Bring Your Dreams Alive

Ready, Set, Action 
In yesterday’s blog post, I identified a few ways to gain clarity and focus on a main goal.  The next phase towards achieving this goal is to create action steps.  Now it is time to break down each big goal into tiny, bite-sized tasks, which can also be viewed as the smaller goals that make up the one main goal.

Brainstorm:

In a relaxing space, take pen-to-paper and write down as many tasks (smaller goals) that potentially make up the main goal.  Use this exercise as creative time to uncover various ideas.  There may be multiple ways to reach your main goal.

Once your list is to your satisfaction, determine if these tasks need to be placed in a specific order.  Then write down due dates representing when you would like each task completed.  It may be helpful to create a final completion date for the main goal first, and then backtrack due dates for the tasks.  No need to fret over these due dates.  You always have the power to change the dates.  However, writing them down now, and adhering to them as best as you can, will help immensely.

SMART Tasks:

Write down your SMART task (small goal) in one sentence, using present tense as though you are already doing what you want to do.  A SMART goal is Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, Timely.  Start out small.  The time you spend on a particular task may grow over time as you see the progress that you are making.

Here are some examples:

I am consistently managing my emails (i.e., reading, responding, deleting) five minutes a day, from 3:00-3:05pm, five days a week.

I am walking on the treadmill for three minutes, on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays at 7am.

I am joyfully replacing French fries with a baked potato for dinner every other Friday during the months of October through December.

I am hysterically laughing each day as I watch fifteen minutes of classic comedy shows.

Calendar:

Whether you prefer using a paper calendar, your phone calendar, or another source, it is important to enter your tasks on a calendar that you will have with you on a regular basis.  Sticking to the times that you record tasks on a calendar is a skill that requires practice.  In effect, you are retraining your brain to stick to the tasks that you deem most important in your life.  Of course, don’t forget to include fun goals that allow for goofing off too.

Follow Through:

If you are not following through, ask yourself why.  Is this really something that I want?  If so, what is getting in the way of completing this task?  By uncovering an answer to this question, you can modify your main goal or small goals.  If one of my tasks is to work out at a gym ten miles from my home in the mornings before work, I may talk myself out of going during the winter months if I do not want to go out when it’s so cold and dark.  An alternative goal may be to do a workout at home.  Brainstorming may help identify what types of exercises that can be done from home.

Celebrate your victories, big and small alike.  By following these steps, you are creating a new habit.  It takes time to create new pathways in the brain. So, there is no need to worry if you periodically fall back into old patterns.  It happens.  This is a big reason why breaking your tasks down to steps that are so small that you can’t fail, is a benefit.  If you are able to maintain the small step for a long enough period of time, that new pathway will be created, making it that much less of a struggle to reach your next plateau goal.

Move forward with purpose.  Bring your dreams alive through goal setting, practice, and patience.