The secret to achieving any goal

It’s that time of year again when we may be thinking about setting goals for 2024, whether it’s losing weight, going to the gym, getting more sleep, eating healthier, adopting a more positive mindset etc..

For sure we’ve all got areas that we want to improve on, we’ve all got worthwhile goals that we want to achieve. We all want to look good, feel great, love what we do, and do it all with a boundless amount of energy.

Yet sadly we all know that the majority of goals fall by the wayside even by the end of January, due to loss of interest, loss of motivation, discipline, and lack of time.

According to research, 41% of Americans make New Year’s resolutions but only a mere 9% feel they were successful in keeping their resolutions. 

Yet it’s not that change isn’t possible, on the contrary! It’s just that the way most people go about setting New Year’s resolutions doesn’t work.

From experience, the number one mistake that I’ve seen people make is setting goals that are too hard to suddenly adopt into their current lifestyles. Setting a goal to go to the gym every day for two hours works great in the first week of January when your workload is low, but is it really doable for the rest of the year? 

If you’ve ever set a goal and failed at completing it, it’s a horrible feeling and you know that you just end up feeling discouraged, demoralised, defeated and disappointed with yourself. 

I am telling you that it’s not you and it doesn’t have to happen again this year, with one small tweak, just rethink what you can do daily and consistently throughout the year. I know the excitement of starting a new year afresh can make us feel overly ambitious with our goals, but start small, feel the wins and you’ll want to keep doing it throughout the year.

Make the goal clear and tangible

Make the goals really clear and tangible versus vague and hard to see progress.  For instance, get stronger versus doing ten press-ups a day.

Start small and be consistent

The most important thing in setting a goal is to ensure it’s something you can stick to consistently. Progress and real change happen when you stick to doing something consistently. 

Small goals may be that you can do in a few minutes, ten press-ups, ten sit-ups, 5 minutes of meditation, whatever it is make it a goal that you cannot fail, that you can easily tick off every single day.

In doing it this way, you’ll find by the end of January that whatever it is starts to get easier. Keep track every time you do it, tick a spreadsheet, add a star, that satisfaction, that moment of joy will help you to want to do it again the next day and you can slowly and surely build on this new habit each month.

Just think, if you set yourself the smallest of goals like doing 10 press ups a day, every day for an entire year at the end of the year that's 3,650 press ups! In truth, you’ll likely do more as you build up but if the minimum is just ten each day, you’ll have strong arms, and triceps without giving up!

Have someone hold you accountable

You might be saying that’s fine with small goals, but what about the bigger goals, the goals you know you need to do but keep procrastinating on, the harder goals, the work goals, the goals that you know you don’t want to do, but know you need to? My answer to this is accountability.

We all have weaknesses for some it’s going to the gym and for others, it’s keeping on track of our work goals. Having someone help hold you accountable can be an absolute game-changer. This has to be someone you trust, who you can talk openly and honestly with, who will hold you accountable and who will challenge you when needed. This could be a good friend, a partner, a manager or better still a coach who will follow up with you every week, every two weeks, hold you accountable and check in on your progress by following up on: 

• your goals
• what you said you were going to do in the week
• what you did
• discuss any challenges, learnings, blindspots, weaknesses, and wins you have
• plan for the next week ahead, ensuring always you are progressing towards the goal

Marshall Goldsmith, a well-known executive coach has had someone call him every single day for 25 years, and ask him the 26 questions that he set, to ensure he stays focused on his goals.

Graham Weaver, Founder of Alpine Investors, has worked with a coach every week for 15 years to help him stay accountable to his business goals. If you have a goal that you want to hit, have someone hold you accountable.

I hope this has been helpful. Feel free to get in touch and ask any questions.

I believe in you, now go make 2024 a phenomenal year!