Setting Realistic Goals & How To Achieve Them

With 2021 around the corner, you may be thinking of different New Year’s Resolutions to set! I am right there with you! I’m definitely the type of person who has big dreams and goals and wants to accomplish them as soon as possible. I have started to realize, however, that this mindset ultimately results in me ignoring the small victories and milestones throughout the process. I end up tiring myself out and not meeting my overall goal in the end. A month or so ago, I thought I would try a new method that would allow me to build consistency – the key component of a solid routine. In this post, I am going to share the steps I am taking to implement these habits in hopes that they help you to achieve your goals no matter how big or small!

Determine what your overarching goal(s) is/are:

This could be vague or specific, big or small. Your goal could be to finally finish that book you’ve had sitting around for a few months, to run 1 mile every day without stopping, or to completely revamp your routine. Whatever you have in mind, identify what it is exactly you want to achieve. For me, I want to get back into a routine – working out more consistently, developing a better sleep schedule, etc. At the end of the semester, I was feeling very tired and unmotivated. I took these past few weeks to relax , but I know what I want to accomplish and need to take the necessary steps to get there. This leads me to the next point…

Break your overarching goal into smaller sub-goals

As I mentioned earlier, I can be a bit impatient and want to jump right into things all at once. In the past, I would try to lump everything together, wake up one morning, and try to completely reset my routine all at once. This method never seemed to work as it wasn’t very sustainable.

I have realized over time that it is better to gradually implement these habits one (or a couple) at a time. It ensures that I am being realistic and consistent with one or a handful of habits before introducing a new one. For example, to develop a better sleep schedule, I made it a goal to read my book each night before going to bed as opposed to watching TV. When I become comfortable with that, I may start reading a half hour earlier at night and setting my alarm for 30 minutes earlier in the morning. If I follow the same method for working out and any other goals I have, it keeps up the motivation and allows for continuous work towards those larger goals.

Hold Yourself Accountable

Accountability and consistency go hand-in-hand. If you let yourself slide too frequently, it will be harder to develop that consistency, ultimately prolonging your process. For example, If I decided that I needed to read one chapter of my book each night to finish it, but choose to watch Netflix instead, it just prolongs the process of finishing my book and reaching my goal of building better habits.

It also helps to get a friend involved 🙂 One of my friends and I have been thinking about choosing two days per week to do some sort of workout together. Not only is it more fun to work out with a friend, but it also ensures that we each reach our individual goals of maintaining a consistent workout routine throughout the winter months.

Celebrate The Little Things

I am a big believer in the saying “everything in moderation”. I think it applies to so many different aspects of life. If you finally finish that book, treat yourself to an episode of your Netflix show that night. If you hit your workout goal for that week, give yourself a day off.

Giving yourself time to celebrate the little victories makes it that much more fulfilling when you accomplish your overarching goal from step #1. I personally find that it keeps me motivated and wanting to work harder to achieve to my larger, long-term goals.

I am really looking forward to this new goal-setting method and I hope that you will join me! Of course what works for you may be different than what works for me, and that is totally ok! However, if you find that you are struggling to achieve your larger goals and have difficulty staying consistent, I encourage you to try this method and see what you think! Thank you so much for reading – I hope you have a great rest of your day and wonderful start to 2021!