Setting goals is a very important first step to make to grow in any aspect of your life. I know the feeling of excitement when first setting a goal and trying to reach it as soon as possible, but quickly feel overwhelmed. I learned how important it is to stay consistent to reach my goals.
Consistency is not something that I instinctively thought was the most important thing in reaching goals, but trust me, it works. I spent so much time starting and stopping when trying to reach my goals before I learned how to be consistent.
This article will teach you how to stay consistent to reach your goals. Using the mindset explained below, you will have a more direct and quicker path to reach your goals.
How to Stay Consistent to Reach Your Goals
Why Do You Need Consistency to Reach Your Goals?
I’m sure you’ve experienced the feeling of excitement when setting a new goal that you cannot wait to reach. If you’re anything like me, that excitement has led you to try to start everything at once to reach that goal as quickly as possible. While that motivation and drive are absolutely important to success, it is important to be strategic to avoid getting burned out.
If you do too much of anything too fast, getting burned out is very common which will lead you to stopping your progress. In many situations, stopping like this will actually cause you to take a couple of steps back and once you get started again, you’ll need to make up for the lost time. After learning how to avoid that vicious cycle, I want to teach you how to avoid it as well.
This is where consistency comes in. By relying on consistency to reach your goals, you will always be moving in the right direction. This technique will reduce possible frustration and burnout that you may have experienced in the past. For more information about why you should stay consistent to reach your goals, take a look at the article linked below!
Step 1: Decide Why You Want to Put in the Work for Your Goal
First off, congratulations on setting a goal. That is a great step in the right direction and having that goal will help to give you direction for a path to reach the goal. Next, coming up with your “why” is very important. This reason for wanting to reach your goal will help structure your mindset in the process.
For example, maybe your goal is to get a promotion at work. This is a very common goal, and there might be a few different motivations behind setting this goal. Some motivations could be a pay raise, more flexible hours, or maybe different job responsibilities. Whatever the reason, it is essential to take it another step further.
Continuing with this example, maybe you want that pay raise so you can buy a house, travel more, feel financially ready to start a family, or maybe just be able to cushion your savings. Whatever this reason, it is important to make note of it. Maybe you have more than one reason, and that is perfectly okay too!
Step 2: Evaluate Your Type of Goal
Any goal can be categorized in a few different ways. For the purpose of this article, we will focus on three main ways to categorize them. The first category is what aspect of your life they affect. For example, your goal may be for fitness, personal, professional, or another part of your life. This category is important because it breaks down what part of your life you will be improving.
The next category is long-term versus short-term goals. There’s not one that is better than the other, but oftentimes it is easier to break down long-term goals into multiple short-term goals. In the end, you will still be aiming to reach your long-term goal but it can be helpful to break it up to make it feel more attainable. Continue reading to learn the best way to break your long-term goal into multiple short-term goals.
Lastly, you should determine if your goal is a process goal or an outcome goal. A process goal is something that revolves around the journey. An example of a process goal would be walking for 15 minutes each day. An outcome goal is something that can be reached by accomplishing a process goal. For example, an outcome goal could be to lose 10 pounds, and the process goal of walking 15 minutes would be a great way to reach the weight loss outcome goal.
If you’re interested in more information on how goals can be categorized, this article is a great resource.
Step 3: Convert Outcome Goals into Process Goals
Converting outcome goals into process goals will make the importance of consistency much more clear. Focusing on process goals will allow you to be in control.
With the example of getting a promotion at your job, there are many different factors that go into receiving that promotion. Some are in your control, and some are out of your control. It is important to break down, to the best of your knowledge what needs to happen to accomplish your goal.
In this case, maybe you need your manager’s approval and maybe you need to meet a certain number of completed projects in the year. While you cannot guarantee your manager’s approval, there are still a few things you can do.
For example, if this promotion is for a leadership position, try taking some initiative to answer simple questions the newer employees might have. In addition, some of the best leaders lead by example so you should be sure that you are arriving for meetings on time and completing all of your assigned work.
