If you’re getting average results in life, chances are you lack clarity on your goals and what it is you really want. You probably have dreams in different areas of your life, but maybe you’re jumping back and forth between them and never giving them focused attention for any real length of time. Does this sound like you? You’re not alone, you just need to get clearer on a few things. Here’s 7 steps to turn things around fast.
Take a Brain Dump
Sit down with a pen and paper, or use your computer if that’s more your style and ask yourself “what do I really want?” Now the trick here is to avoid questioning what comes to mind and just write it down. It might sound ridiculous, it might be so epic you have no idea how it could ever be possible, it might be small and easy. Just let the words flow out of you. Keep asking yourself over and over “what do I really want?” If you lack clarity on your goals it can sometimes be due to you not being fully aware of what you do want. You could have dreams in the back of your mind that you’ve blocked and they need a way to come out.
Break Your Goals into Categories
Now that you have your list of goals, it’s time to break them into segments to make it easier to focus on. You could categorise them into financial, health, personal development, career/business, relationships, contribution and let’s not forget fun! Assign each goal into a category where it best fits for you.
Prioritize Your Categories
What area in your life do you feel needs the most attention right now, or inspires you to get into action the most? Assign each category a number from 1-7 (or however many categories you have). The categories that are numbered 1-3 are the most important to you right now and where you will start to give attention to first. Remember, it is what is most important to you, no one else’s opinion matters when it comes to your dreams and goals.
Decide on a Timeframe
Some goals can be achieved in a week, some over several years. Break your goals down even further by assigning them into time chunks. A simple way to do this can be short term (0-12 months), medium term (1-5 years) or long term (10+ years). By doing this you get a clearer picture of what needs to be a priority, and you can see if achieving some goals will lead to you making progress in others.
Prioritize Your Goals
Having umpteen million goals in all different areas of your life can sound exciting, but reality is we all only have 24 hours in a day. Now that you know what priority you place on your categories, let’s assign priorities to the goals you listed in your brain dump. Following the same process as you did with assigning numbers to your categories, order your goals with number 1 being the most important. You can have as many goals as you like, you just want to decide on an order to attack them in.
Select Your Top 10
The first 9 goals which will form your Top 10 are goals 1-3 in your top 3 categories. Your tenth goal is a free choice, but you don’t have to pick a tenth one if you prefer not to. It’s totally up to you! Now that you have culled your list and only have to give attention to these 9-10 items, you should feel like you have a great deal more clarity on your goals. From here you can break them down into smaller chunks and make them progress steps keep you in check with your bigger vision, or you can just choose to solely focus on achieving the end goal.
Journaling – Your Secret Weapon
It’s highly likely at this point that you still have no idea how you will achieve your goals. Most people with great visions rarely do! Just having clarity on your goals already puts you ahead of most people who are wandering aimlessly through life. One of the best ways to stay focused on your goals is to write them down every day in your journal. You can keep them short and sweet by listing them out as if you’ve already achieved them, or you can let the pen run wild and write about how awesome your life has become since all your goals are now a reality. Do what feels right for you on the day, all that matters is that you do it!
Now that you have clarity on your goals and a plan for achieving them, you just need to add the final ingredient. Inspired action. Listen to your instincts and learn to trust them. You might receive all sorts of crazy signs from the Universe telling you what to do next, just be on the lookout for them. Try to avoid getting too bogged down in the details of ‘how’ you are going to achieve your goals. Just focus on the end result and make sure you take action continually in the ways you feel guided to.
Want some help with your journaling?
If you’d like more ideas on how to get the most out of writing, the Journal Queens Facebook Group is a free community where ladies come to learn how to write their own success stories and get the most out of their journal practice. Join here Journal Queens
