Have you ever had an idea, dream or goal and found yourself researching or questioning the “secret” or fastest way to achieving it. If you search the web, you may come across an “expert” who can tell you, “This is how to make all of your dreams come true”. But eventually, we all realise that there is no “genie in a bottle” way of making dreams or goals come true, they require hard work, perseverance, and resilience. While this may initially sound discouraging, meeting your goals and achieving your dreams is certainly possible. Taking a look introspectively and adding a little elbow grease will empower and drive you towards taking the steps forward to achieving your goals and dreams. This post details how you can become five steps closer towards achieving your goals.
Create a Vision and Visualise the End Goal
In order to begin the journey towards your goals and dreams you must first know what it is you would like to achieve. Once you have the goal in mind, visualise what the end goal looks like. Make it specific. Then write down the actionable steps you will take towards getting to that end goal. It can be helpful to also create a timeline to help organise and propel you forward. For example, if you are wanting to lose weight, decide how much and by when? Then create and write down the actions you will take each day, week and month. Check in each week on the goal and continue to remind yourself of the end goal, and write down your progress!
Believe in Yourself
If you don’t believe in you, how will anyone else? It can be difficult to overcome self-doubt and ignore the inner critic that often speaks into our insecurities but with one day at a time, positive self-talk and little encouraging words or affirmations we can change our frame of mind and begin believing. Take some time every day to instill a sense of belief in yourself — you’ll be surprised at how quickly it starts working! A straightforward way to do this is to track all the small gains you make towards your goal each day. This daily reminder lets you know that you are making progress.
Adopt a New Perspective on Failure
Failure can be a good thing. There is nothing wrong with failure because it allows for a learning opportunity. When you fail, you learn what to do next time, how to persevere, and how to work harder at getting to the place where you want to be. The word can be used as an acronym, F.A.I.L; Future Attempt In Learning. Challenging our mindset or thought process on failure from a disaster into an opportunity can help us release fear and dive into our attempts at learning.
Understand Your Strengths and Weaknesses
By knowing our strengths and weaknesses we can take better charge of opportunities by either developing and expanding in any areas we might lack or by delegating to others or resources to help. Being human means we all have strengths and weaknesses, so there’s nothing to be ashamed of in recognising your own. It can help to write them down in a list. If you cannot come up with strengths (as it can sometimes be difficult to see our own wonderful qualities), ask those in your life who are supportive of you to assist you to become aware of your strong areas. Incorporate your strengths when working with your goals and practice ways of improving your weaknesses.
Perseverance
It is so important to never give up. Don’t lose sight of your “why”, and don’t let anyone get in the way of your ambitions. You are here for a reason — stick to that reason and don’t quit until you’ve reached your goal and achieved your dream, you’ll be amazed at how much you really are capable of — without that magical genie.