November has been a jam packed month for me! What’s crazy is that, even though I have been going non-stop I feel good about all the running around I’m doing. Why? Because I know that all that I’m doing this month is working towards a specific goal.
I’m sure we’ve all had days/weeks/months where we’re doing a lot but it feels like all the effort we’re making is the equivalent of spinning our tires in mud. We’re working hard, but getting nowhere fast! In the craziness of book writing this summer, I rediscovered how handy it was to have a plan to achieve my goal (finish the book!). To-do lists are another handy tool that I have gotten in the habit of doing again. I like being able to track my progress. Even on those days where I don’t feel like I achieved a lot, it’s nice to be able to cross off at least one thing off the list! I even started using an electronic calendar again so I didn’t run into the problem of overbooking myself (it has happened!).
Once I was clear on what I wanted to achieve in these last few months of 2013, I was able to put together a plan to make it happen. Does everything work out the way the plan was written? Of course not! But at least there was a plan in place, no wasting time doing things without a purpose. It’s easier to stay focused when you know that each action you take it moving you closer to the achievement of a clearly defined goal. If you don’t know where you’re going, even the best GPS isn’t going to be able to get you there!
Vision Boards, bucket lists and other exercises that get you thinking about what you want to accomplish in life are great tools in helping you to get clarity. As you start to identify your goals, you can group them into short, medium and long-term goals and create benchmarks to help you track your progress! Once you’re clear on what you want to achieve, then you can express your goals to others who will be able to guide you to the right resources to assist you in making your goals a reality!
What do you want to achieve in these last weeks of 2013? Have you started to work on your plan for 2014? If you would like to work on getting clear about your goals and establishing a plan to make them happen, then I invite you to join me on December 1st for my Jump Start Your Year workshop taking place in Brampton. For more details and to register, visit the events page for the workshop. I’m looking forward to making 2014 my best year yet! What about you? ♥