It’s that time of year again. Self-reflection and excitement for the year ahead trigger that alarm bell in your mind to set resolutions and goals for the new year. But how often do you find yourself accomplishing goals that you’ve set?
Maybe you’re a master-manifester and have this on lockdown. But a lot of us struggle with consistently pursuing our new year goals. This can lead to feelings of failure and frustration.
So what is the key to accomplishing goals year after year? Well, we’ve done a deep dive and it turns out there are a few specific strategies you can utilize to make accomplishing goals second nature.
Settle On One (or Two) Priority Goals
It’s easy to feel ambitious at the start of the year and overload yourself with too many goals and resolutions.
A lot of people’s New Year goal lists look like this:
-Eat healthier
-Workout four times a week
-Read one book a month
-Take three dance classes a week
And while I admire the ambition, this might be too ambitious. Overloading yourself with goals can split your focus, delaying progress.
Instead, choose a goal that is high-priority. Not only will it give you a singular focus but, a high-priority goal- it will stimulate your mind and ambition more; increasing your inspiration to pursue your goal!
Make them SMART
Once you have your goal selected it’s time to break it down.
Using the S.M.A.R.T. goal method is a great way to specify your goal and start creating an action plan. (More on that part later!)
S.M.A.R.T. stands for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Timely.
Let’s say your goal is to read more books and use this system to break it down.
Specific:
I would like to read 3 books by March 31.
Measurable:
Three months is 93 days. If each book is around 300 pages, that means you’ll need to set a measurable goal to read 10 pages per day to achieve your goal.
Achievable:
Now that you’ve done the math, do you have time to commit to this? If yes, then great! If not, make an adjustment that’s more realistic for your lifestyle. Achieving goals should be challenging – not impossible.
Relevant:
If you are looking forward to accomplishing goals your goals need to be relevant to your life! If your goals aren’t worth sacrificing for then they probably aren’t relevant enough.
Timely:
Endurance is a skill and when striving for a goal, experts suggest that twelve weeks is the sweet spot for how long we can actively pursue a goal.
Create An Action Plan
It’s not enough to just *say* you have a goal, but we must put an action plan in place and START. Studies have shown that creating an action plan is the best way to start achieving goals.
How do you create an action plan?
First, you need to identify what’s required of your goal. Will you need any new education to achieve this goal? Any new equipment? Set yourself up for success by getting what you need in place.
Next, set aside time to pursue your goal. Having dedicated time set aside to work toward your goal makes it way more likely you’ll do it.
Identify Obstacles Ahead of Time
Are you trying to eat more fruit and less bagged snacks? Maybe, try buying more fruit and throwing out the chips.
No, it’s not forever; just until your new habit has formed.
Give yourself a chance to reach for the fruit by eliminating the other options. Then, once you’ve started eating fruit out of intentionality and habit, you can buy the snacks again.
Visualization/Manifestation
If you follow Coach Kiersten, you know that here at DWL we believe in the power of visualization and manifestation as a means for achieving goals.
When you practice visualization, the brain tells the target muscles involved what they need to do to achieve that.
This communication between your brain and your muscles forms a neural pattern in the brain that is exactly the same as the neural pathway needed to do that task physically.
And this science isn’t new.
Alexander Bain of Great Britain was the first scientist to study how these neural pathways are formed and he lived between 1818-1903!
However, visualization doesn’t always have to be positive to work.
Scientist Dr. Huberman suggests that visualizing success is a great tool when you’re motivated. But he goes on to say that, when you’re feeling unmotivated, visualizing failure can motivate you to take action toward achieving goals. According to him, humans will do a great deal to avoid failure, so, by visualizing failure you motivate yourself to work toward the opposite.
Consistency > Perfection
We talk about this a lot at DWL, but if there is anything you can learn from us, it’s that perfection is the enemy of consistency.
You see, having perfection as a goal leads us down the road toward an all-or-nothing mindset.
Suddenly, being tight on time leads you to say things like, “If I can’t get in a whole workout it’s not worth it.”
Or you might say, “Well my macros are already blown today, so why not just enjoy the rest of the day and restart tomorrow?”
However, consistency means that you will consistently make choices that push you closer toward your goals.
If consistency is your goal, “it’s not worth it” turns into “I’m going to fit in what I can.”
When consistency is your goal “I’ll restart tomorrow” turns into “I went out for brunch so I might as well cook at home.”
SO! When it comes to accomplishing goals, strive for consistency over perfection.
Track Your Progress & Celebrate Wins
Remember earlier when I said your goal should be measurable?
Whether you are tracking via progress photos, page numbers, or weights lifted, when you see progress, celebrate it!
Celebrating wins triggers the reward centers in our brains and that is a feeling we want to experience more often. The motivation to feel this sense of accomplishment inspires us to continue accomplishing goals!
So, what do you think? Have you tried any of the methods already? Will you try any of them?
If you do, let us know! We want to cheer you on a support you as you start accomplishing your goals this year! And if you’re feeling like you need help, check out our one-on-one training program designed for dancers like you, The Embodied Artist Academy.
And if you want to learn more about accomplishing goals, read: Visualization and Manifestation: The Secret to Achieving Goals?, Performance vs Outcome Goals: The Role of Each In Productive Goal Setting, 6 Expert Tips for Setting Long Term Fitness Goals You Can Crush
