It’s time to revive goals that aren’t working for you.
You set goals with the best of intentions. You envision a healthier, happier life for yourself. But even the best of intentions don’t guarantee success in your goals.
The good news is even if your best intentions aren’t bringing about the change you wish to see you don’t have to entirely abandon goals that aren’t working. Instead, you can revive your goals. Breath fresh life into the goals you set with your best intentions and move toward the healthier, happier version of yourself that you aspire to be.
Keep reading to discover how to revive a goal that isn’t working for you!
Step 1: Clearly define the goal
One of the biggest reasons you aren’t achieving your goal could be because the goal is vague. In order to be successful, your goal needs to be clear and concise. They say you don’t really understand something unless you can explain it to a 5-year-old. Could you explain your goal to a 5 year-old?
Start by broadly defining the positive change you wish to see in your life. For example, your goal might be reading more. The goal to read more is great but it’s vague. Consider a few elements that could make your goal more specific. Such as, when you will read, what you will read, how often you will read.
A clearly defined goal might look something like this: I will read 5 non-fiction books over the next 5 months to expand my knowledge of ancient Egypt.
Do you see how the goal is clearly defined? The overarching goal is to expand your knowledge of ancient Egypt by reading 5 non-fiction books.
Step 2: Tether your goal to your values
Now that you really know what your goal is all about, make sure it aligns with your values. Values are dearly held beliefs, ideals that guide and motivate you. It only makes sense that a goal that is out of alignment with your values can be difficult to achieve.
Not sure what your values are? Start here.
Consider your current goal(s). Does your goal(s) align with your personal values?
If yes, move on to step 3. If no, tweak your goal using the steps below:
Establish importance
Your goal can still be important without directly aligning with your values. Take a moment here to determine if your goal is still important even if it doesn’t directly align with one of your values.
Reframe your goal
No matter what your initial goal(s) was there is always a way to reframe it in a way that aligns with your goals. Map out your values and begin to tweak the verbiage of your goal.
For example, if a core value of yours is authenticity and your goal is to read 5 non-fiction books over the next 5 months to expand my knowledge of ancient Egypt, you can align your goal with your values by pursuing the goal in a manner that feels authentic to you. If you hate reading history books, switch up your genre, opt for audio books or podcasts on a subject that is more interesting to you.
There are a million ways to switch up a goal so that it supports your values. Give it a try!
Step 3: Review your strategy
By this point, your goal is clearly defined and more closely aligned with your values then when you first started. Revive your stale goal(s) even more with a fresh strategy.
Whether you know it or not, you have a strategy to achieve your goal. Your strategy is essentially your plan for success. Your strategy might be implementing the S.M.A.R.T. goal method, relying on accountability, or winging it.
If you’re reading this post, your current strategy isn’t working. Pause to consider what your goal strategy has been so far. Once you have an idea of what your goal strategy has been up to this point begin crafting a new strategy by keeping the things that have worked for you so far.
What is working?
Before you throw your whole strategy out, consider the elements of your approach that might be working. For example, maybe you’re consistently showing up to the gym to support your goal of getting in shape. Showing up is a huge positive in your strategy! You’ve developed a habit that is supporting your goal(s).
Part of revising your goal strategy is sticking to the things that are working. Identify winners in your goal strategy by defining wins and success so far in your goal journey. Keep doing the things that have contributed to your success (however great or small).
What isn’t working
You know what’s working to support your goal(s), what about the things that aren’t working?
While there may be some good things going on in your goal strategy, overall, it’s not working for you. Find out what’s not working in your strategy by taking a hard look at the elements of your approach that are hampering your success rather than helping it.
Common issues with goal strategies:
- Lack of motivation – Lack of motivation can be attributed to a few things. Mainly, you’ll let motivation in a goal because the goal isn’t clear or it isn’t important. Revisit steps 1 and 2 to clarify your goal(s) and align it with your values.
- No accountability – It’s hard to go it alone. Many of us thrive on accountability. Enlist the help of a friend or two. Ask them to keep you on track as you progress in your goal(s).
- Unrealistic goal to begin with – There isn’t a strategy under the sun that can help you achieve a goal that is unrealistic. Go back to the drawing board and craft a more realistic goal for yourself.
Just as you kept the productive elements of your current strategy you’ll need to cut things that aren’t working.
Step 4: Implement a new strategy
Now that you know what works and what doesn’t work, craft a new strategy all together. Your new goal strategy will include elements that worked in your previous approach, exclude the things that didn’t work, and invite in new elements to try!
You can use my strategy for effect goal setting here or conjure up your own strategy from scratch.
Here’s what makes a good strategy:
Who – Get clear about who is involved in your goal. Does the success of your goal solely depend on you or do you need to assemble a support team to help you reach the finish line? Additionally, your goal(s) likely impacts more than just you. Who else benefits from your goal?
Why – Clearly define the reason or “why” of your goal. What makes it important? Why now? A strong why will motivate you and help you keep going when things get tough.
What – Recall step 1. Be specific about what it is you’re trying to achieve through your goal(s).
When – A timeline is an essential element of a successful goal strategy. When will you start? When will you complete your goal? When should your accountability partner check in on you? When will you work on your goal through the next week/month?
How – How will you achieve your goal. Get really specific here. How will you bring about the change you wish to see? How will you know you’ve been successful? Map out specific action steps here and schedule them.
Take a moment to pull your new strategy together. Be sure to really make your goal strategy work but reaching out to people who need to be involved and scheduling important steps in your calendar,
You’ve got this!
Can you feel the revival in your goals already?
Follow the steps above to revive your goal(s) and achieve the growth you’ve been craving. Feel free to revisit the steps above as often as you need to hone in a strategy that works for you and your goal(s).
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