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Goal planning for dummies 

 February 4, 2020

By  oliviaraymond

As a creative monkey, a busy mum (husbands counts as children….😜), small business owner.. you must often face the truth that you can only accomplish so much in a day. But by reading this post, you can find actionable solutions to your headless chicken syndrome!I have it too…. I understand….

Setting up goals is sometimes a waste of time because we seem never to stick to those big life goals, and we get discouraged. I genuinely believe that it is because our goals are sometimes unrealistic, and we end up wanted to eat an elephant instead of just taking it step by step.

When you plan, make something happen!

Define what your goals are for the month or the upcoming week and then reverse engineer the steps to get everything done in a logical and relevant way!
By reversing engineering the all process you will make sure never to leave anything behind, and you will know how to start and how it will end. Of course, we all need to make space for unplanned items, but overall knowing where you are going and how to get there is setting you up for success.

More...

So here are the five steps to set goals simply:

  1.  
    1
    List down from 1 to 3 goals to accomplish once you have Done the exercise outlined above (trust me you will thank me! start reverse engineering now!)
  2. 2
    Make sure that those goals are SMART goals (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, timely).  Fill-in-the-blank template for writing your final SMART goal.
  • My goal is to [ S ]:
  • Which will be measured by [ M ]:
  • I will accomplish this by [ A1 ]:
  • which I know is realistic because [ A2 ]:
  • This effort is worthwhile because [ R ]:
  • and it will be achieved by [ T1 ]:
  • with milestones set at[ T2 ]:
  1. 3
    Drive your will and plan around those goals to make sure that you pull off what you want to achieve.
  2. 4
    Learn to say no to the tasks that pull you away from your goals, if you are an empath it won't be effortless but remember nobody will do the work for you and by always saying yes to everyone you are tackling somebody else's tasks list!
  3. 5
    If you have family responsibilities (who doesn't....), make sure to make time in your schedule for yourself and your growth, even 1 hour a day can be plenty.
  1. 6
    Visualise the before and after! It means that you can already be where and who you want to be in your mind. Visualisation and knowing that it is waiting for you and you simply have to do the work can help you stay motivated!
  2. 7
    Create an action plan with a clear step by step process to achieve your goals!

Priorities are different than your goal game plan!

We all know that we need to define what is essential for us and what is urgent. In any case, we tend to confuse one adjective for another and struggle to see how it applies to our tasks processing workflow.
A task can be urgent but not necessarily very important for our personal growth or working towards our goals.
In this particular case, it is a priority because it must be finished now by all means!

A to-do can also be confused for a priority because it is important to us but not necessarily urgent as we have time to implement what needs doing overtime.

However, in this particular case, it is more of a to-do that will probably be put off till the last minute or will often be put on a back burner.
To make things simple for you:

  • A priority is timely, should be put first and must be finished within a day or 2
  • A game plan task is important but not necessarily urgent but to be done or set as a priority for you make sure to make it timely and to set milestones so that you are transforming a vague dream into an achievable endeavour.

Create a task list:

Once you have done the work to take care of what is crucial for you, you need to make a list of what is urgent and what you must accomplish during the week.
There are different type of tasks, such as:

  • Projects
  • recurring to-do's (things that you must do every day regardless!)
  • Routines (morning and evening)
  • Timely things, like appointments and events
  •  
    Unplanned tasks (S…T happens!)Single actions are things you have to do, but you can tackle them in random order.
  • Priorities.read the paragraph above to understand the difference  between an action plan and priorities!
  • Goals action plan items

These are only a few examples of the different type of tasks you need to tackle, so make sure to list all of them and empty your head.
You can use your digital journal to write things down frantically and then refine that list as you go.

Create a weekly schedule 

As I look around and often take a peek at my friend's appointment book, I notice something missing.
Even though all their tasks are written down on their calendar or weekly planner, I barely see the most fulfilling and essential duties! We often forget to include the action plan related to our dreams in our schedule.


So here are the simple steps to plan your week quickly:

  1. 1
    Write all your appointments and events down on your calendar
  2. 2
    Block time for your chores
  3. 3
    Add reminders for your recurring tasks or activities to your google calendar or phone (make sure to keep your planner uncluttered!)
  1. 4
    You routine should be automatic by now but if not make sure to include them in your schedule and use time blocking.
  2. 5
    At the top of your weekly planner write down your top priorities for the week, then schedule them in your weekly calendar with the time you have remaining.
  3. 6
    Then write down your action steps towards your main goals where you can see them and when possible Block amounts of time in your schedule for those action steps
  1. 7
    If you haven't done so already calculate when you have the most energy and tackle the most challenging tasks when you need more brainpower!check this blog post for more information on the topic!

Useful? Let me know!

We always love hearing feedback from you. Please post your comments below and let me know what you need more help with for better stress and life management in your life! Start acting on these actionable steps today and update us on the results in our Facebook community!

oliviaraymond


Hello! My name is Olivia but you can call me Frenchshe...I'm the creator and owner of Progipad's sticker sets and planning resources. I help busy bees and Crafties plan their lives creatively through this blog, videos and free tutorials. So welcome to the Roses, that is how I call members of my private community, make sure to join the fun HERE.

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