How To Set Your Goals And Achieve Them too!

Disclaimer: This post may contain affiliate links. This is one way that bloggers make money, but it is at absolutely no extra cost to you if you choose to make a purchase based on my suggestions! If you would like to read more about how this works, check out my Disclosure Policy!

Have you ever tried setting weight loss goals in the middle of September? It is almost impossible to stick to for some reason. All of the holidays are coming up. The great fluffy clothing is lurking around the corner so you don’t have to worry about wearing shorts or a swim suit any time soon. The “I have plenty of time before summer” excuse.

But before you know it, without fail, summer comes and goes again the next year and you are still uncomfortable with your body. Maybe that isn’t you at all, but you can definitely relate that without a real reason why, it is hard to accomplish anything. Without setting yourself up for success, you don’t see a lot of progress on whatever you are working on. 

Setting goals is the number one way to make sure that you are actually making progress in life instead of just floating along.  Maybe it was because you weren’t that committed. Or it could be that you made them and then didn’t look at them again until way after the goal date. Whatever it was, here are a few pointers to making sure you can meet you next set of goals! 

Make sure they are SMART!

Specific: This means that you know exactly what you want to accomplish.

Measurable: You are able to tell if you are reaching it.

Attainable: It is physically and mentally possible for you to achieve this goal.

Realistic: The goal isn’t super far fetched or a completely crazy.

Timely: You are giving yourself enough time to meet the goal.

You want to make sure that you have SMART goals, but you also want to make them just a little bit farther outside of that “Realistic” part. If people don’t think you are crazy, then your goals aren’t big enough.

Yearly/Monthly/Weekly/Daily Goals

I always make my yearly and monthly goals a little bit of a stretch, but my weekly and daily goals are very achievable. If I put the effort into the daily and weekly goals, it gives me more of a change to achieve my monthly and yearly goals. My overall yearly goal was to Pay off $34,000 in debt. When I set that, I had no idea how much income I was bringing in at all. My goal for the year is now $12,000, but ultimately to have paid off everything in my name so I can tackle what is in my parent’s names next year!

I know what I want by the end of the year so I know what I need to do daily to meet those goals. I set a few goals that I want to achieve in a year, a month, a week, and a day.

How I Set Them:

My yearly goals are usually set at the beginning of the year, but I also use the end of the year as a time frame to get stuff done. For example, by the end of the year, I am to only have my parent plus loans left to pay off. I have about $3000 left to pay off by the end of the year if I want to achieve it.

From there, I sit down at the beginning of every month and create a monthly goal. It is ultimately one of my goals broken down into a month sized chunk.  If I want to have the $3000 paid off by the end of the year, I need to pay at least $750 on this loan per month.

Then I break it down farther.

Weekly goals are something that is possible to do in one week. Continuing with the $750 a month on my student loans, which means I need to pay $188 a week on this loan. Usually on the weeks that I know I am getting paid, I aim to pay off two weeks worth of payments. Otherwise, my weekly goal will be to earn more money from a side job so I can meet that $188 for the week!

Then I take it one step farther.

Daily goals are more habits than goals. Things that I can do daily to slowly help build momentum to the bigger goal. If I want to pay off $188 a week, I need about $27 a day. Now, usually I don’t break my money goals down this far because I don’t get paid every single day.

Here is what it looks like:

Daily: Earn $27 to put towards student loans

Weekly: Pay off $188 on my smallest student loan.

Monthly: I need to pay off $750 on this student loan.

Yearly: I will have paid off the $3000 student loan by December 31st.

Post them every where

Awesome. You have your goals set now! Only you know what you want to accomplish and you are ready to work away at your goals. You can imagine yourself meeting those goals and everyone cheering as you cross that finish line.

Now, Post your goals EVERY WHERE. I mean absolutely everywhere. Tell your friends about them. Post about them on social media. Write them down and post them at your desk. Take a picture of your yearly goals and save them as your screensaver on your phone. Do whatever it takes to remind yourself of your goals every single day. The more you look at your goals, the more you will want them.

Printable

 

Download this printable to help you set yourself up for success!  Whatever goals you set, use the yearly, monthly, weekly, daily system to ensure that you are following through!I wish you luck on whatever you are trying to accomplish. Whether it is fitness, financial, or trying to finish college, setting specific goals and keeping track of your progress is the best way to see change in your life!