a time, starting with potential achievements that are most important to you. Doing this puts you in a better position to succeed because you won’t become stressed and overwhelmed by trying to do too much at once.
Plan a simple and doable daily action toward each goal. For example, a budding golfer might strive for ten minutes of viewing how-to videos and ten minutes of swing drills each day.
2. Schedule progress toward goals as you do appointments. Make this bit of daily time fairly brief but non-negotiable. Remember, goal achievement doesn’t have to have a due date. Accept the fact that getting there doesn’t require your whole day but just a small part of it
3. Plan your most taxing goal-related work for a time of day when you usually feel energized and don’t have to watch the clock. On a related note, expect that you’ll sometimes encounter schedule disruptions.
Be kind to yourself on those days when life unravels or totally replaces the carefully planned work toward your goal.
4. Have the tools needed for your goal work handy and visible. Try connecting these to a no-miss daily habit, as in, “I’ll put this folder on the bench by the door, so I can get right to it when I get back from my morning run.”
PS: Check out our collection of printable daily planners here for an easy way to not lose track of the day!
5. Do a mental progress check once a week to assess how well your planning and scheduling is going. Have you been able to set aside a bit of time each day to work toward your accomplishment?
Consider the demands that upcoming days will bring and tweak your goal-achieving plan as needed.
6. Track the consistency of your effort toward your goal rather than how perfectly you’ve followed your plan for progress. Too-heavy focus on a perfect track record of work makes it more likely that you’ll abandon your goal because attainment begins to seem impossible.
“Great things are done by a series of small things brought together.” — Vincent van Gogh
In the end, the secret to turning your personal ambitions into successes is not endeavoring to control or change an unpredictable and sometimes chaotic daily life.
Rather, it's choosing objectives that are most important, breaking them into brief and manageable steps, and becoming adamant about building a bit of learning into your day.
Try these simple tips and your goals won’t become victims of of a busy life! Instead, you’ll have mastered the art of how to stay on track with goals.
