Possums!

SO! I am still talking about goals.

Why is that?

I mean GOALS. FUCK. BORRRRRING.

I get it. I used to eye roll about them too.

Until… I started actually SETTING THEM.

And REVIEWING THEM REGULARLY.

And seeing the changes they made in my life.

I think they are the most underrated success strategy ever.

And I reckon if every spirited and heart-centered adult + teenager was using them… this world would change and be healed for the better.

Goals can EMPOWER us to make our biggest dreams come true.

Let’s not forget about what the research says too:

Why is it important to set goals?

• We need guidance + advice to propel us into the direction of our dreams.
• We need support systems to help us make it happen.
• We need to spend time dreaming up our vision.
• When we don’t get clarity around where we’ve been and where we want to do, we get stuck in the same old place & same old routine.
• We need to let go of all the old past stuff & be grateful for it so we can move onwards.
• We need delicious, probing questions to help us get to the soul of what it is we need.

I know we can all get caught up in how to write goals though.

So I wanted to give you some guidance on how to create goals that work. Some tips and tricks that will help you set and structure your goals in a way that will help you actually reach them.

I like to call this…

the…

(drum roll please)

G.O.A.L. method.

Fuck, that’s handy right?

HOW ON EARTH WILL WE REMEMBER IT???

Okay…

let’s get started babe!

G: Get Motivated

Absolutely every single goal you set for the rest of your life should be motivating to you.

You may think that goals by their very nature are motivating, but that’s totes not true. For example, saying “I want to quit smoking/lose 3 kilograms/stop picking my nose and eating it,” is not motivating AT ALL.

It focuses on LOSS… not GAIN.

Without a motivational component, it is easy to become frustrated and even annoyed by goals.

There are bunches of ways to add a motivational component to your goals. All you have to do is really get to the heart of why you want to achieve the particular goal.

Maybe quitting smoking really = saving enough dosh to go sit on the beach for a week and no longer hacking a lung up.

Maybe losing weight really = having so much energy you can run after the kidliwinks (or run away from them super quickly so you can go to the dunny on your own #motivational)

Maybe stopping picking your nose = leaving calories for gluten free sticky date pudding. #priorities

Anyways… find the piece that makes you feel like a winner. And remember that. Over and over. In your head.

Coz it will get hard. But you need the good dream to hang on to.

O: Observable

Make your progress observable and rewardable.

This could be as specific as keeping a spreadsheet of your progress as you lose weight, or as vague as taking a monthly progress pic. The My Shining Year Workbooks has ways that you can check in daily, weekly, monthly and/or yearly to make sure you are tracking your goals.

Another way to do this is with a technique called ‘Don’t Break The Chain.’ This involves getting a giant wall calendar dedicated exclusively to your goals. Hang it somewhere prominent and then every day that you successfully work towards your goal, you get to place a big red heart over that day. Plus, another excuse to get some fabulous unicorn stickers with glitter! #winnnnahhhhhhhhh

After a few weeks, the psychological aspect of not wanting to break your chain of success will kick in because you can actually visualize each day of work you put in leading up to that day. You can structure almost any goal in a way that works with this technique.

Another thing I do is create fundraising thermometers for money or numbers-related goals.

You know when a charity is fundraising, and they have a thermometer showing where they are in reaching their goal?

I do the same for me, and hang it above my desk to motivate me.

Here’s a current one of mine (to sell 15,000 printed workbook copies).

It’s also awesome for your kids to learn too. My kids get SO invested in my thermometers, and they make their own.

For example, my eldest decided she wanted to save all her weekly pocket money until she had $100.

She worked out it would take 20 weeks (she gets $5 a week), and has been patiently pooling her money away and filling in her thermometer which hangs over her bed.

Today was the hallowed day she hit $100. She proudly took her purse to the toy shop, and told us “I know how to save money up now!” She spent $31 and is keeping the rest.

It’s enormously satisfying to colour in sections of fundraising thermometers. So motivating!

A: Actionable

Your goals need to be actionable! Don’t just make vague promises to yourself. This means they need to be specific and highlight targets and ways to get to those targets.

So… for example. Maybe your goals is being able to pretend you are Heidi and yodel in the Swiss Alps with the fam bam? I get it. I understand. I too have this goal. So much so I have been practicing yodelling for many years now. I feel I am becoming incredibly gifted at it. My husband parrrrrrticularly enjoys this hobby of mine. As soon as travelling with kids does NOT make me want to stab myself in the face with a cucumber, I am allllllll the fuck over that Swiss Alp. Like… Swiss cheese on bread. Holy.

MWAHAHAHAHAHA.

Anyways…

So… back on track. The goat track. The one up the mountain that Heidi goes on.

I AM KIDDING.

But seriously. I am sooooooo-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-ooooooo good at this. #heidipuns #yodelfest

If you… like me… have big hairy (goat) goals like I… break it into an ACTIONABLE goal.

With a Swiss holiday trip?

Turn it into these actionables:

Calculate how much money you would need to save.

Create a saving plan with a deadline (you could use the Don’t Break The Chain or Fundraising Thermometer ideas that we talk about).

Research which tour/agent to go through.

Book it in and pay it off!

Please also make sure yodelling is on your agenda. #IMPORTANT

L: Leeway

Reality time:

You’re going to fuck it up a little as you go.

You are going to fall off the path sometimes.

So babe… you really do need to give yourself room to momentarily fail on your road to success. It happens to the very best of us! But that doesn’t mean you lay down beside the road and just die… you get right back on that magical unicorn and keep moving towards your goal.

The reality is that over the course of a year you will make a lot of mistakes. I mean fuck guys… I make a lot of ’em. That’s part of doing business, part of “being in the arena” as Brené says. Part of Daring Greatly. Part of Rising Strong after a fall. (SUUUUCH A BRENÉ FANGIRL)

You need to understand this and not let them discourage you. Taking everything in stride and not allowing setbacks to permanently take you of the path to your goal will make it much more likely you reach the finish line of your success!

GOAL!

So… follow these steps and you’ll be well on your way to reaching those big beautiful goals of yours (whether they include goat herding or not.)

If you are truly ready for 2019 to be your most incredible year yet, in life or in business (or gasp! in BOTH?) I’m here to help you do just that… easily, cheaply + powerfully.

It’s time to make a decision, gorgeous soul.

You ready to make magic happen with powerful, proven and popular goal workbooks?

Grab your G.O.A.L.-tastic workbooks now!

Big love,

Transform your life + biz in 2019 with these powerful, proven and popular goals workbooks!