3 Steps to Achieving Your Goals

Yearly goals can be overwhelming.  You know it’s all about ‘action’ and following through, but how do you do that?  Here are three simple steps to turn your large goals into bite size ones.

Step 1.  Break it down.

Break down your yearly goals into quarterly, monthly, weekly and daily action steps.

To illustrate, I’ll take my personal goal of reading 12 books and show you how I’ve done this.

1. Quarterly – Jan/Feb/Mar – Read 3 books (12 divided by 4)

My 1st quarter picks:

• The Power of Habit, Charles Duhigg
• Getting Things Done – David Allen
• The Year of Less – Cait Flanders (a re-read)

I’ve chosen these three books specifically to jump start all of my goals for the year by working on changing bad habits to better ones, actually completing things, and “spending less” inspiration.

2. Monthly:  January – Pick 1 book

I’ll be starting with the book – The Power of Habit.  It is approximately 300 pages.

3. Weekly

There are 4 1/2 weeks in January, so I’d have to read about 66 pages a week.

4. Daily

There are 7 days in a week, so I’d have to complete at least 10 pages a day to stay on track to finish for the month.

10 pages a day not only seems doable, but I’m sure I can surpass this.

Step 2.  Keep track.

Write a ‘to do’ list of each action step that will bring you closer to your goals and keep track of your accomplishments.

I’m a planner girl, so this step is actually fun for me.  I use a planning system with a personal size ring Filofax and a daily habit tracker.  At the end of each day, I review what I’ve accomplished and which areas I’ve been slacking on.

Step 3.  Do the things. 

This, of course, is the most important step of them all.  You have to actually do the action steps to achieve the goal.

Of course, try to make it an enjoyable process.  A cozy chair, throw and a hot cup of my favorite beverage makes reading much more enjoyable. 🙂

By following these simple steps you should be well on your way to achieving all of your goals for 2019.