Prioritize Your Goals

How many of us have all of these ideas at the beginning of each new year—only by March to be completely off focus in regards to what we said we were going to do in January? (I’m silently and shamefully raising my hand.) We often have the best intentions, but of course, life kicks in, and then those goals that we set seem to appear further and further away. For those of you who can relate—I see you! This is a safe space; there’s nothing to be ashamed of here. I, too, have fallen victim to setting a goal, working really hard towards said goal for about a month—and then back to regularly scheduled programming by mid-February. Then by March, making every intention to start back fresh with the entrance of the spring season but never quite fully getting it.

If this sounds a lot like you—don’t worry. I believe we can help each other to be better so that those goals that you set at the beginning of 2025 can be fully manifested by December. At this moment, you may be wondering—how in the world are we going to accomplish this? Well, good news! I’ve got some tips that I think will help us out.

START SMALL

Have you ever gone to write your goals for the next year, and you thought to yourself—“go big or go home”? I’m sure that more than half of us can name a ton of extravagant and exciting goals that we would like to see to completion. Raise your hand if you’ve ever said something along the lines of, “I’m going to make a million dollars next year,” or “Next year, I’m going to become completely infatuated with the gym.” I’m sure many hands are silently raised (myself included)—but have you ever looked at those goals and realistically written out a game plan for how you’re going to successfully accomplish them?

If you’re anything like me, then the answer is probably not really. Sometimes I believe we get so caught up in the end result that we don’t fully list out the steps that it’ll take to get where we’re trying to go. This, my friend, is where starting small comes into play!

I want to challenge us to revisit our list of goals for the new year and think of how we could start small for each one. For instance, say you have a goal to become a gym girlie this year. How about, along with that goal, you challenge yourself to actually put your workout gear on and drive to the gym? Now, notice I said just drive to the gym—not actually get out and go inside. Regardless of how crazy this may sound or look, think about the adrenaline rush that you’ll get from actually just driving there. That small step may lead to the bigger step, which is you driving there again and eventually going inside. Sometimes, it’s the small things that could eventually lead us to doing the big thing or completing the big goal. 

WRITE IT OUT

Over the years, people have gotten more and more creative about how they create their vision boards. You’ve got those who find pictures for their vision boards by getting them from printed magazines, those who find their pictures by endlessly scrolling Pinterest for ideas (me!), and then you’ve got those who buy the super fancy and super cute vision board kits that they sell on Etsy and Amazon.

Regardless of what type of vision board girl you may be—how many of us actually write out our goals? I know that sounds super simple, but think about how many of us probably don’t. Though visualizing is a phenomenal way to actually manifest your dream life, I believe good old-fashioned writing it out can have a significant impact as well.

This is actually something that I implemented when creating my vision board for this year. I wrote a list of my goals—and then rewrote them in an “I am” format. Here’s an example: I had a goal this year to learn how to play tennis. Very ambitious, I’ll say, as I haven’t played any sport of any kind since I was in middle school. However, what I wrote out in regard to this goal was something along the lines of, “I am a woman who knows how to play tennis.”

Only after that did I create my vision board. I encourage you all to do the same, as it is amazing what this practice does to your mind. Write out your goals in the format of “I am,” which implies that you are already that person who has achieved that goal. Watch how you will then work even harder to become that person that you’ve visualized and written that you are.

DO SOMETHING

I want to overly stress to you all how easy it is to get stuck in the planning phase. Now, don’t get me wrong—planning is always necessary. However, it can quickly become harmful if we never do what we plan to do. I read or heard in a song somewhere that “a vision without action is merely a dream.” And wow—that is 100% accurate.

Visualizing, planning, and writing our goals is one thing, but actually doing what it takes for that goal to be manifested is another. I think a lot of times, we simply get overwhelmed with all that we want to accomplish. We sometimes actually begin to doubt that we can even reach that goal before we even try. This cycle is so easy to stay on, and we can make it hard for ourselves to get out of. (Kind of like those of us who have had the same goal or picture on our vision board since 2021.)

I know that actually “doing the thing” can sound scary—but sometimes, it isn’t. Sometimes, it’s as simple as making that one small step.

This week, I want to challenge us to do at least one thing that would be required for us to accomplish one of our goals. I’ve got a feeling that the reward we see will spark something within us.

I feel it in my heart that the sky is the limit for us. I want to end with the reminder that we are amazing—you are amazing. I don’t say that lightly either. I have so much confidence that anything you put your mind to, you can achieve.

We discussed earlier how writing our goals can help, so I want to provide you with a template that I’ve begun to use to help me with that. This template uses a concept derived from George T. Doran, who believed that defining goals within a S.M.A.R.T. (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Timely) standard would ensure that we accomplish them.

By clicking the button below, you can download this template and use it digitally within any electronic note-taking app or simply print it out. Also, feel free to copy this template for all of your goals. I hope that this is something that can help you, and I’m so excited to hear about all of the goals you accomplish this year.

You got this—we got this!