HOW TO CREATE A GOAL PLAN AND STICK TO IT
Hi everyone. Welcome back to The Dairy Free Diaries. I hope you all have had a great week and if not, don’t stress about it too much because you have a whole new and fresh week ahead of you.
As I am writing this blog post and trying to figure out my one-word, low point, and high point for the week I find it a bit harder than usually to pinpoint.
This week just seemed sort of average; nothing really great or really bad happened, which is very different from my previous weeks. Nonetheless, I want to remind you that although the big things may seem to be more important, the little things matter just as much.
One word- Comfortable: I choose this word because it depicts my week in the best way I could think of. Recently, I have been focusing on solidifying the habits and goals that I have been trying to add into my lifestyle for the past few weeks.
It has been really hard finding a balance between all of my commitments but I have seen progress each week. With that being said, I have felt truly comfortable this week.
There are no new goals, the same work schedule and routines. I go to work at the same times, come home at the same times, workout once I get home, eat, prep for the next work day, sleep, and do it all over again.
On the weekend, I catch up on LSAT studying, workout, spend time with family, then prepare for the next week. It’s not a terrible thing to be comfortable, but in order to grow we must challenge ourselves.
I think this week was very important in my journey because I allowed myself the time I needed to solidify before moving on. And by being aware of the fact that I have been comfortable this week, I know that I am ready to add some new things into the plan for next week.
One low point- Catching myself spending more time on my phone than I should. I think that this low point can be relatable to so many people.
We live in a world that is dependent on technology, which makes it so accessible anytime, anywhere. And for me, this has resulted in spending way too much time on my phone.
I find that I have this habit of going on my phone for a while before bed and picking it up as soon as I wake up. This week it has gotten exceptionally worse.
I have been feeling more tired than usual and all that appeals to me is lying in bed and watching Netflix or going on social media. This is a habit that I am aware of and definitely going to focus on next week.
I just have to keep reminding myself that I am not perfect and neither are my weeks going to be. I just have to do what I can at the time and find other things that give me the same feeling that are more productive and helpful for myself.
Low points serve as guide posts that direct you to what needs your attention and from there you are responsible for taking actions to improve, which is exactly what I am going to do.
One high point- Becoming more adaptable to last minute changes. This was a huge high point this week, although it was such a simple situation.
On Monday of this week, I get a call that I need to come in earlier than usual to work, which means that I am going to have to wake up around 5:30am instead of my “comfortable” 6:20am.
And to my shock I handled it very well. Instead of stressing out over the sudden change, I took action and finished up everything I needed to before bed, then went to bed a bit earlier than usual.
In the moment, I didn’t realize how big of a step this was for me, but afterwards I had come to the realization. I have truly struggled with being okay with change for as long as I can remember.
I have always been such a planner and once something happens that throws me off of that plan, I freak out. And by freaking out I mean; I get extremely anxious and start stressing out over every little thing.
Eventually it wears off and I go back to my planning ways, but those couple hours of anxiety and stress really take toll on me. And because of this, I have been trying really hard to get better at accepting what I cannot control.
In the past couple of months, I have taken steps to work on this but it has been a struggle. But in this moment, adapting to change was effortless. It wasn’t a struggle and that was a huge improvement for me and something I am proud of.
I know that there might be days where I fall into old ways, but I am glad to know that the steps I am taking are helping me to improve.
BRAINSTORMING STAGE
So, this is my favorite part of goal setting because it’s all about writing what comes to mind. I can be anything from actions to ideas. It doesn’t matter what you write or how you write it.
All that matters is that you are writing your goals down. This is such an important step in the process because it has been proven that those who write their goals down are over 80x more likely to achieve them in comparison to those who don’t write them down.
These statistics prove the overall importance brainstorming has when you are goal setting. My suggestion would be to brainstorm over a couple of days, rather than all at once.
I find that it can be hard to recollect goals and habits you would like to attain, so make sure to take a few days to really think about it.
This will help you to create a much clearer picture of what you want to get out of your goal plan. And, I strongly suggest that you write your goals down using a pen and paper if possible.
I think that it really does make a difference when you hand write them and hang them up somewhere that you can see every day. In my experience, I am better able to remember my goals when I hand write them and hang them up.
But if typing up a document or putting them on your phone works better, then more power to you. Some ideas that can help you with the brainstorming process are listed below.
What kind of person do you want to be? What traits or characteristics would you like to attain?
What are the daily habits you want to engrain into your lifestyle?
What are some things that you have been wanting to do for a while, but keep pushing off?
These are just some questions you can ask yourself if you are getting stuck and don’t know what to write. But if your mind takes you in other directions, go right ahead with them.
Take your time and just keep on writing. One thing to keep in mind while brainstorming is when you come across a characteristic or idea, try to think and write down actionable steps that you can take to reach it.
An example of this could be if my goal was to be more helpful to others. Being helpful is a goal, but just using that doesn’t give you much direction on how to achieve it.
So, under it, write what specific things you can do to be more helpful. It can be helping your friend wash her car or assisting your brother with his homework. Just try to keep this in mind because it’s important to focus on the action because that is ultimately what we can control.
ORGANIZING STAGE
This next stage in the goal planning process is what will allow you to represent your goals in a much clearer and more defined way.
The organizing stage is all about grouping together your goals, habits, and ideas. This is truly important because the brainstorming process can leave you feeling very overwhelmed.
You have so much written down that you are having a really hard time figuring out where to start. This is something I have experienced a lot, but it’s important to allow this process to make you feel more confident and comfortable with what you are trying to accomplish.
I suggest putting your goals into different categories, which can vary person to person because everyone has different things they want to achieve.
