What you need to know about setting ONE NEW goal

I recently set a goal to devote one hour of each weekday to writing, in an effort to complete the book I’m currently working on. As someone who sets a lot of goals (and accomplishes them!), here are a few things I feel are important to note about goal-setting: 

1) Committing to one new goal will require more work than just the goal itself.

When you set ONE goal, you will have to make changes to your normal day-to-day. Let’s say you decide you want to wake up one hour earlier and take more advantage of your mornings. Can you still go to bed at the same time you used to? If yes, how will you prevent yourself from not feeling tired during the day? If not, what is going to change during your time awake in order to meet your goal? Making one change will have a domino effect on your life. (And this is why it’s not a good idea to try to do too many new goals at the same time!)

2) Accountability is KEY.

When we are in the process of trying to accomplish a goal, it can be really easy to get sidetracked and make excuses. Even more likely when we don’t have anyone keeping an eye on our progress (whether that be you holding yourself accountable, or someone else partnering with you to make sure you accomplish your goal). When there’s some skin in the game, you have something that will push you through those excuses and get things done. So whatever you do, set up some system of accountability! Don’t do it alone. So if you’re trying to get up one hour earlier, lean on someone who is going to help you make that happen, or do the one thing that’s going to help ensure that you step foot out of your bed when you’ve committed to do so!

3) If it’s not fun, you are more likely to give up.

I talk a LOT about making sure what you are doing is FUN. When you are doing something that feels forced and makes you miserable, why would you want to subject yourself to that? If waking up an hour earlier makes you want to cry, you either need to a) not do it and choose something else, or b) figure out a way that you can make it fun. Can you reward yourself somehow for completing the task? Is there something fun that you can do when your alarm goes off that will help you wake up quickly (morning dance parties come to mind for me!)? If you enjoy competition, could you find someone else with the same goal and make it a game? Find a way to love the goal you set for yourself, and you’ll be well on your way!