How do you reach your goals and accomplish your dreams?
Are you tired of setting goals that you never achieve? Ready to make it happen already? Here's how to slay your goals. Plus, get your FREE Slay Your Goals Guide. #AchieveYourGoals #GoalSetting #Success
Whether you’re setting personal goals or goals for your business, you know that setting it is the easy part.
The real challenge starts when you have to get started, focus and follow-through. Somehow it’s so much easier on paper, isn’t it?
Here’s exactly how I slayed my goal of escaping the 9-5 life I hated to being self-employed and loving it (in less than one year).
Table of Contents:
I know you’re tired of setting goals that you never seem to be able to achieve.
Yet another year passes, and you still haven’t been able to get going on a dream of yours, like starting that business or side-hustle you’ve always wanted.
Odds are this is a dream you’ve had for a while now, maybe you’ve even already spent time creating a business plan and spent money investing in business tools for a project you haven’t started yet.
What is it about planning endlessly and chasing shiny objects that make you feel better for not actually accomplishing?
Like, you feel bad for still not getting started, so the solution is to do something, but in the end, it’s superficial. Can you relate?
Or maybe, you hit the ground running at the beginning of the year, but by the end of January, you’ve stalled, again. Maybe you’ve already invested so much time into planning this life you want, but when it comes down to it you’re not able to make progress.
What gives? Why is to so hard to set goals and actually achieve them?
Keep reading, I’ve got ten steps you need to take to go from dreaming about it to slaying your goals.
Failing to Get Started on Your Goals
You’re tired of feeling like a failure and wondering if you’ll ever get there.
You’re constantly wondering, “What am I doing wrong?”
“How can I actually have this amazing life that I want?”
Or, “how do I achieve my dreams?”
👉🏽 RELATED POST: Why You'll Never Achieve Your Goals
Hey, I’ve been there. I’ll be the first to tell you that I struggle with this, and even today still sometimes question how can I slay my goals for 2017.
But, I turn to a simple, yet amazingly powerful lesson about achieving my goals that I learned from the last one year of hustling my way from unemployed and drowning to self-employed and loving it.
More important than believing that you can, that you’re deserving of success, that you are enough, and yes, that is it indeed possible. More crucial that “having a plan.” Without this, I wouldn’t be sitting where I am right now.
Let me introduce you to the 80-20 rule.
Achieving your goal is 20% setting it, but 80% slaying it.
I’m going to say that again – Achieving your goals is ONLY 20% setting it, but 80% SLAYING it.
Way Less Planning, Way More Doing
“So, just do it right?”
You’ve probably heard the saying before. You know that in order for you to get from where you are to where you want to be, you need to actually do something about it.
But the problem is, that it’s so easy to get caught in the trap of planning. Constantly planning.
It's time to escape the planning trap and start doing! This is how to slay your goals. #AchieveYourGoals #GoalSetting #Success👉🏽 RELATED POST: How to Plan Your Year in Advance
I’ve been here too. I’ve had multiple layovers in planning land.
There I was at the end of 2015 without a plan. I’d be fired without warning and everything I’d accepted as my life was gone. My life plan imploded on itself. From where I would be day to day, to where I’d get my income to survive.
I made the choice to finally pursue my dream of being self-employed and to escape the 9-5 life forever. To be completely free to make a living doing what I love. I was committed to staying motivated no matter what. No fear or excuse was going to stop me. Who-ha! (Insert war cry here).
“Yes, I’m ready to go! You got this girl.”
So as a woman without a plan, of course, I decided that I need one.
But, I got caught in the trap of planning, multiple times. Planning too much, having too many plans, constantly changing the plan, being over-committed to the plan, researching what the plan should be and so on.
Once again, I was just dreaming on paper or in Evernote this time. Not actually making any progress, but with the added pressure of needing to make it work, like now (ya know, cuss I have no job).
“So, apparently, I don’t got this.”
