Happy New Year Everyone! I believe that 2020 can be a successful year for us all! ‘How can she have such high aspirations?’ you might be asking yourself…..Well, it’s because I have a sure way that each of us can accomplish parts, if not, all of our entire goals for 2020.
The secret to goal achievement is in creating mini goals specifically directed at our long-term goals.
The way that I do this is to ‘dream’ where I want to take my life, then I back up and envision the ideal path that I need to take to get there. My dreams become a version of my goals and my visioning path become my mini goals.
This has been such an effective plan for me that regardless of the overall outcome, if I am achieving some of my mini goals, positive movement forward is still happening. So, even if I don’t ever achieve my final dream goal, I am making significant headway in my life’s overall dream direction, and I am still making positive changes, moving forward, feeling accomplished and gaining confidence, etc. Also, if I do attain my dream goal, then it’s a win-win, because not only am I fulfilling a dream, I have also made several improvements along the way that will likely effect me positively in several areas of my life.
Let’s look at a simple example. One of my goals this year is to shave off 4-5 points from my golf handicap. This is all fine and good,however it is doomed for an epic fail, if I do not clearly define the path I need to follow in order to reduce my handicap.
So, my next step is to create a path, or mini goals, to my long-term goal. In this case, I decide that if I put a golf club in my hands at least twice a week, then that will help me achieve my goal. So, putting a golf club in my hand twice a week is now my focus. I can either go to the driving range, practice chipping in my back yard, or putt inside my house. This little mini goal is probably something I can fit into my schedule. My hope is that this mini goal will transfer into my long-term goal several months from now, and my handicap will decline.
And, another way I make this work for me is that practicing golf is also being added to my Focused Self-Care Plan. What is a Focused Self-Care Plan? A FSCP is a plan that includes everything I need to do in order to show up in this life as My Best Self. The way I create a FSCP is to have the non-negotiables at the beginning of the plan, then towards the end I add things like hobbies or activities that help me feel contented in my ‘inner child’ self, which helps me feel happy in my adult ‘real’ life. So, for my golf goal, I can actually add golf at the end of my self care plan as a hobby that helps me stay centered in the overall balance of my life.
Here’s to a healthy, safe, and focused 2020!