What has worked for me is to group my goals based on two things: the type of goal and the length of that goal. When I refer to the type of goal, I am concerned with what category of my life does it fit into.
Is this a health goal or a financial goal? Is this a fitness goal or a mental health goal? Is this a social goal or a personal goal? The other group I use is based on the length of time for each goal.
By this I mean, is this goal something I want to do on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis. These are just a few categories I have used, but feel free to create your own. It’s all about organizing your goals in a way that makes sense to you.
And if some of your goals fit more than one of these categories, that’s okay too. Don’t be concerned with perfecting the goal-group attachment, but instead just try to relatively organize your goals. It doesn’t have to be perfect; it just has to make sense to you.
PLANNING STAGE
Following the organization stage is the actual planning stage. This is where you are going to start figuring out when you are going to tackle these goals.
I know it can be quite daunting trying to figure out where to start, because trust me I have been there. But I have come up with a way of planning that has really helped me break through this.
An important thing to remember is that your goals won’t be achieved overnight. This is going to be a long, but rewarding process. And in order to make sure that I stick with my goal plan, I take things slow.
Not only is this vital to sticking with it, but also taking on too much at one time can result in giving up. In order to truly make these goals and habits stick, we must take things slowly and make sure that we completely engrain them into our lifestyle before adding others.
I prefer to structure my goal planning based on one week increments and playing it by ear. To start, I will pick 2 daily goals for the week and 1 weekly and monthly goal for the entire month.
For my 2021 goal planning stage, I chose to start off with daily goals of waking up at 7am and getting in movement each day. My weekly goal for January was to write in my journal on Sunday and reflect specifically on my week.
My monthly goal was to read 1 book. So, as you can see, now I have a clear set of actions that are to be done in a daily, weekly, and monthly basis.
I like to spread out my goals between these periods of time so I don’t feel so overwhelmed trying to get 5 daily goals a day done. Instead, I feel better when my goals are more spaced out.
Another thing to note is that I have chosen goals that pertain to different categories of my life. In the example above, I had 2 personal, 1 fitness, and 1 mental health goal.
I like to spread them out because it can be hard time fix more than 1 or 2 things in the same area at once. But then again, whatever you feel comfortable with is what you should start off doing.
So, once you have chosen your goals, you take on your week with an accountability system, which I will discuss in the next stage. But once you have finished your first week, take some time to assess how you did.
If you were able to accomplish your daily goals every day this week and feel comfortable, go ahead and add in another daily goal. Keep your weekly and monthly goals the same for the month, but play your daily goals by ear.
If you were struggling to achieve your daily goals, then stick with your goals until you go an entire week with doing them and repeat the assessment process.
This ensures that you are present and not just going through the motions. In addition, make sure to have all of this planning information written down so that you can refer back to it as needed.
I like to put these in the note’s app on my phone, labeling my daily, weekly, and monthly goals along with the corresponding dates. You can use anything, whether it be pen and paper or typing on your computer. Just make sure you have it somewhere other than your head.
ACCOUNTABILITY STAGE
This stage is extremely important because it is ultimately what is going to give you the motivation to stick with your goals. It is so vital to have some sort of reward system in place because reaching your goals is not an easy process, but there are things you can do to improve.
And this accountability system is going to look different for every person. You just need to be able to find what can motivate you to hit your daily, weekly, and monthly goals.
It needs to be something that occurs on a daily and/or weekly basis to keep you on top of your goals. Some rewards can look like going to your favorite store and shopping at the end of the week or treating yourself to Starbucks.
I would suggest to keep your weekly reward as an activity. But when it comes to being accountable on a daily basis, you need to find a more specific system.
It needs to keep you in check and serve as a reminder of what you are aiming to achieve each day. The way I track my daily goals is by using the notes app on my phone, which is where I also keep my daily to do lists.
I signify my daily goals by using the checkbox icon because it makes me feel really accomplished and proud when I see that I have check off all the boxes.
This is the small reward system that has really worked for me, not only because of the way it motivates me, but also because it is in an area that I constantly see.
I keep a lot of information in my note’s app, so it just makes sense to keep my goal plan there as well because it is a constant reminder of what needs to get done.
As for my weekly reward, I try to give myself Sunday off and just take that time to relax and spend time with my family. My life has been extremely hectic lately, and rewarding myself with a day off is exactly what I need to refresh.
To sum it up, your accountability system needs to be realistic and catered to yourself. You need to find what makes you tick and use that to your advantage. It will only make your goal achieving process easier.
REFLECTING STAGE
You might have been thinking that after you have your accountability system in place you are done with the goal planning and achieving process.
But I am here to tell you that there is one more step that is missing. And that step is the reflection process. I have found that this is so important because taking the time to check in with yourself is very helpful, especially with goal setting.
I usually will do this at the end of each week and respond to some questions in my journal that help me to analyze and think about how I did that week in accordance with my goals.
Some examples of questions you can ask yourself in order to reflect on your goals that week are:
What worked in your goal system and what didn’t?
Did you stay accountable to your goals? If not, why?
What are some habits or reminders that you want to carry on into next week to help you improve?
These are just a few questions to get you started if you don’t know where to begin, but feel free to take this weekly reflection wherever you feel.
This step is often overlooked, but I am telling you that by doing this on a consistent basis it has allowed me to be more in tune with my habits and thoughts during the week.
Before I would use this reflecting tip for my goal planning, I would find myself going through weeks trying to improve on goals that I wasn’t quite reaching in the way that I had hoped.
And it became this constant cycle of trying hard and not making any progress. The reason that this was happening was because I never took the time to take a step back and figure out what was causing this result.
And that’s the biggest takeaway from this section. If something is not working, don’t just try and keep pushing in the same direction. Take some time and analyze the situation and figure out what different direction you should take.
