If you only set goals without managing them, failure is imminent. Setting goals requires continuous management for success. Below are seven tips to help you better manage the goals you have now judiciously thought through and set:
- Keep goals front and center
Make sure tasks associated with your goals are noted on your daily to-do list. If they are not in visual sight, the old adage “out of sight, out of mind” applies here. Just like your daily trivial tasks are included on your to-do list, so should the tasks associated with your goals be included on this list as well
2. Track your goals
You need to track the progress of your goals and give them the utmost priority on a daily basis. Goals are simple to track but most people don’t bother. Then one day—surprise—the completion date for the goal is near and you’re not ready. You scramble, but it’s too late—another failed goal.
Tracking your goals is a simple process you manage daily. Create a spreadsheet with the following columns (from left to right):
- Goal’s name
- Date set
- Due date
- Milestones: for each goal with their own due dates
- Status: Highlighted in green, yellow or red
- Note: Keep a log of your goal’s successes and failures
3. Manage your goals via a routine—make it a habit
Establish a daily routine that helps you achieve your goals. If one of your major goals is health-related, then your AM or PM routine should include your daily exercise regimen
4. Live life by the 80/20 rule—complete version 1.0
As with anything in life, don’t seek perfection. Rather than slowing down trying to achieve 100%, take your goal as far as you can go based on its original due date and complete version 1.0. Eighty percent done is better than another incomplete goal. You can always go back later and make it a new goal to take the finished product to the next level (i.e., version 2.0). Get used to wins not failures. Put a stake in the ground and then start the next goal. Possessing a mindset based on accomplishments (not failures) is crucial for success.
5. Do not multi-task
Focus on one task at a time. In fact, research says each time your mind changes from one task to another it slows you down, makes you less effective and, according to shopnutritional.com, it lowers your IQ while working on cognitive tasks.
6. Continually push yourself
There are no easy/magic solutions to hold yourself accountable to completing a goal. The tips covered in this blog will assist in this effort, but the bottom line is success comes from within—how badly do you want it? You must be willing to push yourself every day to accomplish your goals. Be positive regardless of the obstacles you tackle on any given day—we all have issues that arise. You’ve got to believe that your life is a business and your well-being is dependent on you achieving these goals. If your life depends on it, you will strategize frequently to motivate yourself to conquer any obstacles that get in the way of you and your goals.
7. Reward yourself
Congratulations you just completed a major goal! Having some sort of reward system is important for two main reasons: (1) it helps you reflect on your achievement and (2) it will motivate you to accomplish more!
