We have all been there. Whether it’s New Year’s Eve, the first day of Spring, your birthday, or the day after watching the most inspiring movie ever. You sit down with pen in hand and ambition in mind and write down an exhaustive list of lofty goals. These goals tend to look something like this…

Lose ten pounds by the end of this month.
Create a Fortune 500 company by this time next year.
Have all of my debt paid off within the next six months.
Plan a trip around Jupiter with my pet Bengal tiger.

Okay, that last one might sound a little outrageous, but the other goals listed might as well sound just as unreasonable. When we set these goals, more often than not, we fall short within weeks or even days of setting them. We sometimes even forget about them entirely. Let’s face it. As genuine as our intentions may be to better ourselves and execute our goals, we rarely ever achieve what we set out to do. Why is there such a daunting, never ending failure loop when it comes to accomplishing our dreams?

There are many reasons why and I would need an endless supply of coffee to stay awake and write them all down. Life is crazy and seems to always be throwing things in the way of our path towards success. Health problems arise, more pressing issues take forefront, our goals constantly evolve, and we lack the energy and focus to follow through with anything long term. Unless you have devised a 24-page guide to exactly how you will save 10K this year and stick to it religiously, you may find yourself in the same exact financial, physical, and mental state as you were when writing your goals one year earlier.

So if you know you will fail, should you give up entirely on attaining that ripped bikini bod or landing that dream job? Absolutely not! Setting and achieving goals is a huge part of life and it’s importance should not be underestimated. It’s what makes us feel like we are growing as humans. It’s our way of showing to ourselves and others that we are capable of making a difference in our own lives and in the world. I truly believe we should be lifelong goal-setters who strive to reach the seemingly “impossible”.

That being said, we clearly need to reevaluate how we set our goals. None of us want to be twenty years older than we are now, sitting at the exact same cluttered desk, writing down the same exact goals we had when we were sixteen. So why do we continue to approach goal setting in a way that leads to unfulfilled aspirations?

These are the questions that keep me up at night. They are also the questions that have led me to create a (not-so) groundbreaking strategy for how we can reasonably set and achieve life changing goals.

There are a few critical changes we need to make to our thinking and our approach to goal setting.

First, we need to significantly reduce the time frame of our goals. It is not realistic to think that the first thing on your mind when you wake up on February 23rd is the goal you hope to accomplish by December 31st. More likely, you’re thinking about breakfast. Only setting long-term goals for ourselves is daunting and leaves us prone to moving them to the back of our cluttered minds. Instead, what if we tried setting goals for, let’s say…. One week? Dedicating one week to completing your goals is nowhere near as scary as committing an entire year to managing your goals.

Second, we need to set fewer, more narrowly focused goals. Every big dream we have in our lives is made up of lots of little steps we need to take to fulfill that dream. By setting a limited number of very specific goals each week, you begin having this magic little thing called progress. An immense goal with no tangible steps in sight is down right overwhelming. Break your larger goals down into very small, practical steps that will help lead you to success, and watch the magic of turning your dreams into reality unfold.

A simple way of implementing these two new ways of thinking into a tangible goal setting strategy is to set for yourself four very specific weekly goals.

Over the past six weeks, I have been testing this method out myself. Each week, I have specified four very specific goals that I focus on. I have even created a formula I use when setting my own ambitions that may help inspire your goal setting thought process. I break my four goals into three categories:

• Two “bigger goal” oriented goals. These goals are those small steps to your bigger dream I was referring to earlier. Take some time to evaluate what you are really striving for in your life. Consider the steps you could take weekly that will help you move towards that dream. For example, mine include things like “spend one hour on my personal project” and “draft and send that work email I have been putting off to so and so”. Writing down these focused steps and seeing them on your fridge every day will motivate you to finish them by the end of the week and track your progress. I have found this to be SO encouraging in my own life!
• One mind goal. Our mental well-being is absolutely vital to not only achieving our goals, but also to living a joyful, productive life. When you nurture your mental health, you are in such a better state of mind to tackle your dreams. Taking care of our mind makes us feel more inspired, motivated, happy, and challenge-resistant. For this reason, every week, I set one goal for how I can revolutionize my thinking. I now make a conscious effort to “give myself affirmations throughout the day”, “complain less”, and “consistently tell myself I am self-disciplined”. If you are dedicated to making these mental changes, I promise you they will revamp your life.
• One goal to help others. Being kind makes the world a better place and makes you happier. Every week, I include a goal that is outward focused. I choose goals that I believe will benefit others and make me a better citizen, friend, daughter, student, etc. Being intentional in the way you treat others can make such a difference in their lives and in your own. Some of my externally focused efforts include “compliment at least two people a day” and “honor my commitments to others”.

Now, this is the formula I have been using to set my own personal goals. You should focus on setting goals that bring you joy and that are important to you. Setting goals you are excited about will greatly encourage you to fulfill them.

There is a tip I have for you that will ultimately determine your success throughout this process: give yourself grace. While setting four weekly goals will make accomplishing them easier, we are all human and and we all fall short sometimes. The secret is to not let this deter you from forgiving yourself and starting fresh the next day. If we give up every time we don’t follow through on our goals for one day, we will never make any progress in life. If you don’t hit one or even all four of your goals one week, start new the next week. Give yourself grace, always.

Many of these goals, you will find, are ones that you will want to continue to do after the week is finished. I have definitely found this to be true in my life- for almost all of my goals! My very first week of following this strategy, I established the goal of writing a gratitude journal every morning of that week. I fell in love with this ritual and have continued it every morning since. Be open to allowing these goals to change your life outside of their one week scope.

The final tip I will leave you with is one that might be considered counter-intuitive, however, it is extremely effective. Make your goals silly easy. For example, one of the goals I set four weeks ago was to read one page of a book every night before I went to bed. Just ONE page. Setting such a low threshold goal allows two things to happen:

1) When I read just TWO pages of my book, I have surpassed my goal. Considering I now usually end up reading an entire chapter or two, I feel so good about exceeding my expectations.
2) When it is 3am and I am a walking zombie, I muster up the energy to simply read one page of my book, and I have still stuck with my goal.

The key here is establishing consistency. Consistency is what will keep you setting and achieving your goals for years to come.

Using this goal setting strategy truly has been changing my life. I realized I am capable of doing way more than I ever thought I could. Proving to yourself that you can set and achieve four goals every week is stellar for developing confidence in your own abilities. Just dedicate yourself to this strategy for one week and you will see what I mean.

Do not limit your potential by only setting lofty, year-long goals that leave you unbearably discouraged. Instead, set four weekly goals that will leave you feeling accomplished, fulfilled, and motivated to take on your next big dream.

We have the power to make a true difference in ourselves and in the world. Let’s start today.

Happy goal setting!

Love always,