How can you follow through on your goals?
Here are some easy and extremely powerful strategies which help you to achieve your dreams: Get clear about your goals, take a couple of minutes each day to remind yourself to your goals and once a week do a review session.
For more details enjoy the videos or the transcripts – if you prefer reading over listening.
Tiny Lesson #7: Make them goals great again
Did this ever happen to you?
• Wait a minute, it is already march? I wanted to redo my webpage so badly. What did I do in January and February? What happened?
• Hey, two years ago I decided to do produce that CD? What was I thinking – with my busy schedule?
Most of us know these questions, we hate them and we don’t want that to happen any more! But how?
I will show you strategies to make sure that won’t happen again.
Step 1:
Make sure it is a great goal.
First we need to talk about your goals. Because great goals make it a lot easier to follow through.
What makes your goal a great goal?
3 things:
1. First of all your goal has to be in alignment with your values and your dreams
you might think: yeah right, this is bananas, everybody knows that. But there are a lot of pre-fabricated goals. In almost everything we do there is this super hero who does these incredibly great things and has this immense wealth. That might sound so attractive, but ask yourself: is that really you?
2. Your goal has to really inspire you. ‚Is it a Hell Yeah goal?‘ Derek Sievers would ask.
Does thinking about that goal raise a sweet sensation of fear?
Only then will it inspire you, and you will make it through hard times.
3. Your goal has to be precise, measurable. It is one thing to say I ll be the greatest song writer of all times. But how do you know that you are on the right track? You need to be able to measure it. It is so much easier to know this week I have to transcribe 2 songs and write 2 songs than to say I will be the greatest songwriter on earth. So really think hard and divide your goal into measurable chunks
STEP 2:
Remind yourself daily!
First thing: grab pen and paper! Every morning write down your goals, take 5 minutes to write a list of your goals down:
For example:
⁃ I will be the greatest songwriter – this week I am gonna transcribe two songs and write 2 songs
⁃ I am the the greatest dad – today I’ll spend 1hr quality time with my kids, distraction free: no phone, no cleaning up, just playing and listening
Now comes an even bigger step to make sure you follow through on your goals:
Mark it in your calendar!
Make time in your calendar for your most important goal, the one thing that changes everything.
For example:
-Monday, 9 AM -1 PM: transcribing music
-Tuesday, 9 Am -2 PM: writing a new instrumental
-Wednesday, 3 PM -7 PM: do some research for great lyrics
This will help you tremendously to follow through on your goals.
Recap Tiny Lesson #7:
In order to follow through on your goals
1. make your goals super strong (‚Hell yeah‘ and measurable)
2. write down your goals every day.
3. mark your top priority in your calendar
Tiny Lesson #8: Recap And React
Alright, you defined your your goals, wrote them down. And they are so damn perfect, measurable, punchy und they are so you! You even prioritised and know what’s your most important goal. And, you even know why you do it, you have a clear sense of purpose. And still – this nagging question:
‚Wait a minute, it’s March, what happened to January & February?‘ Ouch!
What happened here? You always looked forward but never backwards.
Before you continue reading, please grab pen and paper! I will run you through an easy weekly review session. Don’t worry, it’s not about breaking your head for hours, we are talking about 10-20 minutes once a week. And these 20 minutes which will give you an immense push forward.
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Write down what you have accomplished in the past week.
Your list could look like that:
⁃ I prepared 2 rehearsal
⁃ I played 3 shows
⁃ I composed 1 Song
⁃ I cleaned my studio and the kitchen
⁃ 1 spent two afternoons with my kids
I am pretty sure you accomplished a mighty lot. Congratulations. Please make sure you celebrate your wins and accomplishments!
2. Ask yourself: were your accomplishments in alignment with your goals?
You might have finished a ton of tasks, but none in might have had to do with your goals.
Before you just shovel move your goals to the next week, analyse what had happened.
‚Why did I not finish that goal? Why did I not work on what matters most to me?’
I guess most of us will have one answer: I had no time.
Please – first of all change that wording into:
• last week I ddid not make time.
• last week I did not create space for what matters most to me,
• last week I did not create time to nurture my vision, I did not make time to grow.
Thank you, now you’re back in the driver’s seat.
Now – log how your spend your time for a week.
There are great apps which help you to log what you spend your time with. I am 100% sure there will wait some surprises and for you and you will be able to free some 15 minutes every day without much thinking. Then as next step make it easy on yourself:
You might have decided to read every day, do a workout every day or something similar.
Change ‚I am gonna read every day’ into ‚every night before I fall asleep I will read one page‘
Change ‚I will meditate every day‘ to ‚I’ll do one conscious breath a day‘.
Do that and see how that affects your accomplishment list.
If you find out doing the review you did not accomplish a specific goal for a couple of weeks you need to ask yourself: Is that really a priority? Do I really want to do this? Is that me? Does this goal excite me?
While answering these questions for yourself keep two things in mind:
The only way out is through.
Everything you want is on the other side of fear.
Recap of Tiny Lesson #8:
- once a week do a review w/ pen and paper
- celebrate your wins
- analyze: what didi I achieve, what didi I not achieve? Why? Did I make clear to myself every morning what my top 3 goals are? Can I make it easier (f.ex. read one page)? Is my priority clear //what are my top 3 goals?
- write your answers down
- establish your goals for the upcoming week
- jot the Nr 1 priority in your calendar
Tiny Lesson #9: Find Your Partner In Crime
You are having a hard time following through on your goals? Here’s one thing which makes is so much easier – get an accountability partner
Until now – if you have read the previous tiny lessons – you relied exclusively on your own motivation and willpower. That can get tough at times. Get external support, it makes things a lot easier.
Imagine the scenario:
‚Gosh, in 3 days I’ll have the Skype session with Amber. I am sure she reached all her goals and even overachieved. Man, I am being slow here. I better pick up. And I want to discuss this idea with her, I am sure she has some great insights…‘ I think you get the point.
How you should do it:
Chose your future partner in crime wisely:
Both of you should be in at a similar place; your businesses should be very much alike and also your stage of development. Only then your objectives match and you can help and inspire each other.
I recommend your accountability partner is not your spouse. You don’t want to be reporting to your spouse while you have a lot of other relationship issues to organise and handle
About the meetings:
They need to be consistent – make your phone or Skype session a weekly date
Set a duration and agree on how to go ahead:
For example:
⁃ We decided to spend 30 minutes.
⁃ the first 10 minutes I’ll explain which goals I achieved and which ones not
⁃ I’ll explain why and why not
⁃ your invited to comment
⁃ then 10 minutes vice versa
⁃ final 10 minutes time for brainstorming
That’s pretty much all there is to it, simple but extremely powerful.
Be clear that you are on a journey, you chose an adventure. Take a guide, accept help, because willpower will eventually drain out – there is a lot of stuff going on in everybody life which consumes immense amounts energy
Recap Tiny Lesson #9:
1. your accountability partner will help you to formulate your goals and will increase your urge to fulfill those goals
2. choose a person who is at a similar place
3. make sure your meetings take place on a regular basis
These were my Tiny Lessons On How To Follow Through on Your Goals. Feel free to visit edwardmaclean.com/coaching for more tutorials, information or to get in touch.
If you enjoyed these Tiny Lessons, if you have feedback for me, if you have questions – write an email to coaching@edwardmaclean.com or leave a comment.
Thanks a lot!
