Happy Fall, everybody!
I love Fall! It’s my mini-January, the final quarter of the year, and an opportunity to ask ourselves…what do I want to accomplish between now and the end of the year?
Today, I want to give you some of my favorite tips on setting and achieving our goals, and just all around accomplishing our dreams. That’s really what this is about; it’s not about torturing ourselves to hit our next goal, punishing ourselves for what we didn’t do over the summer, or getting upset about what we haven’t accomplished so far. No, it is about saying: I am here now, and here’s what I like to accomplish between now and the end of the year.
You might be in a season of your life where chasing something is not where you are emotional. That’s also a goal. Relaxing, loving yourself, and slowing down, might be your goal and that’s totally okay. It doesn’t always have to be about running towards a goal, sometimes you just need to settle into where you are, slow down, and embrace where you are at.
Here are my four tips:
1) Give Yourself Grace
We “should” all over ourselves all the time. I should have done more. I should have been farther along, I should have done this, and so on. I want you to give yourself grace about where you are because you are where you are right now for a reason. And it’s all good! Embrace where you are in your life right now. You have accomplished and succeeded in so many areas of your life. If you are not where you think you “should” be, just know it’s all part of your journey. So, give yourself grace.
As you set goals, I want to invite you to take it from a place of really appreciating where you are, instead of that scarcity mentality where you think you should be farther along.
2) Have Belief That You Can Accomplish Your Goals
I’ve been listening to a great book called “You Are the Placebo” by Joe Dispenza. The idea of belief is really the cornerstone to change because your actions follow your beliefs.
Our beliefs are simply a bunch of thoughts that we keep thinking. Our beliefs dictate our attitudes, and our attitudes dictate our actions. If you don’t believe you can accomplish your goals, your feet follow your beliefs and you are taking the hard road to goals by not believing in yourself. If you can just open yourself up to the possibility that what you desire is possible and available to you and hold that possibility in your heart, everything becomes easier.
Changing our beliefs is not easy. Our beliefs are built in based on our experiences that have proven to be true, but that doesn’t mean it’s always true. It just means that’s what has happened in the past. You can change your future anytime you want. That’s why your mindset work, your belief work, and your personal growth work are so important. Doing the work inside your brain and between your ears is the most important work. Once you realize that your brain tells you a bunch of stories and you can change them, everything changes for you.
3) The Power of Habit
It’s time to get more practical. When it comes to setting goals, it all comes down to habits, and some habits are more effective than others. I want to talk to you about what’s called keystone habits. There’s a great book called “The Power of Habit” by Charles Duhigg.
Keystone habits are essentially habits that create other good habits. Some habits have more of a spread-out effect than others. One of the best keystone habits is exercise. People who exercise regularly tend to smoke less, drink less, eat healthier, and sleep more. So, if you want to eat better, sleep better, and stress less, building an exercise habit is key.
Another great keystone habit is your morning habits. If you decide to get up early and meditate, instead of looking at your email and answering texts, that sets off the pace for the rest of the day.
4) Make Sure Your Goals are Realistic
Making sure that your goals and the activities that lead to the goals are all realistic is really important. Oftentimes, we put a goal out there that doesn’t have the activities to help us hit those goals in a realistic manner. So, when you set your goals, I want you to back yourself up and think about what you can realistically accomplish with the schedule that you have. What can help you in your day-to-day life so that you can consistently maintain over time and that’s going to help you reach that goal? It’s so important to break down the activities that lead to the goals because the goal is really just the outcome, the activities are what lead to the goal.
Hopefully, this has sparked some curiosity in you and if you have any questions, please feel free to get in touch with me.
In the meantime, remember, you are magnetic and people are waiting to hear what you have to say.
Love,
Tracey.