Now, instead of “trying to impress your manager”, you can focus on 3 progress goals:
- Answer one question from a newer employee each week
- Arrive at each meeting on time
- Complete all assigned work on time
In addition, you can break down the certain number of completed projects in the year into a progress goal. For example, instead of worrying about the big number you need to reach, think about the time you need to spend and the specific steps you need to take to reach that goal. Maybe this means you need to make sure you spend a focused 3 hours per day without interruptions to complete this goal. Now, try to arrange your meetings in a way that you can have 3 hours dedicated to this goal every day.
Step 4: Convert Long-Term Goals into Short-Term Goals
If you have a long-term goal, that is great! You should definitely keep that goal in mind and remember that the sequence of short-term goals you’re building will be your way of reaching that long-term goal. It is good to keep your “why” from step one revolving around your long-term goal. Using this long-term goal for your “why”, will help you stay focused until you reach the final goal.
There are a couple of ways of going about creating short-term goals from long-term goals. Now that you’ve converted your outcome goals to process goals if they still seem overwhelming, you should break them into short-term goals. This can be done by looking at the time frame and reducing it to something that seems manageable. Everyone will have a different ideal time frame, but if it’s a goal you’ve been struggling with for a while, a week is a good starting point.
In addition to reducing the time frame, maybe you start by only focusing on one of the progress goals. It will probably feel overwhelming to add all the progress goals at one time so you can start with one and add more as you feel comfortable. Starting small will make sure you’re able to stay consistent and keep moving forward.
Step 5: Write Down Your Goal
The next step to help you stay consistent to reach your goals is to write down your goal somewhere you will see it every day. This can be done any way you’d like. Maybe you can write it somewhere in your bedroom so you see it as soon as you wake up. Another idea is to set your phone wallpaper as your goal.
This can be done so many different ways, so try out a couple of different methods and see which one feels best to you. Seeing your goal written down will help you stay focused. To make this even more effective, try jotting down a few words relating to your why.
Step 6: Accountability Partner
Using someone to hold you accountable can be very helpful with consistency. Now that you are focusing on process goals, the accountability aspect is very easy to implement. Even if you have a friend working toward another goal, if you each have tasks you want to do each day to bring you closer to your goal, you can check in at the end of the day to ensure that you both did your tasks.
If you’re not familiar with the effectiveness of an accountability partner, take a look at this article for more information. In addition, this article offers resources for finding an accountability partner.
Step 7: Celebrate the Small Accomplishments
Looking back on your progress goals frequently can really help your mindset when trying to reach a big goal. By reflecting, you will have a good idea of how you’re doing at your goals. This reflection will show you any progress goals that you’re struggling to stick to. For the progress goals that you’re struggling with, maybe think about cutting it back or adjusting it to make it more manageable for you.
For example, if you struggle with a goal to have focus time for 3 hours every day, try to cut it back to 1 hour every day. Once that is comfortable, then try increasing it until you reach your 3-hour goal.
By reflecting often, you will also see which progress goals you’ve been very successful in completing. Each of these successes is a great opportunity to celebrate. It is very important to celebrate any accomplishments along the way to keep a positive mindset. This positivity will allow you to enjoy the journey of getting to your goal rather than just trying to rush to the finish.
This article describes the psychological effect of celebrating your success and explains how these celebrations will help you stay focused on reaching your goals.
Bonus Tip:
In the beginning, it will feel very tempting to try to do everything. This excitement is very valuable, but it will actually be more valuable if you’re able to pace yourself. For example, you should really focus on pacing yourself at the beginning which will leave you eager to make progress on reaching your goal for longer. If you give it your all from the beginning, it will be much more difficult to stay consistent, trust me.
Thank you for reading! I hope you are able to follow these steps and stay consistent to reach your goals! If you have any questions or comments, please comment below or send an email to ourteam@wellroundedyou.com
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