I have always been on the fence about setting goals, because I find them so hard to stick to and accomplish. When I decided a couple weeks ago to sit down and actually think about the root of my sad history with goal setting, I realized that I never had the motivation to be able to actually accomplish my goals. Since motivation is in pretty short supply, I am going to give you six ways to succeed with your goals without motivation.
Small Steps That You Can Do Now To Have Successful Habits as a Adult
How to be Productive While Stressed
1. Write down your goal and remind yourself of it daily
The reason I am telling you to do this besides me being a strong believer in writing things down, is that there are so many studies showing the power of writing things down. Writing down your goals makes you 42% more likely to accomplish them. 42%. On top of being so great for accomplishing your goals, if you put them somewhere where you will easily see them, you will be reminded of them everyday.
2. Believe in your self
One of the most important parts of accomplishing your goals is your mindset. If you are constantly telling yourself that you won’t be able to do something, like I have done in the past, you will never be able to accomplish your goals. For example I used to think, “how will I ever be vegan if my family doesn’t want to be with me?” or “how will I ever be able to grow my blog traffic if I am just a teen?” But thinking like this will never get me closer to my goals. I had a bad mindset, one that made me feel helpless, and sad. Over these last couple of weeks I have changed my mindset to “I will start with just one vegan meal a day, and then move to two, and three” also, “I just need to make each post the best I can.” Overall, the more negative self talk, the less motivated you will feel. It also helps to break your goals down so they don’t feel so insurmountable.
3. Manifest your goal by believing you have already accomplished it
This is a bit confusing, but your thoughts have power. Your brain does not know the difference between your thoughts and and your reality. If you live as if you have already accomplished your goal it will be easier to make happen. For example for me, I am trying to live as if I am vegan, asking my parents to buy vegan groceries and restrict any food that I don’t have to eat that isn’t vegan such as ice cream, or get the vegan alternative. Living with your goal will not only be easier for your brain to make the change, it will be easier to get your family on board, and your lifestyle will already be ready for the change.
4. Recognize the difference between being productive and being busy and act on it
The strategy that I use to recognize whether I am being busy or productive is by looking at my daily To-Do list and comparing it to my long term goals. Are my daily to-do’s helping me achieve my long term goals? If so, I am being productive. If not then I am just being busy. Just being busy might be necessary for your job or school, but during your day try to spend most of your energy, time and willpower on tasks that get you closer to your long term goals. A great trick is setting timers to keep track of how much time you are spending on a task, or using time blocks ad blocking out your time. I like to use my journal for my time blocks, and you can find all about the why and how of journaling here.
6. Be consistent
Being consistent is the simplest step in principle but the hardest and most important step in the actual goal process. This is because sticking with your goals requires tons of motivation, willpower and discipline. And those aren’t always there! And that’s completely normal and fine. The problems start when you skip a day because you just aren’t feeling motivated, and then think its fine to skip another, and another and soon you wake up and wonder what happened to that great goal you were so excited about? If you stay consistent with your goals you will reach them. As long as you are always working towards your goals, they will be accomplished.
