5 Steps to Accomplish Your Goals
Create a system to achieve your goals that you will really use.
Use the GOALS System
If you allow your current circumstances and other people in your life to dictate what you do and when, then you are not living YOUR life. If there are things you’d like to change, things you’d like to do, or things you’d life to stop doing, then you need to consciously restructure your life. You can proactively manage your life and take back control of the only things you can control: your thoughts, emotions, words and actions. As discussed in my previous blog, 3 Keys for Managing Your Life, the first key is to create your system using GOALS.
GOALS
GOALS is the perfect acronym to remember your life management system, because it lists the steps in order.
Goals
Objectives
Actions
Lessons
Success
Each step is required to successfully manage your life on a consistent basis.
Before you can manage your life to be happy, healthy, wealthy and wise, you must define what that looks and feels like. Start by envisioning what your perfect life would look and feel like. What purposeful work would you be doing? Who would be included as important relationships? What would being healthy and wealthy look like?
Try using a 3-year timeframe for more believable specificity. Using 5 or 10 years makes you less likely to take immediate action. Most people overestimate what they can do in a one-year vision, which is overwhelming. A 3-year vision gives a sense of urgency without being overwhelming. Now that you have your vision, you can start planning your Goals.
Goals
Using the vision, you decide your specific goals in each area of your life, using ROLES:
Relationships - personal and professional
Occupation - purposeful work, whether paid or voluntary
Lessons - books, courses, hands-on experience
Energizing - basic physical needs, time & energy management, finances
Spirituality - deeply connecting with All LIFE in whatever way you choose
Consider what annual benchmarks would look like to achieve your 3-year vision. Using the first year’s benchmark, what specific goals in each area would help you achieve that first benchmark. Your goals should be specific enough that you can imagine yourself mentally, emotionally and physically achieving them. Having that vivid image helps to provide the continuous motivation to achieve them. Limit the number of goals you’re working with to a number that resonates with you. You may prefer 3-5 goals to keep it simple. Or you may have a dozen steps that lend themselves to a system of achieving an average of 1 per month. Determine what works for you without stressing you with an overwhelming “How?”
Objectives
Next, think of each goal like a project. Divide each goal into small, doable, specific objectives that you can achieve within 90 days, or if that still feels overwhelming, then start with a monthly objective.
To make tracking and adjusting easier, break your objectives down into smaller units by timeframe and/or tasks. You get to decide how you want to track them. Consider quarterly, monthly and weekly objectives and reviews.
The idea is to focus only on the first steps that need to be taken. Avoid detailed plans about all the steps you need to take for the whole year, because that could overwhelm anyone. Besides, why waste time on detailed future plans that are likely to change before you get to them?! Decide what time periods work for you. Hold quarterly and monthly plans more loosely than your weekly and daily plans.
Action
Then take action, one small step at a time. By breaking down the objectives into the smallest do-able units possible, you can easily schedule each unit in order of importance and based on how your energy ebbs and flows throughout the day. (We’ll discuss energy management more in the next blog.)
Focus your attention on taking action on each step or individual unit, whether it be a task or a specified amount of time working on a larger unit. Finish one unit before starting the next. Many time management techniques exist to help you organize the order in which you take action, some of which will be discussed in the next blog.
One of the most important principles of time management that will significantly impact your life is Parkinson’s Law - work expands to fill the time allotted for its completion. Ideally you will have some unscheduled time allotted for unexpected events, which can be used if you need more time to complete scheduled tasks. Having that safety net should alleviate any fear that might cause you to overestimate the time required. So schedule the minimum amount of time you think is necessary to complete the task without it feeling overwhelming. You will be less likely to move too slowly or to allow yourself to be distracted by other less-important things.
Completing your tasks in the shortest time possible frees up more time for all the other things you want to do, such as family time and hobbies. You will also schedule those important activities, too. Just imagine being able to add extra family or hobby time to your day and week.
Lessons
Track every unit when you complete it or at the end of the day, whichever works for you. As long as the details are still fresh in your mind, it won’t make too much difference. Analyze your lessons learned. What worked? What didn’t work? What changes will you make for next time? Are your time/activity estimates realistic? This doesn’t have to take long or be formal unless you want it to be. Consider what way of tracking your results and the lessons learned will work best for you.
If you’re prone to overanalyzing, create a short review system to get closure quickly and release the tendency to continually rethink. If you’re prone to jumping quickly from one activity to another without analyzing results, schedule some time at the end of the day to perform a consistent daily review, using timers or attaching it to another activity.
This step also allows you to review your current plans and schedule and make changes where necessary. If you’ve never done something similar up until now, you will probably not be able to estimate time requirements properly. So be compassionate with yourself, and make adjustments as needed.
Schedules are not meant to be rigid. Think of trees. Although they are sturdy, they are flexible enough to bend in the wind. Rigid and dry branches will break. Your schedule is your tool, not your boss. Be flexible when circumstances change or when you learn more and need to adapt to your new information.
You also get to choose how you use this tool. Do you prefer to schedule in small increments or larger chunks of time? If you’re not sure which works best for you, try both styles and find the level that works for you.
Success
As discussed, many people finish a unit and immediately move on to the next. Even if you decided to analyze results at the end of the day, take a moment to acknowledge that you completed the task. You’ll get a feel-good dopamine hit each time you complete any task. Having a to-do list that includes all your activities, even those you repeat every day can provide lots of boxes to check for dopamine boosts of energy.
To really experience your life, take the time to celebrate your successes. Every step you take is a success, whether or not you achieved your goal, because even when you didn’t, you successfully learned what didn’t work.
Reward each step, even if it’s just checking off a box on your to-do list. Every acknowledgement gives you a boost of energy. Think of as many rewards that you would love. They could be a quick hug from a loved one to taking a long vacation with your family to a place you’ve always dreamed of visiting. Rewards that double their value include scheduling extra time for family or hobbies or playdates with friends.
Create a fun way of deciding which reward you get for which task. For tasks that you experience a higher level of resistance, you could reward yourself with a larger item or maybe two items. Visual people may want to use different color cards for different values of reward or the time requirements for the reward. Store the cards in a fun container. When you have time for a 5-minute reward, randomly pick a card corresponding to that time allotment. A special trip could be a special visual tracking system where you accumulate a certain number of points or steps in a project to achieve the reward when you complete the whole project. Be creative and use a system that matches your style.
Using the GOALS system enables you to keep your actions in alignment with your vision. Whether you use quarterly or monthly goals, schedule time to complete the next period early enough to make it seamless, but late enough to consider changes.
Going Deeper with the 3 Keys for Managing Your Life
In the next two blog posts, I will discuss the remaining keys for managing your life in more depth.
3 Aspects of Life Management You Can Control
Create your system to align with the way you think, act and organize.
3 Management Styles, You Decide Yours
Create your system to match your management style.