All I have is way too many plans and not nearly enough action.
I was obsessively setting goals for myself and laying plans for months and months in advance. I had the whole year mapped out. I obsessed over being perfect, over getting it just right before doing anything.
The ratio at this point was probably 80% planning and 20% of actually doing and that was the problem. So, I flipped it.
The thing that was stopping me was planning and setting my goals.
👉🏽 RELATED POST: How to Plan a Goal Setting Retreat
Do NOT get caught in the planning trap.
It’s so easy to spend your entire life daydreaming in your journal, planner or hiding behind a business plan. It’s not about your plan, it’s about what you do with it.
Are you living on paper, or acting in reality?
Perhaps you’re even addicted to buying planner after planner, but still can’t take action?
You Act, Not Plan, for Success
“So, did you just stop planning?”
Not exactly, I just stopped over-planning and shifted my focus to the many other aspects of getting sh*t done that planning makes you ignore.
When you’re just planning, it’s so easy.
All you’re doing is setting goals, without having to actually get in the dirt and make something happen. You don’t have to worry about beating procrastination, finding your focus, prioritizing your time, being accountable, getting motivated or other crucial steps to slaying your goals. This is the 80%.
You realize that the plan is only a smaller portion (the 20%) when you actually get going. You only realize that you need these other steps when you move on from the planning.
Move past the 20% as quickly as possible. Stop stressing about creating the “perfect plan.”
Here’s a spoiler alert – the perfect plan does not exist. You can spend a lifetime planning just to realize your plan is useless in reality.
The excuse is that you’ll always tell yourself that you’re not ready. Or just not perfect enough.
Stop telling yourself that you're not ready yet, or you're not enough. Just go for it! #AchieveYourGoals #Confidence #Success👉🏽 RELATED POST: Why You Need to Stop Stressing About Being Perfect
Maybe you still don’t believe that it’s possible or maybe like me you think that you believe you can do it, but without actually doing anyone you’re just a believer. And belief alone does not get you there.
The Distance Between You and Your Goal
“How can I get to where I want to be?”
Trust me I know the feeling.
The distance between where you are and where you want to be seems immeasurable.
Maybe like me, many aspects of your life were in disarray at the same time (reminder, I was without a job and without a plan and not in great health). Sometimes even the question of knowing where to start or what to focus on can be difficult to answer. Especially when everyone has an opinion on what you need to do.
A simple Google search feeds you hundreds of competing and contrasting bits of advice about what you should be doing. Multiple sources telling you what you’re missing and promising you a solution. And hey, I’m not saying they’re wrong, but they can’t all be right.
But the distance between where you are and where you want to be is shorter and simpler than you can imagine.
The only distance that matters is what you can do now.
This is the 80%. What you need to get it done now.
The only goal that needs to matter is the one you get started on today.
I learned to focus only on what was essential for me to do now (this hour, this day, this week, or even this month at the farthest) to get where I wanted to be.
👉🏽 RELATED POST: How to Take Action When You Can’t Get Started
That’s it. Forget everything else. Just whatever helps you get it done now.
If it doesn’t help you get there, then drop it.
How to Slay Your Goals (No Bullshit)
2020, I’m here to slay. What about you?
Are you ready to finally set goals and actually achieve them?
No more getting caught in the bottomless planner trap?
👉🏽 RELATED POST: Quotes About Achieving Dreams and Goals
Are you ready to have an epic year?
Have you set your goals and intention for this year? If so, have you made any progress towards achieving them? Nay, slaying them?
Or maybe you don’t even know where to start or what goals you should even be slaying.
“Slay what?”
Step #1: Set Your Intention
Where do you want to be one year from now?
To help you slay your goals, your intention will be your true north. Think of it as a promise to yourself that you will do everything you can to get there. Everything you do will keep you focused on attaining this. It’s GREATER than your goal.
