“I don’t have time!…I’m going to start tomorrow…I am still learning.” These were all the lies floating around in my mind in 2014. I had big hopes and dreams but no real clarity on what I was going to do to make my goals a reality. I shared the vision with my sister and close friends, I prayed for help and divine strategies ALL the time, and I read books by world leaders and personal development and business guru’s but nothing gave me the answer I was looking for. What I needed was something concrete. Something I could start doing now. Something that would take me one step closer to my goals. I needed to find a way to turn my goals into reality but I didn’t know where to start.
Secretly, I was waiting for someone to help me. You know, show me the way. Tell me the “secrets to success.” Give me the tools and resources I needed to take my life to the next level. Except, as you might have guessed, that didn’t happen! Instead, after getting married on December 4th, 2014 I began to understand a principle that I didn’t consider before. The principle of taking action.
There Is No Magic Formula
If you want to experience success with your personal goals whether it’s related to weight loss or building better relationships, graduating school or being more assertive you need to start somewhere and you need to start now. I mean like today, right after you finish reading this blog.
Think about it, what is the point of gathering a bunch of information week after week and not applying any of it? Do you do it just so you can say “I already know that” or do you invest your time into learning these things and reading these blogs because you want to improve your life? I think the latter is true. Am I right?
If you want to start crushing your personal goals the first step is to start right now, where you are, with what you have and with what you know!
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Get Wise Counsel
Having a mentor, teacher, coach, or someone with experience showing you the way and helping you to determine the best, most realistic way you can achieve your goals is one of the best gifts you can give yourself! I have mentors who are experts in different fields including finance, business, and marriage. I know that no one person has all of the answers and we are all on a continual journey of growth so I don’t put pressure on my mentors to know everything. I just milk them for everything they know in their special area of expertise haha!
Working with someone to achieve your goals will save you tons of time and energy (you won’t have to attend a bunch of webinars that are full of fluff or waste energy working hard on strategies that don’t work and aren’t realistic for your lifestyle). It will also save you thousands of dollars. You won’t have to spend a bunch of money on books, training programs, and online courses that promise a reward but leave you feeling like you were ripped off (can I get an amen somebody?).
Trust me, if anyone understands this, it’s me. For years I invested in self-help books and wasted hours trying to understand and implement strategies that would not work with my lifestyle. I would create a schedule and fail to follow through, I would make a budget and end up blowing all of my money, I would plan to do things better and be more efficient the next day, but I would reap the same results. Frustration, confusion, and disappointment. It was hard! Why was this happening? What was I doing wrong? Why wasn’t any of this self-help stuff working for me?!
Well, the truth is I wasn’t giving it enough time. I didn’t get the success I longed for because my strategy was all wrong. I was impatient and looking for quick, immediate, microwave results. If I had wise counselors (a coach, teacher, or mentor) they would have told me to slow down, implement one strategy at a time, analyze the results and tweak what is not working. I would have saved myself A LOT of time, money, and energy, not to mention STRESS!
So step 2 is to find a mentor, coach, or someone with success in the area that you’re struggling with and ask them for help. Check in with them on a weekly or monthly basis and get clear about what is working and where you need improvement.
Related Post: The Struggle Is Real
Be Intentional
Making a decision to commit to your goals and actually following through with that decision will never get easier. Your life will not magically get to a point where you’re able to invest all of your time into personal development training. You will not all of a sudden have enough money to start investing in yourself. You have to be intentional about challenging yourself and adjusting your schedule to include priorities that will take you to your next level of success.
When I started being intentional about the goals I wanted to achieve in my life I can’t say that I felt totally prepared. I had major responsibilities that required financial support, I had people who depended on me and had great expectations, and I also had internal thoughts that were working against me like “you’re not good enough, you’re not ready, and you don’t have what it takes…”
Like many of you, I was not only fighting against the external pressures of life, but I also had to work through my inner traumas and limitations. It was hard. It was more challenging than I had anticipated and to be honest, on several occasions, I wanted to give up.
Can you imagine what would have happened if I had given up on my hopes and dreams? For one, you wouldn’t be reading this blog right now, and two, I would have to live with the pain of regret. Every day I would be wondering what my life should have, could have, and would have been if I had lived my dream.
Step 3 is to be intentional about your goals and put them in your calendar with a start date and deadline. I know that you don’t want to look back on your life 2 years from now and realize that you’re still in the same position that you are in now. Heck no! You want to look back and say “wow! look at how much I’ve grown! Look at what I’ve been able to do over the last 2 years! Look at my life! I’m a rock star!” right?
So Here’s My Challenge For You
Today, I want to challenge you to stop making excuses for your lack of progress. Stop complaining about what you don’t have and what you think you can’t do. Instead, find solutions! Look for ways to overcome your challenges and break the normal cycle of compromise in your life. Break the cycle of procrastination that is keeping you stuck and dissatisfied with your life.
Decide that living a mediocre life is not for you because the truth is, you were made for so much more! You were made with a purpose and I believe that with goal planning you can achieve it! Until next time, your friend. Xo!
