Sponsored guest post written by Alex Berger from the Berger Bungalow.
Everyone knows that setting goals is a good thing, and we all assume that we can just set goals, meet them, and then set more. But, have you noticed how hard it is to follow through with goals sometimes? It’s challenging! The facts are there: 25% of New Years’ resolutions were broken the first week after NYE. THE FIRST WEEK! The people who bought gym memberships for the New Year? Well, about 80% of them drop out within eight weeks.
That’s wild, right? Unfortunately, a lot of us have never learned how to set effective goals: goals that will last so that they are not only worth reaching, but also achievable and realistic, as well. If you don’t have realistic goals, it’s very easy to get discouraged. For example, if you set a goal to lose 50 pounds, but in the first 8 weeks of going to the gym, you only lose 5, you might feel like you’re ready to give up. I mean, it’s very challenging to make changes in our lives and get a little bit uncomfortable. Throw in an unrealistic goal, and you are definitely setting yourself up for failure. So, let’s talk about ways to set realistic goals. Below, you will find a few ideas. I hope that these tips help you some when setting realistic goals going forward!
Do a review of your previous goals
When setting new goals, or a new goal, the first thing that I always love to do is to do a review of your previous goals. Doing this will show you where you succeeded or failed last time, which will help you to create more realistic goals going forward, that are achievable. Write down the previous goals you made and why you think you achieved them, or didn’t reach your goal. If you have never set any goals in the past, no worries! Just do a review on your past year. What brought you joy? What would you like to have done differently? Is there anything you want or need to do this year, this spring, or this summer, specifically? Write it all down and start from there. My best tip to you: focus on what you want and what you need. Don’t listen to anyone else tell you what you want or need. Always prioritize your happiness because if your goals are building blocks to achieve happiness and something that you truly want or need, you will always work harder to make it happen!
Get creative with getting it done
Get creative when getting your goal, or goals done. What do I mean by this? Well, if it’s possible to outsource or get help with a goal, do it! Just because your goal is to learn to fly an airplane, does not mean you will be doing it all yourself. Far from it, in fact. So, apply that to other circumstances in your life. If you have a goal of decluttering and getting rid of old furniture, or cleaning out an old storage space, you don’t need to do it alone…unless you want to! Get creative with it and find ways to save time + effort. It’s kind of like passive income: if you can check smaller goals off (or even a bigger goal off) while focusing on other goals, thanks to help, that is a great way to tackle your to-do list. I recommend starting with family, friends, and local businesses. Let’s say you are decluttering. Who would you call? A junk removal team, or a moving team, more than likely. Star City Services is a moving team that could help with that. They can help with Roanoke long distance moving, home staging, office moving, storage solutions, and so much more. They are locally owned and operated, have 4 years of experience, and they have a vision of catering to their clients needs.Sounds like a good way to tackle things without breaking a sweat, huh?
Create one big goal and several smaller ones
If you create one big goal, it can potentially be a little out of reach, which leads to delaying any progress towards your goal. Of course, you want to set these big goals, BUT you should also set several smaller ones, which will help you reach your big goal. Building blocks, or stepping stones, I guess you could say. Short-term goals will help you stay on track and it will make achieving your big goal much more attainable.
Spread the news to friends and family
Last but not least, spread the news to your family and friends. If you are trying to go without alcohol or carbs, or whatever it might be for the rest of the spring and summer, that might be challenging (depending on who you are), especially when you get together with friends. If they know that you have this goal in mind that you are actively working towards, it will be much easier and you will have people cheering you on along the way.
Setting and achieving goals is not an easy thing, I know. But, creating goals (as long as they are reachable) is so good for us – both mentally and physically. I hope these ways to set realistic goals helped some. If you have any questions at all, please let me know!
