Goals: In our previous post on how to achieve your goals more efficiently we shared with you some valuable tips to set you up for success. This included setting SMART objectives, defining your actions and resources as well as foreseeing the obstacles. With our agendas so busy nowadays living up to multiple roles in our life, it’s not always easy to stay on track with your goals. There are many distractions in our life that may prevent you from achieving your goals. Therefore, we would like to give you two more tips on your way that we believe are essential for your success on how to achieve your goals.

4. Keep your motivation going

Most people are very excited when they have an idea or a goal and think that it would be nice to achieve it. They put many days (or maybe just hours) at the beginning into creating an action plan, activating their network or investing many hours into studying the material for an exam. And guess what….a week later, the very same actions that seemed so exciting just a week earlier suddenly become a burden. How come? Well, for most of us anything that is new seems exciting. The first steps towards every goal are mostly very exciting and “easy”. Then things become harder, maybe a routine kicks in or we come across something that we can’t master because it is too big of a challenge. There are many reasons why our motivation may suffer but we must know how to get our motivation back. Let’s look how we can get inspired again:

• Look back how much you have achieved. How does it feel?
• Get some support if you can’t master something because it is too difficult. Friends, classmates, colleagues, family, tutors, online communities….all of them are there to help you….just ask
• Start a blog on your goal and write on your progress; some people find that sharing with others creates a sense of responsibility that help them going
• Are you challenged enough or too much? May this is dragging you down? Adjust your expectations, either raise them if it’s too easy or make it easier if you struggle because you expect too much.
• Eliminate complexity, think about ways how you can bring it back to basics
• Redefine your goals/actions….maybe an update to your plan will bring some fresh insights
• Go out and talk over a coffee with a friend, colleague, classmate about your goal…talk about what’s great about it and why you struggle
• Make your purpose obvious to you. Why do you want to achieve this goal again? Why is it important to you? What’s the purpose?
• Get online, browse Blogs, Pinterest, Instagram, Facebook etc. for posts around your goal; get some inspiration from others
• Read industry news on your goal; check out others who have achieved a similar goal. If it is a professional goal, go on their LinkedIn profile, where are they now after having achieved a similar goal? Is this where you want to be?
• Visualize what’s its like to have achieved your goal. What will be in place? Which doors will open to you? How will you feel? How will your life be different? Dream, just dream and feel it.

5. Am I there yet?

Last but not least, celebrate and make yourself aware when you are getting closer to your goal or even when you have achieved it. Take that time! We often forget about enjoying the accomplishment of our goals or even the major milestones towards those goals. Indulging and being proud of having completed your degree for instance, like in the case of our students, is a major step for your personal and professional life. If you make it a positive experience and acknowledge yourself for having achieved it, then you are likely to pick up the next goal soon and turn it into reality.

And remember, “the difference between who you are and who you want to be is what you do”. Choosing the right goals, taking the actions that lead to them and enjoying the accomplishment of those will make you the person you want to be. Do you already know who you want to be?

Source quote: Rebloggy.com