3 Tips to Help You Stay Motivated to Achieve Your Goals

It’s the first day of the second month of the year. How are things going for you so far? Are you feeling productive and making steady progress towards the goals you’ve set for this year? Or do you feel like you’re barely surviving wondering where January went?

I’m finding myself to be in between productivity and wondering where January went. On one hand, I’ve made some significant progress on my goals. In fact, I’ve already completed one! On the other hand, though, I feel like January flew by. There was much more I wanted to get done that I just didn’t get around to.

By this point in the year, many people give up on their goals because they feel like they didn’t make enough progress on them in January. I say this year let’s try something new. Let’s look back on January and consider the positive movement we had toward our goals, even if it was very small.

Instead of throwing in the towel, we can reassess and see how we can move forward in February to make the most of our goals. It’s not too late!

You may say, though, that you’ve just lost the motivation. Maybe January did not play out like you had planned. Unexpected illnesses, interruptions, or crises may have come up and life spun out of control.

It’s ok! Really!

Let’s get back on track by finding our motivation to achieve our goals. Here are a few tips to do just that:

Look back to move forward

As I mentioned above, look back over January and take note of any positive movement you made on your goals no matter how small it may be. Assess what worked and what didn’t work. This will help you to develop a more realistic plan for February.

Remember your “why”

Sometimes when we get into the nitty-gritty work of completing our goals, it is all too easy to lose sight of why we chose those goals in the first place. When the work gets hard it becomes even more important to remember our “why.”

Here are a few examples I’ve come up with from my own goals:

Make a certain amount of money this year from my website-January was hard for me because I felt like I did a lot of work but did not see a monetary return for my time. It would be easy for me to give up since I didn’t see any measurable results. My “why” for this goal is that I want to make money from my website to help fund the cost of running it. I also want to earn money to help contribute to our family income so we can achieve our goal of paying off our home.

Lose 25 pounds by May 1-I did see some progress on this goal in January. I actually lost a little over 4 pounds which is wonderful for me. However, it was hard work and I really wanted to see a higher weight loss. My “why” for this goal is to become healthier and have more energy so I can do the work God has assigned me.

Have friends over once a month-I did not have anyone over in our home in January. It was just too complicated to figure out a time that would work for me and my friends. But I’m not giving up! I do have a plan for February. My “why” for this goal is to develop close friendships.

Realize you don’t have to do it all

When you reassess your goals and rediscover your why, remember that you don’t have to do all the goals you set out for yourself this year. It’s very possible that you’ve taken on more than you can realistically handle. Think about where you want to be at the end of this year and see if the goals you’ve set will get you there. If they don’t, you may want to consider dropping them for now.

This year can be a year of great growth and achievement. We just need to learn how to be realistic and set goals that will get us to where we want to go.

Do you need a little encouragement or accountability when it comes to goal setting? I can help you out! Send me an email at theplanningwoman [at] gmail [dot] com and let’s set up a free life coaching consultation. We can work together to create a package of life coaching sessions that will help you wherever you are in the goal setting/achieving process.