Lose weight. Get a new job. Mend a friendship. Get fit. Reduce stress. Be more patient. Start a business. Write a book. Build a house. Start a hobby. Take a vacation. Make a bucket list. Volunteer.
What’s in your heart? What do you really, really want right now? What makes it important to you? How will it make your feel?
Loved. Joyful. Excited. Vibrant. Satisfied. Free. Peaceful. Fulfilled. Safe. Confident. Courageous. Focused. Decisive. Clear-headed. Proud. Energized.
As always, the approaching New Year got me thinking about what’s really important to me. As 2015 came to a close, I participated in some review and goal setting activities with some well-known life coaches. I think of goal-setting as a roadmap. When I was growing up, my mother kept a map in our car. If she hit traffic or thought there might be an easier way to her destination, she would pull over into a parking lot, take out the map and plot another course.
Since I was the oldest, I often got to co-pilot. She’d show me the route and I’d help navigate. We got out of a lot of traffic jams and found some shortcuts this way.
But what it gave me was a sense of personal power. I learned that I could find my way around any obstacle or make my journey easier. I could find a way to keep moving, keep flowing.
Setting goals does the same thing for us. It’s a plan to help us get where we’re going and move around, over and through our challenges. When we set goals and follow through, we use the power of order.
We can identify exactly what we need. We can plan how big of a step to take and when we need to recharge so that we can keep moving.
We find things to look forward to and get excited about. We can even put in some resources, like support networks, so that we have enough energy to get us through the rough times.
Here are a few of my favorite goal-setting tips. Use them to keep yourself on track, get around challenges, find shortcuts and remind you that you are the power that keeps your progress in motion.
Prioritize – Take a look at your goals and order them. You may find there’s one goal that once accomplished would help you with your other goals. It’s sort of like the bass line in a song. It keeps time, creates flow and rhythm. That’s a priority. Chalene Johnson calls these Push Goals. Work on it a little each day. This one is worth getting up 30 minutes earlier.
Make a plan – Map out the steps for your goals. Order the steps in a way that creates flow. As you look at your list, you may find there are some things you need to do weekly, daily or monthly. Goals like getting fit or eating healthy foods become a part of your routine. So decide when you will grocery shop, go to the gym, prepare meals, exercise, meditate, rest, etc.
You’ll need a calendar for this. Some people like hard copy day planners. Others like digital records and smart phones. Make it fun. Color code. Use your favorite music to set reminders on you phone.
Pick a theme – Choose a word or three that describe how you want to feel and your why. There’s a reason that you want to start a business or fit into those jeans or volunteer at a shelter. And there’s something you want to feel. Use the words as fuel. When you’re going through your day, remind yourself that you want confidence, love, passion, flow, prosperity, fulfillment, or satisfaction. Shift your actions to create the feeling you want to have. Pick a theme song. I like Goapele’s, Closer, Jill Scott’s, Golden, Stevie Wonder’s, Higher Ground and Sweet Honey in the Rock’s, We Are. What do you like as your theme song?
Now is always the time to go for it. Order will energize you so that you create the life you want to live. Do it one step at a time.
© Sandra Y. Lewis