Staying motivated to stick to goals and week one review of mine

How fantastic does it feel when you set yourself a goal? Just sitting down and writing down your intentions. It’s such a good feeling to get it out on paper or on the screen. It’s like the first action to actually achieving your goals.

You are full of motivation, inspiration and excitement and in that moment, your goals feel so achievable.

I love that feeling. I really do. But where I fall short, and where most other people fall short, is that I (we) put our intentions out in the universe and then walk away, leaving them to get buried under all the other things that are important in your life. It’s not until the end of the year comes that you think ‘shit, I set myself some goals in January and I have no idea what they are or if I’ve achieved them!’

Does this sound like you?

Well, read on, because this post is going to be all about to stick to your goals.

How to stay motivated to stick to goals.

Be realistic.

I know, I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again – you need to be realistic and set SMART goals.

Smart goals are goals that are specific, measurable, attainable, relevant and timely. have a time scale.

A non-smart goal:

I’m going to get lots of new followers on Twitter.

A smart-goal:

I’m going to get 3000 new followers on Twitter by the end of the year engaging with new people, retweeting relevant content and creating new sharable posts.

See the difference? Your goals need to be something you can measure and have a clear end and a way to achieve them.

Review your goals.

The biggest mistake you can make is not actually reviewing your goals. Remind yourself of them regularly and check in with your progress so if something isn’t working, you have a chance change your plan of action.

Know your distractions.

Is your goal to workout at home 3 times a week, but you’re constantly distracted by your phone? Put it in another room until the workout is gone.

Is it to spend 2 hours each week on your CIM course (like me!) but emails keep popping up – turn them off!

If you work from home, there are places like these Offices to rent Liverpool, that offer a formal environment for those of you that freelance or might need a desk or office at some point. Signature Works, the Office Space Liverpool specialist gives many options for your needs and shared office spaces like it are popping up all over the place to meet the demands of more and more people being self-employed.

If that’s a bit out of your price range, an afternoon in a coffee shop might be a good idea to get some work done outside your usual environment.

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With this post in mind, I’ve decided to review the first week of my January goals that I set out on my powersheet.  I set monthly goals to help me towards my 2019 blog and career goals.

Here’s how I’ve done on the first week:

Monthly goals:

I’m 27% through my Illustrator course which means I’m on track. I need to hit 50% by Tuesday to stay on track for this goal!

I’m struggling with gaining 300 Twitter followers. So far I’ve gained 44, to be on track I need to be getting 75 a week. I’ve been sending out more tweets and trying to interact more. This might be something I need to put a bit more effort into as if I don’t get this goal, it puts me behind on my yearly goal of getting to 15k followers!

I’ve not updated my CV yet but I’m not sure if I should push this to February as I’d like to complete some course before updating it. May still make a start!

I’ve already created a downloadable, so that is ticked off. The goal does say to create on for February, but I think I’m going to have one each month so it should have been to create one for January. Anyway, I’ve done it.

Weekly goals:

I studied for my CIM and I’m not going to lie, it was tough to find the time for it! I feel like I’m taking on a lot of things at once so I might need to look at my diary and see what else I can fit in. I also need to sit down and think about how much time I’ve got for each module before April. The exam is in about 11 weeks. I just need to go through the last module and then start looking at each one in more detail! This goal is going to need to go up to 4 hours per week in Feb and even more in March, I think!

I finally posted on my fitness blog for the first time in about 4 weeks! Updated my fitness goals and some starting photos, so check it out. I would love to create more content on there because I’ve got loads of ideas, but time is a big issue for me in that respect!

I only went to the gym 4 times last week instead of 5. I’m trying not to beat myself up too much about it because I was sick. I had to cancel a PT session and take 2 days off work with a sickness bug or something. I’m on track for going 5 times this week though!

I posted my SEO guide for both last week and this week! So that’s a double tick in the box!

I’ve been doing well on all the daily goals too. I still think I need to do something more with Twitter, but again – time. I’m giving myself loads of goals to hit and things to do but I’ve also got a full-time job, a 2-hour commute and other things to think about. Yikes.

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So there you have it, my goals and how I am tracking.

Reviewing them regularly keeps them fresh in your mind and can keep you on track. Don’t be afraid to change your goals if they are not working for you! There’s no shame in making it a bit easier if you know it’s not attainable.

How do you manage your goals?