Most of us don’t have trouble picking good goals. We are able to pick appropriate goals that suit our natural skills, and that simply require us to stretch a little bit. Where most of us get stuck is in figuring out how to accomplish the goal that we’ve chosen.
The good news is that figuring out how to accomplish your goals doesn’t need to be a mystery. In fact, there is a universal process that all people go through when achieving their goals. Follow that process outlined below and make your goals a reality!
Step One: Respect Your Goal
The first step in accomplishing a goal is to respect your goal. You need to respect the enormity of what you are trying to do, and the work that must occur to achieve that goal.
Realize that no one is born a singer, architect, lawyer or writer. Losing weight doesn’t happen overnight. You can’t wake up tomorrow morning and run a marathon with no training. All of those things are big accomplishments that require hard work.
Recently, I was speaking with a young woman who said to me, “I am a writer.” Now, as far as I know, sending text messages is the extent of this young lady’s daily writing practice. Her comment showed that she doesn’t respect her goal of being a writer. She wants to declare herself to be a writer without first putting in the work.
For instance, I know how to swim. But that doesn’t make me a swimmer. The elderly gentleman from my church who swims a half a mile a day is a swimmer. I also can run. But that doesn’t make me a runner. My friend who runs two miles a day is a runner.
You have to respect what you are trying to achieve. That means you can’t be flippant about the achievement. If you are, you’ll never reach your goal. Respect the enormity of what you are trying to do, and then you’ll have the right attitude to achieve it.
Step Two: Make Your Goal A Part of Your Life
You should be making progress toward your goal every day, without fail. Of course, there will be days when you can do more, and there will be days when you only can do the bare minimum. Nevertheless, working toward your goal should be an integral part of each day, as integral as brushing your teeth.
For instance, I have a friend who is fluent in French. He did not achieve fluency overnight! Instead, French is part of his daily routine. Every morning, he listens to the news in French. He watches French films, and speaks to his toddler in French. He has incorporated the French language into his lifestyle, and that has allowed him to achieve fluency.
Admittedly, in the beginning, it will be challenging to make your goal part of your daily routine. Initially, it will feel like a chore. But the work will become easier as time goes on.
For example, when I first started writing, it was rough. I had to rack my brain to think of topics to write about. And I couldn’t figure out whether I wanted to write fiction or non-fiction. But once I settled into the genre of self-improvement and started writing on a daily basis, the writing began to flow easily out of me. Now, a day feels strange if I don’t write. It is as if I forgot to brush my teeth! (To read about how to develop your focus and self-discipline, click here.)
Step Three: Follow in the Footsteps of Others
When coming up with a practical plan to achieve your goal, look at what others have done. I can assure you that you aren’t the first person to have tried to achieve this goal. Others have gone before you. Read about how they did it and follow their path. You don’t need to recreate the wheel.
Of course, your journey won’t be the same as anyone else’s. But initially following the path of others will help you get started. And it will help you see the time commitment that is involved.
For instance, the writer Haruku Murakami gets up every day at 4 a.m. and writes for 5 to 6 hours straight. When Michael Phelps was training, he swam 6 hours per day, 6 days per week, in addition to weight training and stretching. When you read about the people who you want to emulate, you’ll see the approach that they took, and the work that was involved.
Step Four: Celebrate Your Small Successes
Some goals can be achieved in a day or a week. But big, meaningful goals take a long time. Sometimes they can take years. You will lose your stamina unless you celebrate the small successes along the way.
For instance, if your goal is to lose weight, don’t wait until you’ve lost the full 10 or 20 pounds. Celebrate every pound lost. Each one is a milestone. If your goal is to grow your own business, celebrate each new client. Your client base will be built one client at a time.
If you don’t acknowledge the small successes, you won’t feel as though you are making progress. And that can be discouraging. To maintain your motivation, you need to keep track of the small wins. Realize that someday those small wins will be the foundation for the big win that you have been working toward.
Step Five: Be Flexible
As you work toward your goals, opportunities may come along that you didn’t anticipate. Seize them! The road to success is not a straight line. One unusual opportunity may lead to another unexpected one. And then pretty soon you are accomplishing things that you never even dreamed of.
For example, Mel Robbins, the author of the book “The 5 Second Rule,” had a long legal career before she became a motivational speaker. She originally was a public defender and CNN legal analyst. Then she gave a Ted Talk which went viral. That Ted Talk led to her becoming a highly successful self-improvement writer and public speaker. Her life has not followed a straight line, and yet she has achieved remarkable success.
The key is to stop being so strategic about your life, and to just say “Yes.” Now, of course, we should make plans. We should always be making plans and be working toward our goals. But as we do so, we should be open to unexpected opportunities.
An Example of Flexibility
For example, when my daughter was in middle school, her teacher asked her, as a favor, to create a documentary about two girls at her school. These girls had created a poetry program to help children who were struggling with depression. My daughter had developed a reputation as a student filmmaker, and she agreed to make the film simply to be helpful to her teacher.
Well, my daughter’s film ended up winning a national award. She was flown to California to accept the award, and she even got to meet Steven Spielberg. And all of that happened just because she said “Yes” to a seemingly insignificant opportunity.
So, be flexible on your journey toward your goals. If you are too strategic, you will miss out on some great experiences!
Consider following the above steps when pursuing your goals. Of course, there is no cookie cutter approach to a successful life. We all have to navigate life based on our own unique circumstances. But there are general approaches to success that work. Try the above steps, and enjoy seeing your goals come to fruition! (To read about motivation tips to accomplish your goals, click here.)
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