According to Tony Robbins, the first step in turning the invisible into the visible is to set goals. Most of us have a vision for the kind of life we want to live, I for one want to live a sustainable lifestyle where I reduce, reuse and recycle in every aspect of my life.
But to do this effectively, I need to set goals. As I run a research company, it only makes sense for me to do my research on how to set goals that you actually accomplish. So now I will download everything I know on you…
First, do not focus on achieving goals, rather focus on creating structures/systems in your life. The structure/system is what enables you to achieve the goals more effectively and easily. So for example, to live a sustainable lifestyle, one of my goals is to reduce my carbon footprint. To do this, the structure I have in place is a hybrid work environment; I go to work two days a week. Rather than always thinking about how to reduce my carbon footprint, I just focus on the fact that I have to go to work only two days a week.
Second, create goals around already established habits, this makes it easier to remember to accomplish your goals. For example, one of my habits is to go for a half-hour walk daily (my dog trained taught me well), and a goal I have this year is to listen to educational podcasts, a topic weekly. So now when I go for walks, I am listening to these podcasts. With this, I hardly forget to listen to them and I reach my goal.
To make achieving your goals more attractive, reward yourself after the completion of a goal and if the goal is completed earlier than expected, give yourself a double reward. If you have financial goals, add a little extra to the savings so when the goal is achieved, you can buy yourself an experience or product.
Who you surround yourself with is also very important. The saying by Sonya Teclai that personalities, words and traits rub off naturally is extremely true. The wrong company puts your goals at risk. It might be hard to surround yourself with people who have the same goals as you but try to spend more time with people who share the same vision and who work toward actualizing that vision than those who are on a completely different path and notoriously known to give up on their goals.
Finally, remember to track and evaluate your progress, I recommend doing this monthly. Some months you will be on fire and some months you will almost feel like giving up. That is perfectly fine! Give yourself some grace and remember that tomorrow is a new day.
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