- Concentrate on few goals
If you constantly have trouble keeping to your goals, maybe you?re spreading yourself too thin. Pick 1-3 goals that are most important to you, and stick to them. Don?t bother yourself with any other goals until these goals are achieved (or unless priorities shift and these goals no longer reflect what you want in life). - Have a plan
If you have a plan worked out for your goal, it becomes much easier to stick to it. All you have to do is to follow the actions you have planned for the day. The best time to work out your plan is when you set the goal, because that?s when your motivation is the highest. Usually, I create my goal action plans right after I set my goal, after which I take action immediately ? which helps create a positive momentum. - Create milestones
If you just set one huge goal, it can be discouraging ? especially when you don?t achieve it after a short while. When that happens, some people may procrastinate on the goal altogether ? which is quite unfortunate. I find it?s helpful to break a big goal into smaller goals, after which you concentrate on achieving the smaller goals in the short-run. Just like when you go on a long road-trip ? You set pit-stops to rest/recuperate throughout the trip. - Learn to say no
Do you often put your goals aside for other people? It?s okay to do that once or twice, but if you keep doing the whole time, something is seriously wrong. You can?t forever put your life on hold for others! I used to have trouble saying no to others, until I realized I was just doing myself and my dreams a disfavor when I say yes to something that?s not what I want. Learn how to say no and you may find a bigger pot of gold at the end of this rainbow. - Have goal minded friends
Goal buddies are people who share similar goals with you. They help to remind you about your goal, spur you on when you feel unmotivated, give you new ideas on how to achieve your goal, keep you on track, among others. Your goal buddies can be your friends, or people whom you meet in interest groups. Since you already share similar interests, it?ll be easy to find people with the same goals. - Manage your time
Managing your time goes hand in hand with making a to-do list. Next to each item on the list, write about how long it’ll take you to accomplish each task. Be realistic about this estimate. Then, try to complete each task within the confines of each time limit. This will make you less likely to slack off or text your friend for an hour instead of actually getting anything done. - Monitor your results
It?s important for me to track the results of what I do, because otherwise it feels like my actions are not making a difference. Hence, every time I work on a goal, I will identify 1-2 performance metrics, then track those metrics daily/weekly. They are my connection to the end goal, because they let me know whether I?m on track or off track, which in turn lets me know whether to tweak my actions or not.
