So you have a dream that you want to bring to life. You imagined it, you told your best friend about it, you added it to your vision board…now what? Now you plan. The only way to bring forth what you really want is to set solid goals and action steps that can help you account for how close you’re coming to achieving it and how much work you have left to do. Here are a few practical steps that can help:
Get organized. Obtain a daily, weekly or monthly calendar and set priorities around that same time frame. What do you want to have accomplished this week? This month? Having it in writing, and being able to consult your plan will help to keep you on track. With it right there in black and white, you’ll know exactly what you’ve done—and what you haven’t.
Begin long-term planning. Where do you want to be in a year? Three years? Five? These are important questions to answer for yourself. Having clarity around where you want to be and what you want to be doing makes it easier for you to fight to get there. You won’t waste another year going through the motions and wondering at the end of it why you still feel stuck in a rut.
Check in on your goals. Many people reflect annually on what they have done, for better or for worse. But why not check in every 6 months, quarterly or even monthly? Checking in more frequently acts as a mechanism of awareness; you can tell very quickly if you’ve been spending time on things that are aligned with your goals and make adjustments where necessary. Rosetta at the Happy Black Woman blog does a great job of self-evaluating on a monthly basis to ensure that her activities are aligned with the best life that she envisions for herself. (Click here to check out her clarity reflection for May.)
Get a mentor. Find someone who is doing what you want to do, and ask them to be your guide. Don’t expect them to do the work for you—but you should use them as a sounding board for ideas; ask them where to network or what industry groups/organizations are the best ones to join; get advice about how best to approach issues such as legal, taxes, how to set up your business etc. You’re going to make some mistakes along the way—and some will be vital and necessary to the development of both your spirit and your plan—but having someone who has already had a measure of success at what you’re striving for can help you to make fewer ones that could derail you completely.
Be honest with yourself. Be honest about what you want and what you don’t want. Be honest about how hard you’re working on the tasks attached to your goals and where you could give more. After all, by slacking or pretending to be giving your best when you aren’t, you’re hurting yourself and deferring your dream. And why would you want to do that?
*Photo via Pinterest
2 comments:
Thank you for this. I needed this motivational boost to get more focused on my goals. I need to get a little more organized and make time to work toward making this dream a reality.
You're so welcomed. I know what it's like to need that external push!
Post a Comment