Ernie O Dacumos Happy New Year Gorgeous! What a year it has been! But I wanted to ask, were you able to achieve your goals in 2022? Or sadly, you did not. I will be completely honest with you, I did not meet my goals for 2022. I will not lie about that but that is because I was lost. And did not really know what to plan for the path that I wanted to take until almost halfway through the year already. But as soon as I learned the path I wanted to take, all wheels started turning in that direction.
But I am not here to bore you with everything that I have done in 2022. I am here because I know like myself, you promised yourself that 2023 will be better. May that be improving your health. Starting your own business. Learning a new language. Finishing a book. Anything that you want to change or improve, name it.
And like what I do each year, I give up and lose motivation for what I am doing. And you want to hear a secret? It’s normal! Yes, it is normal! It is so easy to quit. To turn off the lights and go. And wait for next year to come to start over. Or even think that once you get the motivation or inspiration then you will start again.
Well, I hate to break it to you, but if you are reading my blog post, I know you have bigger dreams than you can fathom. You have this burning desire to make something for yourself. And live a fulfilling life. I know this because I was in your shoes too. Which is why I built this blog for YOU.
I hate the thought that you may be having right now. Every time you have that moment of motivation to make a change you can’t help to feel like you’re starting over again. Always started with planning, yet didn’t have a chance to finish.
Can you relate to that? Maybe yes, or maybe no. Regardless, it’s okay to start over but what is not okay, is to give up. It’s not failing if you kept going. And to be honest, it is not starting over. If you use the teachings you have learned from the previous experience.
So, let’s start over. I would like to share my practical ways to plan to achieve your goals in 2023.
Practical ways to plan to achieve your goals in 2023
- Set your goal and be very specific
- Set a time frame for when will you achieve or complete the goal
- List down activities that you will need to do to get closer to your goal
- One of the ways to plan is to break it down into attainable daily activities
- Make it your non-negotiables
Set your goal and be very specific
One big mistake that I have made in the past is not setting a goal.
If you fail to plan, you are planning to fail.
-Benjamin Franklin
One of the ways to plan to achieve your goal is by setting it. If we are not setting a goal, there is nothing to achieve. If there is nothing to achieve then there is no direction. So, as Ben Franklin says, “if you fail to plan, you are planning to fail”.
Now, your goal has to be very specific. I did not know this before, but it made so much sense when you become more specific.
One story I heard was, a young man kept praying to win the lottery. And every time he plays the lottery, he wins a dollar or two. He then plays the lottery again. Praying to win. And once again, he would win a dollar or two. Until finally, he asked frustratedly while praying, “Lord, I pray to win the lottery, but I never win. Why is that?”
Suddenly, his Lord answered, “My son, I always let you win the lottery. The couple of dollars that you bring home is winning the lottery. How much is it that you wanted to win?”
I know, it’s a silly story but it makes sense. If you wish to win the lottery, yet with no set amount. Then winning a dollar sum is winning the lottery right?
It is the same as setting vague goals like; I wanted to lose weight, I wanted to be rich, I wanted to start reading again. Goals that we set yet we will not see achievement because it is not specific.
But if we change it to, “I wanted to lose 25 pounds”. Now that is specific and definitely attainable. Instead of saying, “I wanted to be rich”, say “I wanted to have a passive income of $50,000 a month”. That is specific right?
Set a time frame for when will you achieve or complete the goal
One of the great ways to plan is by setting a time frame for when you will achieve or complete your goal. This coincides with the first step. We have to be specific with setting the goal and again, specific on when to complete it.
I think you know the gist but I will still explain. Setting a time frame shows progress. And when you see the progress you are more motivated to take action. Let’s take the goal of losing 25 pounds. I wanted to lose 25 pounds… if you don’t put an end date, then most likely there is no sense of urgency. You would find yourself doing the work over and over. Or actually whenever you have time. Without a sense of urgency, then the effort will fade. This is why most people give up on their new year’s resolution by the end of January or mid-month of February.
So, gorgeous! Let’s set a time frame. One of my goals this year is to lose 15 pounds by March 31, 2023. See, specific and definitely with a sense of urgency. I would love for you to be my accountability partner if this is one of your goals this year too.
List down activities that you will need to do to get closer to your goal
Yes, one of the practical ways to plan your goals is to list down the things that you need to do to get closer to your goal. I mean this is obvious, right? But how often do we do it?
I would like to let you in on a secret. I am not a fan of writing but I do write a lot of things. Because there is something about writing things down on paper that makes it so official. And by doing so, you minimize the overwhelming feeling of getting things done that is in your mind. And another perk is, you will not forget about it when you write it down.
“Well, Ernie if I don’t know what those activities are, what do I write?” I thought you’d never ask. The answer is research dear. Find a person who had the same goal as you and figure out the actions they have taken to achieve it. And use that. Over time, you will apply your own actions as you dive into doing those things.
One of the ways to plan is to break it down into attainable daily activities
One reason why people quit early on in their journey is because of disappointment. On top of adversities of course. But let’s focus on disappointment. We have this notion that when you see progress in your journey toward your goal, it has to be big. It has to be a visible impact. And when we don’t see that impact. Or that big change. We get disappointed.
Let me enlighten you. Say, your goal is to lose weight. Now, you will be so excited and motivated to exercise every day. Going to the gym. Started running. Joined all the classes you can join. Meal prepping. Or some of you would not eat. And then after a week, you weigh yourself. The weighing scale shows that you lost one pound. Isn’t that disappointing? Let me add this, you will then tell yourself, “That doesn’t count, it’s just water weight.”
The message is, “You have to be practical in setting the daily activities for yourself. Make it so easy and small that you would not dread doing it.”
Here’s my example of breaking things down into bite-size when losing weight. In our example of losing 15 pounds in 3 months. Overwhelming right? It seems too big of a number for a short period of time. But let’s break it down. Divide 15 pounds for 3 months. The answer is 5. Meaning, in order to achieve my goal by March, I will need to lose 5 pounds a month. Still overwhelming? Well, there are 4 weeks in a month right? Divide 5 pounds by 4 weeks. The answer is 1.25 pounds. So, all I need to focus on is to lose 1.25 pounds every week and I will get closer to losing 15 pounds in three months. Now, does that sound doable?
Same thing with the activities. Break it down. Work on your upper body one day. Then focus on the lower body the next. Cut down on sweets. See the word, “Cut” down not “stop”? Cutting it down is less alarming for your brain to follow, instead of completely cutting something off. Somehow, when you tell yourself that you have to completely stop something, it gives it a major panic attack. Try it and see how you feel.
Make it your non-negotiables
Yes, make it your non-negotiables. Whatever activities you have listed on your plan and have broken down into bite-size pieces to achieve, make it non-negotiable. You don’t have to set a specific time when it needs to get done in your day, as long as it gets done before the end of your day.
In my blog post, “Simple ways to declutter your mind and your life”, I shared the “Power of 5”. Which is listing 5 things that you would do on a daily basis. You can apply that concept here. On the list of activities that you have written and said you need to do to get closer to your goal. Rank them and take the first top 5 activities from that list and make them your non-negotiables. Simple right?
There you have it gorgeous, “Practical ways to plan to achieve your goals for 2023”. I challenge you to apply them and encourage you to share the results with me on this post or even in a private message. Again, I would like to greet you a Happy New Year. I wish you prosperity, happiness, and great health this year and for years to come. Please share this blog post with others, it’s the only way we can spread the teachings.
