Get back in shape.
Eat healthier.
Go skydiving.
Run a 5k.
Sing in a real musical.
Run a marathon.
Raise chickens.
Grow a garden.
Visit every state.
I could go on and on and on. The bucket list. A list of things that you want to do; that you want to experience. A list of good intentions. A list of things you will do when you have the time to do them. A list of things you wonder if you will ever really do them.
Why is it so hard to achieve our goals we set for ourselves? According to Douglas Vermeeren, there are ten main reasons why people fail to succeed in reaching their goals. After reading them, I definitely know mine!
Having too many goals: Some people have too many goals and not enough focus. It’s like they’re standing in front of a dart board with three targets in mind. Hitting just one target is difficult enough; hitting three targets simultaneously with one dart is impossible. Therefore, determine the one goal you are focused on and move forward with that one goal only. Eliminate other goals that are secondary. This is not to say that you should never have more than one goal. Rather, you need to realize that you have only so much time and energy. Therefore, chose the goal that will give you the highest ROE (Return On Effort) and focus on that one goal first. Once complete, you can then focus on other goals in sequence.
I have always been into a million things at once. In high school I played basketball, soccer, and ran track. I sang in the choir, played the piano, sang solos, and played the clarinet in a concert band. In college I played basketball and soccer, sang in the choir, took piano and voice lessons, and sang on an exclusive ensemble that toured during the summer and visited local churches during the school year. I worked in the writing lab editing students' papers. I took a rock climbing class. I never even started my homework for the day until midnight or later because my schedule was so full. I probably pulled on average 2 all-nighters a week. I think I got about 10 hours of sleep in the four years I attended. I say all this not to brag, but to make the point that I have many, many varying interests, and I have always had a hard time doing everything I want to do. Even now, as a wife and a mommy, there are so many things I want to do, and sometimes I feel like there is never enough time to do it all.
But I love it.
I love to try.
So how DO we accomplish our goals?
Here are some pretty cool and crazy stats:
1. People who regularly write down their goals earn nine times as much over their lifetimes as people who don't.
2. 80% of Americans say they don't have goals.
3. 16% do have goals but don't write them down.
4. Less than 4% write down their goals and fewer than 1% review them on an ongoing basis.
5. People who wrote down their goals, shared this information with a friend, and sent weekly updates to that friend were on average 33% more successful in accomplishing their stated goals than those who merely formulated goals. -5 Statistics about Writing Down Goals by David Fealkoff
Step 1: Write it down!
Michael Hyatt points out 5 reasons why you should commit your goals to writing IN THIS ARTICLE. All very insightful with a thread of common sense. I liked number 4 the most. Whenever we embark on a new adventure to reach a goal, there is ALWAYS going to be something that gets in the way. Writing things down will help us overcome this!
"A goal that's not written down is just a wish." -Dave Ramsey
Another great article to read is 6 Ways to Achieve Any Goal by Molly Cain. I love the idea of vision boards. This is something I want to start doing. I am a big visual learner so I see this as something that would greatly benefit me! Also it sounds crafty. And that always sucks me in.
I will end with this: Success is hard work! Achieving goals does not happen while you sit on your butt and just hope you get a call out of the blue to fulfill your dreams. I stumbled on THIS today as I was scrolling Facebook and thought how very true it is. Everything worth having comes at the price of hard work. Hard work builds character and gives you a generous sense of accomplishment upon completion. It also gives you a sense of ownership. Once we take ownership of something, we are more likely to see it through.
My take away goals:
1. write it down!
2. start with one goal.
3. create a vision board
4. start following a written out plan
5. re-evaluate goals every so often; don't be afraid to change things or switch it up.
What are your goals??
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