6 Steps to Becoming a Goal Getter

Have big goals but not making any progress on reaching them? Follow these six steps to set yourself up for success and finally become a goal-getter!

Why You’re Not a Goal-Getter…Yet

So you’ve set a goal. You want to get up early, you want to eat healthier, you want to be more present with your family, but…it’s not happening. Why?

You did all this work setting these big goals and dreams, but life is too busy, fast food is too convenient, plus there’s your job, and the house and all the other stuff you can’t think of right now because you’re too tired to remember.

However, don’t give up! You’ve done the planning, now you just need to set yourself up for success. For example, you wouldn’t expect your kids to learn to read without giving them a few tools and practices to start, right? You use strategies:

GOAL: Get MY child to read

Enroll in school
Buy easy reader books to have at home
Read to my child daily
Teach her the ABCs
Practice letter sounds

So why do we set ourselves up for failure when it comes to reaching our own goals? Why do I tell myself to eat healthier and then add chocolate chip cookie ice cream sandwiches to the grocery list?

If your problem isn’t setting goals, then it may be the strategy (or lack of strategy) you’re using.

6 Steps to Becoming a Goal-Getter

First, if you haven’t set goals for yourself, then go back and read this post.

Then choose ONE goal you want to work on. I know you’re going to want to tackle them all, but too much at once is setting yourself up for failure. Focus on ONE goal at a time.

The impatient part of me is struggling with this too. I want to go faster, I want to do more! But seriously, go slow. Get good at ONE goal, and then build on it. Don’t go halfway on a goal and then pick up another one along the way. Chances are, you’ll reach neither. Get good at one thing before you move to the next.

1. Narrow it Down

Want to exercise more? Great! But if you expect to be motivated every day for the next 30 days, you’re kidding yourself. Try to pinpoint specifics you want to accomplish, rather than general ideas.

“Exercise more” vs “I want to exercise for 30 minutes 3 times a week.”
“Sell my crafts online” vs “I want to open an Etsy shop, create 5 new products and buy business cards by the end of the year.”
“Be more present with my kids” vs “I want to set a bedtime for my kids where I’ll read a story to them each night and play a board game after school.”

2. Get Motivated

Why is it that you are even working toward this goal? Write down all the reasons you want to achieve it and refer to it when you feel like making excuses or giving up.

GOAL: EAT HEALTHIER

Increase my energy
Lower my cholesterol levels
Reduce the amount of medications I take
Improve my moods
Model healthy eating habits for my children

3. Be Realistic

You may be super excited about reaching big goals, but you have to be realistic in what you’re asking of yourself. If you want your child to potty train, then you can’t expect it to happen overnight. Growth takes time and patience.

GOAL: LEARN HOW TO PLAY THE PIANO

Buy a beginner’s book. (1 week)
Learn how to read music. (1 month)
Memorize scales. (1 month)
Play a song using two hands. (1 week)
Learn Moonlit Sonata. (2 weeks)

4. Track Your Progress

Find a way to track your progress that you enjoy. Is it checking off a list? Marking off dates on the calendar? Tally marks on the bathroom mirror? Make it fun! Get creative! Buy a cute notebook and write down what you did each day to get yourself closer to the end goal.

5. Reward Yourself

There will be bumps along the way. There will be days when you want to skip, cheat, or quit. So give yourself tangible checkpoints to set up little rewards along the way.

GOAL: WRITE A BOOK

Read 3 books by authors I admire in that genre (get to shop for a writer’s notebook)
Brainstorm ideas and set up an outline (can watch that movie you’ve been wanting to see)
Write Chapter 1 (buy a favorite candy bar)

Need more ideas? Here’s a big list of creative ways to reward yourself for reaching your milestones.

6. Re-assess if Needed

Do you have a goal of reading 52 books in a year? Well it’s June and you’re at 12, so maybe you need to change up your goal instead of neglecting everything else to try and keep up! Remember, these goals are to help you become a better version of yourself, not to turn yourself into a stressed-out, to-do-list-making monster.

If you feel like maybe you need to break your goal down further or set the deadline to a later date, that’s your call! You are the one in charge, so set yourself up for success, not failure!