5 Tips on Realizing your Goals, Plans, and Intentions

In December we wrote down goals, made plans, and set our intentions.  We’ve started 2010 with bang!  We are eager and ready to take names, take charge, take action.  It is January 5^th and we are totally FIRED UP!  And, so it begins…

But January turns into February, turns into March, turns into… blah, blah… December 2010!  At that point, will you look back at the goals, plans, and intentions you made and smile?

I think you will.

But first… you’ve got to put your plans into action.

5 TIPS ON REALIZING YOUR GOALS, PLANS AND INTENTIONS:

1 – Visualize your outcome

Visualization is very powerful in realizing your goals.  It’s the premise of many books written to help people realize their dreams: The Secret and Think and Grow Rich.  It’s a powerful meditative tool that athletes use in achieving success.  I remember sitting in swim practice and having our coach walk us through meditation where we would visualize how we would swim, and what the result would be.  (First place, of course; shattering my personal best time!)

In David Allen’s book Getting Things Done he discusses that the first part of beginning a project is knowing what the outcome will be.  He says:

Choose one project that is new or stuck or that could simply use some improvement.  Think of your purpose.  Think of what a successful outcome would look like: where would you be physically, financially, in terms of reputation, or whatever?

Let’s try it.  Think of one thing you want to accomplish.  What does the end result look and feel like?  The more often you do this, the more tangible this goal becomes.  You can feel it, taste it, hear it.  It becomes real.  With good practice, visualization becomes a part of your life and your goal becomes highly integrated in the way you live.

So… where are the goals, the plans, the intentions that you made?  Do you have them readily at hand?  Take them out weekly and take the time to visualize.

2 – Define the first step

I’m a list-maker, so naturally I like to break down my goals and plans into hundreds of little baby steps.  But, in reality, once I’m done with my list, I can be a little overwhelmed: “1039 to-do’s just to get this website up!”  That’s not encouraging!

So… let’s focus on one thing at a time.  What is the very first step that needs to take place?  Focus on the first piece.  It’s that first step that you need to get the ball rolling.

This first step could be as simple as “phone Sally to ask her about her biz” or “spend 45 minutes researching web designers” or “email John to ask him for carpenter referrals”.  Make time to do the first step.  Once that’s done, move onto the next one.  Move towards your goal one step at a time.

This is how good habits are established.  You know how it goes: it’s soooo hard to go to the gym that first time.  But, once you’re on a roll, you’re on a roll.

3 – Find a method of accountability

If you REALLY want to make your plans a reality, you need to find a method of accountability that works for you.  This may mean taking on an accountability partner that checks in with you.  It can be a colleague, a friend, or a relative.  When I started mmm… paper, I formed a little random group of women who wanted to change their careers.  We got together monthly to drink wine and check in with each other.  This can also be as informal as telling your sister your goals and asking her to check in with you weekly.

Accountability partners can also help you get over the fear of accomplishing a goal.  Once you share your goals with someone, they become even more tangible.  Once it’s “out there” they’ve become part of reality.  There’s something powerful about sharing your hopes and dreams with people.

If you aren’t prepared to share your goals with the world, find something that you can do to hold yourself accountable.  This is where knowing your numbers can really pay off.  Tracking your performance – whether its sales or weight loss – can be very powerful in determining how you’re doing.  Open up an Excel spreadsheet and start tracking down your numbers.  Chart your progress.

4 – Review your goals

Schedule a small block of time to review your goals weekly.  It’s important that you do this weekly and not monthly.  A month is a little too long to let things slide through the cracks.  When I review my goals, this is what I’m looking at:

• Where am I at in achieving this?
• Do I need to readjust this goal?
• Is there something I’m neglecting on my list?
• How do these fall into the other things I have to accomplish in my biz?
• Do I need to reprioritize my workload?

And, then… visualize (see #1).

5 – Be flexible

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: Don’t strive for perfection. Strive for excellence.  No one is perfect.  Perfection is not something anyone can achieve.  Excellence is a state of being and something you can BE.  It is a something you constantly work at in your life.  Be excellent!

And, with that… be flexible.  We’re hard on ourselves.  We really want to do things, be things… achieve our hopes, goals, dreams.  But be kind to yourself.

In your weekly review, if you need to tweak stuff, it’s OK.  Did something fall behind schedule?  As long as you don’t have a hard deadline (to a client or colleague) this is OK.  Do you realize that one of your goals is a bit more than you can handle?  Change it.  Flexibility is important to making sure you’re still having fun doing all of this.

Be kind to yourself and be flexible!

Happy New Year everyone!  May your goals, plans, and intentions become realities in 2010!

What’s your tip?  Share with us and with other wedding pros!