Having yearly and monthly goals is something I have been doing for awhile here on the blog. If I’m being honest though, it was more just something that I would throw out and “hope for the best”. If I accomplished a few, then that was great, and if not, well it didn’t alter my life in any way. I pretty much just had a flippant attitude towards goals, until I recently decided I wanted to tackle a big, monster sized goal that I knew I couldn’t take lightly or it would never actually come to fruition. It’s something I could write down on a life goals list for “someday”, but in reality I know I would simply skip over it because it seemed too dang hard and scary.

Well guess what my friends? I have decided I CAN DO HARD THINGS. In order to actually make my goal a reality, I knew I needed to come up with an actual plan that I would follow in order to reach my goal, and I wanted to share them with you in hopes it will light a fire and help you to get moving on something big you have been wanting to achieve. This leads me to the steps that I have been using as they relate to goal setting and goal ACHIEVING. I hope you find them useful! Be sure to read to the bottom for some fun new info!

1.) Create yearly AND monthly goals: Some goals are really big, and some are things that can get done in an afternoon. This is why I feel having long term or yearly goals and monthly goals is a good idea. Not only because it’s good to have mini goals and big goals, but because the BIG goals don’t seem so scary if you can break them down into smaller steps designed to help you achieve the big end goal. So not only should you take some time each year to evaluate your long term and big life goals, but try to come up with some smaller more manageable things, and think of ways to break up the big monster goal into smaller bites. For example, if I had a big long term goal of say renovating my kitchen, then I would break that down into monthly more manageable goals like “find a contractor and get three estimates” for month one, “pick out and purchase paint colors and new appliances” in month two, and “pick out and purchase flooring and light fixtures” in month three. Renovating a kitchen seems a LOT less scary when all you have to do this month is decide on paint colors and what new appliances you want!

2.) Make sure your goals are measurable: This is a big mistake people (and myself, yes me, all the time!) make when setting goals. One of the key points about a goal is that it needs to be measurable. if you just make a monthly run of “run more often”, well…what does that look like? How many times a week constitutes more often? Did you reach your goal running only twice a week? The waters can get really muddy this way, so a better goal would be “run three times a week” for a month, or “read two books this month”. That way you know if you succeeded!

3.) Create action steps that will help keep you on track so you are more likely to succeed: If I set a goal of running three times per week but don’t do anything else to help myself or plan for it, then I am more likely to fail. However, if I were to create action steps such as “write workouts into my calendar” or “pack my gym bag and put it into my car” and put these steps next to my goal, then I have given myself the tools to get the job done.

4.) Put your goals in front of you: One of the pitfalls of goal setting is forgetting about them! I am guilty of this as well, and have learned that if I keep my goals within sight, literally, I am more likely to work towards them. A couple of ways to achieve this would be to write your goals or action steps on the bathroom mirror, but a post it note on the refrigerator, or writing the goal step right into your daily planner so you know there is dedicated time in the week to work on them. The more often you see them, the less likely you are to forget about them.

5.) Know your worth, you CAN do hard things!: For me this is one of the biggest hurdles. Like most people, I have big hopes and dreams for my life, but sometimes the steps it takes to accomplish those things can seem pretty daunting and scary. It’s so tempting to just put something off because it seems to hard, or because we fear rejection or failure. You have probably heard this before, but Thomas Edison had 1,000 unsuccessful attempts at creating the light bulb. 1,000 yall! But guess what? He. never. gave. up. That man did hard things, and so can you.

I am in the process of working on a goal that is very overwhelming and scary to me, but I would love to let you in on it in about a month. I am nervous/excited/terrified to even tell you all about it, but I think it will be worth it to have the amazing people who have been with me over the years reading my work to help push me through to the finish line.

With that being said, I want to offer you all a FREE goal setting printable, fitness tracker printable, and monthly fitness goals printable, where you can clearly define and take action steps towards reaching your goals. All you have to do is sign up via email, and they will be sent to your inbox to print and fill out. In addition to this, my email subscribers will be the VERY first to know about my new endeavor when the time comes. Simply opt in to my offer below to be among the first to hear my news. I can’t wait to share with you, and I hope you enjoy the printables! You can click the link above or fill out the box below this blog post.

QOTD: What steps do you take to help ensure you reach a goal? Have you signed up for your free printables + my newsletter?