An intention is less about the specifics of what and how, and more about who you are and “your why.” For example, your intention might be “to be truly free from the 9-5 world.” It should be a short statement, that you could even use as a personal mantra.
👉🏽 RELATED POST: Why You Need to be Setting Intentions Instead of Goals
Exactly What to Do:
Say to yourself and write down somewhere you can see it, “Next year this time I will be…” Also, consider taking this further and writing yourself a letter of intention that you can read one year from now. Use all the emotions and feelings that you have about your present circumstances to help you make this commitment.
Step #2: Brainstorm Ideas
How can you get there?
Now let’s start thinking about “the what” and “the how.” What are the requirements and resources you need to reach your intention? How can you get there? What do you need to accomplish?
Maybe there are resources or people in your life that can help you. Take stock! Try to keep these as natural and intuitive to you, your experience and interests, skillset and knowledge as possible. Don’t try and completely reinvent yourself.
Exactly What to Do:
Brainstorm a list of your ideas of how you can reach your intention. Use a blank sheet of paper, a document or note. Digital lists are great because you can take them with you and just add new ideas when they come to you.
Step #3: Set Three Smaller Goals
What are the necessary steps along the way?
What are the milestones or major steps that can lead you to your overall intention?
Think about the next year and what three goals you need to achieve in order to get from where you are now, to where you want to be. Is there any knowledge or skills you must attain, the certification you need, resources to save for or purchase, connections to make, sales goals to hit, skills to utilize and so on. You’re looking to identify the MAJOR milestones.
Exactly What to Do:
Use your list of brainstormed ideas from Step 2 to set 3 smaller goals for yourself. Be as quantitative and as specific as possible, avoiding the use of fluffy adjectives. If it helps, think about setting SMART Goals, which are specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and time-bound. Most of all, be hopeful, yet honest and humble in your expectations. You’re going to have to accomplish these, so make your goals achievable.
Step #4: Schedule To-Dos
What do you need to do when?
Are there any requirements for your 3 goals? What timely-tasks or to-dos do you need to do and when?
You’ve set your goals, now it’s time to dig deeper into the requirements of meeting that goal. To recap, think of yourself as building a pyramid to where you want to be one year from now: you’ve set your intention (the peak), then your 3 smaller goals (the middle), now you’re scheduling your to-dos for said goals (the bottom).
👉🏽 RELATED POST: How Plan Your Day with Time-Blocking
Exactly What to Do:
Break down your 3 goals further into timely to-do tasks. Schedule time into your calendar to work on your to-dos. It’s best to find a way to incorporate your to-dos into your daily or weekly routine. Establish your timeline and set deadlines for yourself. The goal of this exercise is to have time scheduled where you’ll see and be reminded to do them and create a routine (or habit) of accomplishing them. This is your to-do list.
Step #5: Get the Slay Your Goals Guide
You’ve set your goal, are you now ready to learn how to slay it? Sign up below for your FREE Printable Slay Your Goals Guide.
Sign up below for your FREE 10 Step Guide + weekly tips to help you slay your goals.
Sign up below for your FREE 10 Step Guide + weekly tips to help you slay your goals.
Are You Ready to Slay Your Goals?
In one word, 2018 was epic for me. Simply put, I slayed my goals.
It will forever be the single most defining year of my life. 2016 is the year that set me free from the 9-5 life I hated to boldly pursue my dream life of self-employment I so desperately wanted.
2017 to 2019 were the year that keeps me free.
2020 will be the year I expand on my freedom from the working world, to spending more time in the global world.
What will 2020 be for you? There’s still time to decide.
Where do you want to be one year or less from now?
Are you ready to make 2020 your defining year?
Imagine what it will be like to finally be living the life you’ve dreamed about (ya know, the life you daydreamed about when you’re bored at work and probably over-plan about).
Knowing that you’ve done everything in your power to change your life is an amazing place to be.
How do you slay your goals?
Last Updated on July 11, 2021
