Small Goals Will Change Your Life
Small goals give us benchmarks to work towards that better our lives, and begin with habits. When we begin to see some progress towards our goals, then we get more motivation to keep going.
“It doesn’t matter how slow you go as long as you don’t stop.” – Confucius
Goals are important because they give us direction or a purpose in our life.
What is the definition of a goal? “The object of a person’s ambition or effort; an aim or a desired result.” -Oxford Dictionary.
A goal has to matter to you if you want to achieve it. All goals, short or long-term begin with a desire in your heart. Don’t stop there. Create a plan to achieve your goal. There are a lot of stepping stones to work towards achieving, but it starts with deciding they are important enough to change your life.
Some goals of mine that I have stayed consistent with working towards, are paying off my student loan, moving, running a half marathon, learning to ride a bike, yes as an adult, and buying a small boat. Some of these goals are very short term, and some are long-term, like my student loan. All of my goals require attention and a time-line.
My goals are important to me for different reasons. My student loan will give my family some financial freedom, a boat was a lifestyle goal for our family, learning to ride a bike would allow for family activities and time spent together, running is a personal goal to challenge myself, and moving would allow for better opportunities for our daughter to go to a good school and be closer to our friends.
We all have goals that we want to achieve in our life, a desired result, but why are goals important, and how do we actually achieve them?
Where do I begin with a small goal? You start with the end goal in mind, and work backwards. Rachel Hollis has a wonderful explanation of this in her book, Girl, Stop Apologizing Part 3, Skill 1: Planning. She creates a roadmap to achieve your goal or dream. Start with the end goal, work backwards and break it down into 3 steps. Start at Step 1.
Here’s some of my examples of how I’ve broken down a long-term goal into smaller goals:
Long-term Goal– Paying off student loan.
Why does this matter? Because it will alleviate financial stress for me and my family.
How am I going to do that with small goals?
- Look at my loan balance and interest rate. Yes, that easy, but emotionally not easy. I had not done this simple step ever.
- Determine a timeline for payoff. 5 years
- How much more can I pay monthly towards monthly payments? Create a budget, lower any expenses possible. Any extra income goes straight towards student loan (extra money on paycheck, lower electric bill- that excess goes to goal, tax refund, birthday money, etc.)
- Keep track of your progress! I write my principal balance at the bottom of my monthly budget sheet. I love seeing that number go down.
Long- term Goal: Create a morning routine.
Why does this matter? Because being a busy mom means I need to carve out time for myself that I am alone and can work on my personal goals.
How am I going to stick with a morning routine? Daily Habits. Even on Sundays.
- Wake up at 5 am everyday. Do not hit snooze. Just get up.
- Write daily in my gratitude journal. Start your day by getting your heart right.
- Drink a glass of water with your coffee. (Hey, 2 goals at once!)
- Work on your thing! Meditation, read a book, go for a run, do your budget, write a chapter for your book, a blog post, create something to sell on Etsy, do a home workout, whatever it is! Get up before your kids get up.
What are things that will stop you from achieving your small goals?
Your negative self talk. Not reaching goals fast enough. Comparison of others. Being vulnerable to someone and they laugh at you, yep had that happen before.
What are you going to do to achieve your goal?
Follow Hey, Goal Sister to hang out with like minded women also working on their own small goals!
Know your why. It has to matter to you for it to have longevity. Celebrate your small wins. If you have someone in your life that can hold some accountability for you, or work on a goal with you, that has always helped me maintain and keep going.
Let’s do hard things together.
Your goal sister, Alicia
About The Author
heygoalsister
I’m Alicia! I started Hey Goal Sister as a way to communicate with like minded women that want to make traction in their lives but may not know how. This site is about goal setting, advice, and living a more intentional life.
