Most people FAIL to meet their New Year’s resolutions. It’s as if their resolve simply crumbles to dust two weeks into January. (If you’re a regular at the gym like I am, you see this all the time… crowded for a few weeks, then back to normal!) Why is this??
Usually it’s because the resolution isn’t specific, and you don’t have accountability to those goals. The most achievable goals are specific, achievable, relevant to you as an individual, and they are bound by time (i.e. they have a date they’re due). In other words, I’m talking about “SMART” goals: goals that are specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and time-bound.
SMART goals are a great way to set goals for yourself, but SMART goals are NOT foolproof. You still have show up and “do the work” to meet your goal. You need to be accountable to the goal. You have to find the inner motivation to pursue your goal… so you can KEEP going even when it’s hard.
Because without the motivation… without a meaningful reason WHY you want to achieve your goal, you can set all the SMART goals you want… and you simply won’t pursue them.
So, how do you MANIFEST motivation? I’ll get to that in a moment.
First, we need to look at motivation itself… and where motivation comes from. Why? Because when you understand where motivation comes from, you can then CREATE and sustain motivation for yourself.
So, one idea is your motivation comes from your values.
In other words, what you VALUE informs your decisions, and then motivates your life. So, if you can figure out what your core value is behind WHY you want to achieve a goal, you’ve just uncovered your “reason why.”
And when you have your “reason why” it’s much easier to wake up that extra 30 minutes early… to write the email saying “I quit…” to finally make the leap into a life of freedom.
So, how do you figure out your values, and then use those values to create a list of *truly* SMART goals?
Try this:
First, take two minutes to write out all the things that are the most important to you in your life.
If being inspired is important, write “being inspired.” If sailing is important to you, write “sailing.” If giving back is important to you, write “giving back.”
Alright, have you done it? It’s okay if you just do it in your mind for now… but really do try this exercise on paper.
Next, take two minutes to write out a rough schedule of how you ACTUALLY spend your time each day.
What’s your basic schedule like? As you look it over, mentally calculate how much time you spend each day doing each of the major things on your second list.
How much time do you spend commuting? Working? Watching the news? Checking social media? Reading books? Working? Building YOUR business?
(Be really honest with yourself to get the most from this exercise!!)
What most people find when they do the exercise, is they aren’t living in alignment with what’s important to them, their values.
They might have said financial independence, fulfillment with work, helping people, making a difference, and meditating are important…
…but they really spend two hours commuting, an hour on social media… and only thirty minutes “building” their business. In other words, just wondering, “How am I going to pull it all off?”
So what’s happening here?
Most of us don’t take the time to review what’s important to us… and then consciously ask ourselves, “Am I living in alignment with what’s important to me? Am I living in alignment with my values?”
Then we forget what’s important to us. We get stuck in bad habits. We get into routines of distraction and interruption… and ultimately WASTE much of our lives.
No fun.
So from this exercise, notice the places where you are NOT living in alignment with what’s important to you.
If your daily schedule reflects your values, great! You’re all set. But if your daily schedule doesn’t reflect what’s important to you?
Make 2020 the year you don’t have to go back to work when the holidays are over.
Make 2020 the year you finally OWN YOUR schedule.
Make 2020 the year you make money from your witchy, creative DREAMS.
DON’T let another year slip by…
…another year where you suddenly “wake up” on December 31st, 2020 and realize you’re still struggling in your business, or in same crappy job you had in 2019.
…another year where you could have been building your own business, and a LIFE, that is YOURS.
So IF you’re ready to create a life in ALIGNMENT with what’s important to YOU, here’s what to do now:
(1) Apply for a free, 30-minute Coaching Session with me. Together we’ll lay out a step-by-step ACTION PLAN you can follow to consciously create a life in alignment with what’s important to YOU.
(2) Drop any idea of “I can do it myself,” or “I don’t know where to begin,” or “I’m not sure how I’m going to pull it off.” or “my business will eventually grow somehow”. I GOT YOU! THAT’S WHAT I AM HERE FOR! To how you how to do it!
(3) Get clear on what your “ideal day” looks like before we talk. I want to KNOW why you want to make a change so I can hold you *accountable* to creating it. I can’t do that if I don’t know what you want.
So are you ready to OWN your schedule? To OWN your time?
