How to Set Your Goals for 2017

How To Set and Achieve Goals

Dreams don't become true, goals do. 

It's the new year and the hype is all about goals and new years resolutions!

Although I'm a firm believer of setting goals and resolutions, the truth is only a few people actually achieve the goals that they've set for themselves. In fact, most people won't even revisit their new year resolutions once comes March, and the cycle continues years after years. I believe that in order for your goals to become achievable, they must be intentionally and specifically set.

Here's a few tips that might help with achieving your goals:

1- Pray About It!

Because I am a christian and I believe in the power prayer, the first thing I do when I want something manifested in my life is pray. One of my favorite bible bible verse is Matthew 7:7  which reminds me to Ask and it will be given to methat whatever I seek, I will find, and that any door that I knock will be opened unto me. 

With such assurance, there truly is no other way to start with any goal that you wish to achieve. 

2- Know Your Why!

What are your motives for setting your goal? If your motive behind buying a luxury car is to keep with your friends' lifestyle, or you want to start a non profit organization where you can low ball your donations and keep most of the profit, then you might want to reconsider your goals. Remember that in all you do, you must always find a way to give back, and your motives must come from a good place.

3- Sort Out Your goals!

One goal that's ALWAYS been on my list, every year, for thee longest is my weight loss goal. I'm not ashamed to share it because chances are that if you meet me just once, I will probably mention being on a diet or exercising, that's just been a huge part of my life. Although I've yet succeeded to achieve that goal, I've achieved some other small health goals that I'm proud of; like holding a plank for more than 1 mn, doing push ups!!! That's a biggie for me, the day that I got out of my girlie push ups was a celebration! Your girl can do push ups! OKAY?! 

So here's my point, instead having a huge goal list that's all over the place, I divide my goals in categories: Family, Influential, experiential, physical, and travel. 

I will get into more details on my next posts about the different categories. 

4-  SMART Goals!

Here's a little "Laura taught me" moment.

When I was in school to be a teacher, I learned when I am setting goals in my classroom, for my students, the goals must be SMART! Smart you say? yes!

SMART

S- specific

M-measurable (for life goals I added meaningful, motivational)

A- attainable ( achievable, action-oriented)

R- realistic

T- trackable (timely, tangible) 

How perfect is this as a guideline to set goals? Genius! I think this applies to goals beyond the classroom, definitely some things to set in mind when you're setting your own personal goals.

5- Include Others

Some goals are just hard to achieve by yourself! I am so thankful for friends and family who are willing to go through challenges with me and help me achieve my goals. 

When I was getting married, my matron was my main fitness motivation. She fasted with me, worked out with me, kept me in check with my cheat meals, I couldn't have done it without her. 

There are also financial goals that may require involving others. There have been times when making investments that I had to team up with family members when I couldn't carry the load on my own, and that's ok! You will need other people. This is another biggie that you need to pray about. Pray that you are able to discern the people in your life that you can build and grow with, these are the people that you need on your team!

6- Write it down / Visualize it!

One thing that has always worked for me is  writing down my thoughts.  When you write down your goal, it holds you accountable to yourself.  It's a constant reminder that you made a deal with yourself that you would get these things done. When you write things down, you verbalize it, which will bring it to fruition. I always encourage people to journal. Write down your thoughts, your ideas, your goals, even your prayers. If you want to stay on track, written goals are a great way to remind yourself of what to focus on. 

Once you've written down your goals, your next step is to create a vision board. I love vision boards! Vision boards are simply  goals in pictures. It's a way to help you visualize the final product while it has yet to come pass. Vision boards work! Last year weeks after I made my vision board, I drove home the car that I had glued on my vision board.  

It is not a magic wand, It wasn't luck. I had to go to the process of getting a new car, and getting approved, but the end result was there. Had I had not written down, or visualize that goal, I probably would've not gotten the same end result.

Write down your goals, and visualize them becoming your reality! You'll then see how really good it feels to cross things off your list. 

7- Celebrate!

Once you've achieve your goal, you must learn to celebrate! Celebrate even if the big picture isn't complete yet. Celebrating is a way of being grateful and thankful. Celebrate with the right mindset. You don't have to blow money to celebrate an achievement. You can reward yourself by buying something that will make you feel good, like a pair of shoes or a new purse. You can go out to dinner with friends, you can have a glass at home by yourself! Just do something meaningful that will reinforce your gratitude towards God, the universe, and your self.

Hope these tips will guide you to revisit your goals for this year, or even set new specific, intentional ones for this new year.

Love and Light,

Laura 

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Laura

I am an early childhood educator who has fallen in love with the life that I have been given. I am inspired by the beauty in everything that surrounds me to live my best life, loving my hardest, and traveling the furthest possible. Join me on my adventures through life.

Comments

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15 Comment

  1. Vanessa Anabelle says: Reply

    Awesome article !!!!! Thank you Laura . I find many things that will help me trough my journey. #goalscometrue

    1. It’s a pleasure to inspire you to work on your goals Anabelle! Thanks for stopping by 🙂

  2. Perpetue Augustin says: Reply

    Omg! Congrats on your blog Laura! I am very proud of you! I am seating in my car reading this, and I swear you wrote this with me in mind. I have had a project in mind for the longest now, and everytime I planned to execute it, the fear of the unknown pushed me back. I finally decided to overcome my fear and started working on it this year. I had said I wouldn’t want to let the month end without me realizing a part of it, and so far I am on track. Thank you for your words, and thank you for inspiring others. You never know how far it will reach. I wish you much more success, and please continue this amazing project!

    1. Yes! I have procrastinated so much in the past on my projects. Sometimes all you need is a nudge to get you moving! No more procrastination, I wish you the best on reaching your goals!

      1. Thanks, same to you!

  3. Wonderful tips. Love them all. I love writing goals/ideas down. I just started doing that and for you to say it just confirmed that it really works. Can’t wait for the next blog. Keep up the good work!!!

    1. Hi Stephanie, thanks for stopping by! I find that writing things down is the only way to remember and keep my self in check. It absolutely works!

  4. Hi Laura, i’m glad i found your blog. My question is out of topic but i would like for you to blog about your experience working in Haiti. I’m graduating in may with my bachelor in social work , and i always wonder how i can benefit haiti through my education. Thanks

    1. Hello Marie! Thanks for stopping by. Would you mind sending me a private message through my contact page, and I will email you directly if that suits you.

  5. Lissa Mathieu says: Reply

    Yes! Love this post! It was right on! Thank you for sharing and I can’t wait for more! 🙂

    1. Thank you Lissa!

  6. Hi Laura, I am super happy that I found your blog. I enjoy reading this article, number 1 tip is indeed the absolute KEY. This was a very positive, and inspiring article. I look forward to reading more wonderful articles like that. Stay Blessed

    1. Hi Dina! Thank you for stopping by. I’m glad you enjoyed this post. I look forward to interacting with you!

  7. Cristynn Louis-Jean says: Reply

    Wonderful! I really love it!

    1. Thank You Cristynn!

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