Ready, Set, Goal: 4 Tips to Turn Personal and Professional Goals into Reality
If you passed on writing New Year’s resolutions this time around, you may have actually been on to something. Come the start of February, nearly 80 percent of New Year’s resolutions will have fallen through. And while that may not be a big surprise to anyone, this daunting statistic is no reason to stop striving for self-betterment, whether in your personal life, professional life, or both.
There’s really only one start date for setting (and achieving) smarter goals, and – you guessed it – that day is today.
Let’s stop putting off success, and let’s get growing! Now that most of us are past our New Year’s resolutions and have moved onto our 2019 reality, we’re sharing four reminders that inspire our team every day to keep growing, improving, and succeeding.
1. Remember who’s on your team, and reach out when you need to.
Successful people would be fools to think success is created alone. After all, who among us can get by without a little help from our friends?
The simple truth is that without an uplifting support network, goals and resolutions feel really far away, and the pursuit of them gets lonely. Prioritize surrounding yourself with people who challenge you. Share their advice, and lend a helping hand when you need one. Having supporters to lean on in times both good and bad is crucial.
Hint: From mentors to coworkers, and friends to relatives, remember to thank the people in your corner every now and again. And, of course, try doing the same for others. You can always be a part of someone else’s team, too!
2. Never go easy on yourself, but always be kind to yourself.
Success is no easy feat, no matter what “success” means to you. Goals and resolutions exist outside our reach, so if it’s not challenging, it’s probably not a lofty goal. What’s more is that big goals require a lot of planning, persistence, hard work… and often, wine.
You do have to be tough on yourself to make change happen but do so within reason. By no means should you have to bully yourself into making progress. That’s counterintuition if we’ve ever seen it.
And we get it: We know the panic of a plateau, or worse, the terrible feeling of moving backward. But treating yourself with grace and kindness doesn’t mean you’re fighting for your goals any less. Plus, disrespecting yourself only stalls your growth.
Did you know that complimenting your plants can help them grow? Try it on yourself sometime! Remind yourself of your strengths and how far you’ve come. You wouldn’t want a coach, a mentor, or a member of your team to treat you poorly as you make progress. So don’t allow yourself to do that, either.
Society tends to view failure as antithetical to success. Just the thought of failing can halt us in our tracks and keep us from even trying to reach our personal and professional goals.
Try thinking of it this way, though: Failure is not the opposite of success; rather, it’s the complement of success!
You need failure to teach you how to succeed. When you fail (and we’re talking several times over), it’s merely an opportunity to reflect on where you went wrong. Reflecting on failures shows you how to adjust the systems and approaches you’ll use to accomplish your goal on the next attempt.
Essentially, if your current path isn’t getting you to your goal, then failure doesn’t mean you should ditch the goal entirely. Instead, failure should prompt you to change the route you take to reach your goal.
Perhaps merely imagining your goals is not working. Try writing them down. Is writing them down not working? Try reading them aloud as affirmations every morning. It can take several attempts to reach a goal or fulfill a resolution. But rather than let failures force you to throw in the towel, you can allow them to fuel your progress.
A little cost-benefit analysis never hurt anyone. Achieving personal and professional goals certainly is an investment in your future self, which means things might be hard right now, but hopefully, they'll pay off in the future.
That being said, you shouldn’t be left with a huge deficit of time and energy once your goal is met. So before your journey begins, picture yourself at the end of the road. Ask yourself: Will achieving my goal fulfill me? Will it better me? Will it impassion me to set new goals for myself and reach new heights?
But don’t stop there! Ask yourself these same questions throughout your journey, as well. Continual, critical evaluation of whether your goal is worth chasing after can save you time and provide you clarity. Don’t hesitate to modify your personal and professional goals to fit your vision. Doing so will keep you on the proper track.
Reminder: At the end of your path, you want the fulfillment of success to have made every sacrifice you took to achieve it truly worthwhile.
Take the first step with a fresh perspective.
Everyone interprets personal growth and success differently, and everyone’s path there is unique. These tips won’t create the perfect cocktail for everyone, and that’s OK. Sometimes, all it takes is one nod of advice to kickstart converting your goals into reality.
Maybe this year, you want to finally launch your Amazon store. Or maybe you just really need to declutter your closet. No goal is too big or small. If it’s meaningful to you and achievable by you, then it’s enough.
Interested in how Marketing by Emma can propel you toward reaching your goals? Contact us today! After all, helping you succeed is our goal.
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