1. Be honest about what's not working for you

Sometimes we might have a certain goal in mind but things we’re trying to do to get there just aren’t working. Say your goal is to get fitter and you’ve decided to get up every morning at 6am to workout. But with a late night job, you’re just so tired in the morning that it’s much easier to hit snooze and go back to sleep.

Rather than try to struggle against your circumstances, look at how you can change the way you go about achieving the same goal. So instead of scheduling in a 6am session, look at whether you can workout later in the day. And if the problem is that you really just hate going to the gym (hey, some of us just don’t get excited by loud techno music and sweaty gym equipment), find a style of exercise you can get into – whether that’s a long hike each weekend, an online KIC class or something fun like playing a team sport

2. Find smaller ways to stick to your goals

When we start out on a goal we often want to go all in. So you make huge, dramatic changes to your life.
But for some people, sticking to big changes is really hard. Instead, you need to make smaller (minuscule even) changes and stick to them daily.

If your goal is to save up for a new car, instead of trying to save half of your pay each month, start out small by focusing on just saving all the change left in your wallet at the end of the day. Then you can build up to saving on those shopping sprees and other expensive expenses. Eventually, you won’t think twice about socking away hundreds and very soon thousands of dollars for your new car.

3. Get accountable

Some people find it easy to stick to a goal, whether the expectation comes from someone else (like committing with your partner to save more) or from yourself (like telling yourself you’ll give up on daily expensive lunches). But many of us find it really easy to meet external expectations (like meeting project deadlines or getting to work on time), but struggle when it comes to keeping promises to ourselves.

If you’re in the latter camp, then one solution is to find some external accountability to meet your personal goal. There are a few ways to go about this. You could enlist your partner or best friend to check in with your progress regularly. Or you could start a journal or online blog and regularly write and talk about how your goal is going.
If that all sounds a bit too much sharing for you (hey, we get it), then something as simple as keeping a visible reminder can help. What about buying a stack of ping pong balls and a big, clear container. Put the container somewhere you’ll see daily and every time you make progress towards your goal, add a ball. The visual reminder, plus the urge to see the container getting fuller, might be enough accountability you need.

4. Schedule in your action items

Whatever your goals are, they’re going to take real time and energy to achieve. But the biggest failure for reaching your goals can often be not making the time to get the right stuff done.

Commit now to making that time priority. Schedule those things into your day – whether it’s a daily run, an hour a night to work on your business plan, or an evening a week to review your personal finances. What are your non-negotiables you need to get done to move you closer to your goals?

5. Enjoy the journey

As cliché as it sounds the whole point of goal setting is to help you do the things that matter to you most and as a result live a more fulfilled and happy life based on your terms. So if I have picked goals that make you feel miserable maybe it’s time to change them and pick ones that make you feel excited and happy.