Setting weekly goals and then staying motivated each day so that you reach them is harder than you might think. There are some techniques that you can apply to make things easier. One of these relates to the day on which you actually set your weekly goals. A lot of people presume they should set their goals on a Monday morning, but I have found that it is actually easier to plan your weekly goals on a Sunday. The reason, I feel, is because I am always much more relaxed on a Sunday. I am not rushing to get things done and I am not aware of the amount of time I am spending thinking about my weekly goals. I can sit and relax and think calmly about what I would like to complete in the coming week.
I have tried doing my goal planning on Monday mornings, but for me this hasn’t proved very successful. I always find that I am trying to rush through them so that I am not spending my whole morning planning. I want to be actually working towards my goals on a Monday and not just planning them. By spending a little bit of time on a Sunday I have found that my goals are more attainable and I actually enjoy planning how I am going to reach them.
This week I have a personal and a business goal that I want to reach. I only have one for each area. Yes that’s right, my goal is to accomplish just one thing this week in my personal and business life. The reason I have only chosen one goal is that it is easier to achieve if I only have one thing to focus on. If I have a list of things that I want to accomplish, I end up getting stressed wondering what to do first. Having just one means that I only have this one thing to focus on and if I achieve it on Monday, I have already reached my weekly goal and I feel amazing. I can then add in something else but I don’t feel under pressure to achieve it. I have already reached my target and that is something to be proud of.
This week my personal goal is to continue walking my 10,000 steps each day and I am also going to try to add in 2 minutes of jogging on my treadmill. This may not seem like a big goal but for someone who hasn’t run in years, and who is unfit, this is a big goal. I might not be able to run for two minutes straight, but that’s okay because my goal is just to run for two minutes so whether I do one minute twice a day or 30 seconds four times a day, it really doesn’t matter. All I need to do is two minutes of running on my treadmill to achieve my goal.
My business goal this week is in addition to my daily blog post and that is to complete the first chapter of my new Switchwords book. I have my research completed for this chapter so my goal for this week is to have the first draft of this chapter completed.
Adding To My Goals and Staying Motivated
You may have noticed that each of my goals this week is in addition to something I am already doing. Last week my goal was to write a blog post each day and I succeeded. This week I am continuing with my blog posts but adding in the chapter of my book. The reason for this is that I have an end goal, a big dream if you like, and in order to reach this I have smaller goals that I must achieve first. All my small goals added together will bring me to my main goal of making a living writing just for myself. By taking baby steps and adding small goals each week, I am getting closer and closer to my dream life without feeling stressed out and without feeling like a failure.
My personal goals all relate to my physical fitness because I want to be fit and healthy. Walking 10,000 steps per day is recommended by fitness experts and this has been a real eye opener for me. I hadn’t realised how static my life was until I started monitoring my steps. I was lucky if I took 2,000 steps on a normal day a month ago. I wasn’t aware of how little I actually moved during the day. I was spending my days working and sitting down typing. I wasn’t aware of the damage I was doing to my fitness levels or my body. When I started counting my steps, I was horrified. I started moving a lot more and going for walks. I don’t sit all day typing and I certainly don’t sit down in front of the TV in the evenings either. I am now very conscious of my steps and I make sure I hit my 10,000 a day target even if it means walking up and down the hall over and over again.
What motivates me to keep going and reach my goals?
I am a numbers person and I love to see evidence of my success. Checking my fitbit app throughout the day and watching my steps increase is all the incentive I need. I love watching the numbers going up and up and I feel really accomplished when the little feet on my app turn green to signal that I have reached my goal. It’s exciting and I know I am doing well. If I am falling below my goal, I just start walking. You can walk anywhere. You can walk up and down the floors of your home, up and down your driveway, or just up and down the room you are watching TV in. When I can see the results in black and white showing me how well I am doing, I stay motivated.
With my business goals, the amount of comments, shares, and likes my posts are getting tell me how well I am doing. My Amazon royalties at the end of each month let me know how much closer I am to my dreams also. It is easy to stay motivated when you see the results. I watch my blog stats so I can see how many views my website has received. I can look at statistics on my social networking sites too. Again the numbers show me how well I am doing and this is what keeps me motivated.
I also like to document how I feel at the end of each day after reaching my goals. If I have a day where I feel a little off, or where I don’t feel like doing anything, I re-read my daily journal and this helps to refocus me. Sometimes, of course you do have to be a little strict with yourself and just start whatever it is that you are supposed to be doing.
“Sometimes you have to be strict with yourself and just start” tweet this
I have started doing my blog posts before I do client work. The reason, I always get my client work done but I don’t always get my blog posts done. If I do the blog post first, I will still get my client work done so it is a win win situation.
I would love to hear your tips for reaching your weekly goals and how you go about setting them. Do you look at the bigger picture and work backwards? Do you break your big goals down into smaller, achievable steps? What works for you and what doesn’t? Share your tips and suggestions in the comments below.
Until next time,
Amanda
Amanda J Evans is an award-winning Irish author and writing coach. Amanda writes adult romance that often crosses into paranormal and fantasy. Growing up with heroes like Luke Skywalker and Indiana Jones, her stories centre on good versus evil with a splice of love and magic thrown in too. Her books have all won awards and her novella, Hear Me Cry, won the Book of the Year Award at the Dublin Writers Conference 2018. Amanda is also the author of Surviving Suicide: A Memoir from Those Death Left Behind, published in 2012.
I tend to get overwhelmed with big or several goals too, which generally leads to me avoiding doing anything at all! I have to break it down into small goals, and focus on one of them at a time, trying to ignore the overall goal as best I can.
Recognising where you fall down is the first step Angeline. I get too stressed if I try to do so much which is why picking one and achieving it works so well. Do let us know how you get on focusing on one goal at a time and thank you so much for your comment. Xxx
I do my main Goal setting for the week on a Sunday evening but I recap everything each day. Great post Amanda.
Thanks Wendy, always a pleasure to have your comments as I value your expert opinion on this subject. I do find Sunday always feels more relaxed and I can focus better on what I would like to achieve for the week.