How To Goal Plan For 2018

Happy Tuesday, everybody! It’s only the second day of January, so it’s still PRIME goal setting time. If you know me at all, you know am a big planner, organizer and goal-setter. I like reaching goals and physically checking things off lists. I actually consider myself pretty good at setting attainable goals that still stretch me and make me feel accomplished. It’s really important to make sure you are working towards bettering yourself in some way during the year – whether in your business or in your personal life. Yesterday, my husband and I sat down and did financial planning this year where we cataloged our monthly expenses, set out a budget and made monetary goals to reach at the end of the year. Late last week, I did all my business goals for this year and personal goals. I’m so ready to kick 2018’s butt. 😉 If you want to learn how to goal plan for 2018, keep reading. Let’s do this.

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How To Goal Plan For 2018

AND BEFORE YOU GO JUDGING THOSE WHO MAKE RESOLUTIONS + GOALS THIS YEAR, think on this quote from Statistic Brain in the back of your mind:

People who explicitly make resolutions are 10 times more likely to attain their goals than people who don’t explicitly make resolutions.

Just some food for thought before moving forward. TEN TIMES MORE LIKELY.

Review 2017’s goals and objectives and figure out where you succeeded and where you didn’t.

This is important. You need to catalog what areas you thrived and what you let slide. You can find out why some areas struggled and others didn’t, so you can be on top of things and correct that for this year. It’s great to sit down and make a physical list if you didn’t and check off what you did and didn’t do if you are a visual person. I know I need a dry erase board with things I can check off, add to and erase as needed. LOL.

Write out 2018 goals, and then list 3 things you need to do to achieve those goals for each one.

It’s a lot easier for people to write things down and then never look at them again. It’s harder to ignore goals when you have a set plan in place to reach them. Make it a point to list FIVE goals you want to accomplish in 2018 – more if you are feeling over zealous. Five is an easy number to digest, and doesn’t typically overwhelm people. So choose five goals and then list THREE things you have to do to consider that goal a success. For example, this was one of my goals for 2017:
Goal 1: Take better pictures for my blog.

• Sign up for an online photography course
• Learn how to use the settings on my camera
• Purchase Lightroom and Photoshop

When I accomplished all 3 of those steps, my goal was met. I naturally was better at taking pictures for my blog because I’d taken the necessary steps to ensure that. I took the online photography class and learned new skills. I learned how to optimize my camera by taking care to understand the camera settings. I purchased Adobe Lightroom and Photoshop so I can edit more easier and with more creative control. It’s a foolproof method, and it makes it so much easier to achieve goals without being overwhelmed by them.
[ctt template=”10″ link=”LKo8T” via=”yes” ]People who explicitly make resolutions are 10 times more likely to attain their goals than people who don’t explicitly make resolutions.[/ctt]

Track your goals MONTHLY.

This is super important, in my opinion. It gives you the opportunity to adjust goals (either larger or smaller). It also gives you motivation when you can physically see yourself reaching the goals you’ve set!! Use a monthly planner (digital or not – I prefer not. See which planner I use HERE) to make sure you are tracking regularly. Update your goal to show your progress and keep yourself motivated. For example, here was another one of my 2017 goals:
Goal 1: Reach 30,000 instagram followers
September: 23K
October: 24K
November: 25K
December 26K
Obviously, you’ll start in January and go through December. I didn’t quite reach this goal by December, but I kept tracking to see how I was growing and I plan on using THAT data to set my goal for 2018. Because I could see how I was (and wasn’t) growing, I can more accurately predict what I can actually reach in 2018 so that I don’t overshoot and end up disappointed.

Reward yourself for reaching small milestones!

This one is my favorite one because I am HIGHLY motivated by gifts to myself. 😉 When you reach certain goals throughout the year, reward yourself! If you hit your monthly income goal, make it a point to treat yourself to something nice – either a dinner out with your S.O. or a new purse or pair of shoes. If you work out three times every week for the first six months of the year, take a weekend vacation to the beach! You know what motivates you better than I do, so reward yourself with something you don’t normally do for yourself that you know you’d enjoy. I like to make my rewards stuff I just don’t give myself on a regular basis – like Cheesecake Factory or a Kate Spade purse. I’m definitely pushing for the finish line if I know a beautiful new handbag is on the line. 😉

Don’t feel discouraged if you fall off the wagon – and don’t use that as an excuse to just stop working towards your goals.

It’s really easy to fall off the wagon and then never get back on again. DON’T DO THAT TO YOURSELF. You are only hurting your own growth by doing that. Instead, take a moment to redefine your goals if they’re overwhelming you and then start again. You don’t need a January 1st to kick your goals into gear. You can start any time, and you can pick up where you left off any time, too.
Don’t work yourself into the ground, but hold yourself accountable. Schedule workout classes with friends and then be in charge of carpooling so you’re less likely to cancel. Set your alarm clock on the other side of the room so you are FORCED to get up at the right time (end that relationship with your snooze button). Make your meals ahead of time and freeze them so you have no excuse not to eat better. There are lots of things you can do to hold yourself accountable and keep going. One bad meal doesn’t mean you are ruined forever on your diet. One missed workout doesn’t mean you can never go back to the gym. You are never a failure if you are always trying. No matter how slow you think your moving, you are going faster than the person who isn’t moving at all.

If goal setting is hard for you – use the 7-day rule.

The 7-day rule is this: think about the goals you can accomplish in a week and then only make those goals. Focus on a week at a time. What can you do THIS WEEK that will keep you moving forward. Then break it down by day. How many hours each day do you need to devote to this to reach the goal? How will you know when it’s completed? One week is typically more than enough to time to complete something substantial if you work on it every day, and seven days doesn’t seem that long. It’s a lot more manageable than say, 365 days of doing that thing every day. So ignore that larger, more frightening goals and focus on one. week. at. a. time. And then, once you are comfortable with weekly goals and measurements, you can move up to monthly and it won’t seem as scary. You might even find you’ve become a goal setting aficionado and then success is right around the corner. 😉
[ctt template=”10″ link=”64585″ via=”yes” ]No matter how slow you think you’re moving, you are going faster than the person who isn’t moving at all.[/ctt]
At the end of the day, you are the only person who knows what your goals need to be and how you can accomplish them. I strongly believe if you break down each of your goals into easily manageable bites, you can do literally anything you set your mind to. That’s amazing, right? To me, that shows me how attainable huge and awesome things are. Want to be a concert pianist? OK COOL SET A GOAL TO PRACTICE PIANO EVERYDAY UNTIL YOU GET THERE. Want to become a graphic designer? SWEET. YOU GO TAKE THOSE COURSES AND LEARN THOSE SKILLS. There are always steps you can be taking to reach your goals, even if they are little ones.

PIN THIS FOR LATER:

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What are your goals for 2018? I want to hear them. Drop them in the comments below or email me at [email protected] to gain a new accountability partner. I have so many goals to reach this year and I am so excited to be working towards them. I’ve already put out into the universe that this year is going to be MY year and goal setting is one of the ways I am going to make that come true.

Would you be interested in seeing what my goals are for this year? Let me know in the comment section – and I’d be happy to oblige. 🙂