Podcast Episode 220 - 10 Sure Fire Ways to Stay Stuck - #5 Never Look at Your Goals
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Have you ever felt stuck in life, going nowhere toward your dreams fast?
Have you ever made goals and promptly forgotten about them?
What do you think are the steps to fulfill your God-given purpose? Are you doing them?
It’s time for #5 in our sure-fire ways to stay stuck…let me ask you…how are those goals coming you made in January? Did you just think, “Oh shoot!”? You’re not alone, my friend.
Today is for you if…
If you’re tired of each year flying by with nothing to show for it.
If you desire to fulfill your God-given purpose but don’t seem to be getting anywhere fast.
If you’re ready to stop repeating the same mistakes and start making progress on your dreams.
We’ve covered four sure-fire ways to stay stuck so far in this series…#1 Stop learning and #2 Stay in your comfort zone, #3 Failure isn’t an option, and #4 Hang out with negative people going nowhere. It’s time for goals, my friend. You might be feeling a little guilty because you haven’t given them much thought; it’s okay, we’re all about grace on this podcast, and we’re all about not staying where we’re at. So hang with me because the #5 sure-fire way to stay stuck is–never to look at your goals.
#5 Sure-Fire Way to Stay Stuck – Never Look at Your Goals
If you aim at nothing, you’ll hit it every time.
The same is true: if you write your goals and never look at them, you’ll hit nothing every time.
Goals are the stepping stones to our dreams. But if you set goals and never look at them, it ends up the same as if you never set the goal. It adds an extra layer of guilt or shame because you know what you should do but aren’t doing it.
That was me for years. I finally stopped making goals because, somehow, my goal method of making them and promptly shoving them in the drawer wasn’t working. Weird, I know.
Sure-Fire Way to Succeed – Evaluate Your Goals
Now, I’m not going into how to make goals in this episode. I covered that in Podcast Episode 90 - Set SMARTER goals to reach your dreams. I’ll leave a link in the show notes.
What we are going to focus on is evaluating the progress of your goals.
Regularly evaluating your short- and long-term goals will ensure they align with your values and passions.
It also helps you track your progress, assess your weaknesses and areas for improvement, and gives you time to adjust them to align if needed before they’re due.
Here are several steps on how to evaluate your goals:
1. Review Your Goals
Take the time to review your short-term and long-term goals.
Ensure that they still align with your values and passions.
2. Assess Your Progress
Evaluate how far you’ve come in achieving your goals. Identify what you’ve accomplished and what’s still pending, and evaluate what worked for you and what did not.
This is the “am I still on track” stage. I like to show what percentage I’ve accomplished, like 25%, 50%, 75% or 100%.
I don’t get too technical here.
3. Determine if the Goals Are Still Relevant
Assess whether your goals are still relevant to your life and if they still matter to you.
We go through different seasons in life, and it’s okay to pivot or drop goals altogether if it doesn’t fit your life and purpose in a particular season.
So do you need to start or stop doing anything?
4. Identify Potential Obstacles
Anticipating obstacles and barriers helps you stay prepared for them. Identifying any potential obstacles, such as personal or external factors that initially barred you from achieving your goals, can help you find creative ways to overcome them.
A sticky note on my desk says,
“What’s the one thing that can get in the way of me moving forward with this project/idea?”
This note helps me preempt obstacles before I get too deep into my goals.
A couple of great questions to ask are:
What worked and what isn’t working?
5. Adjust the Goals
Based on your assessment, make any necessary adjustments to your goals. This assessment could include revising the timeline or changing your approach to accomplish the goals.
It seems like everything takes at least twice as long as we think and even longer if this is new for you or you’re also working with others to achieve this goal. Don’t condemn yourself; just give yourself more time.
What will I keep doing, and what will I improve or change?
6. Create Actionable Steps
After making a few changes, create new action steps toward achieving your goals.
These are the small steps to chunk your goal down to doable actions.
7. Stay Accountable
Write your goals down and share them with a trusted friend, partner or mentor for accountability. This’ll help you to stay focused on achieving your goals.
It helps give me people waiting on me, and I can bounce ideas or solutions to obstacles with them.
8. Celebrate Your Achievements Along the Way
Celebrate your small wins when you make progress towards your goals. This helps to motivate and encourage you and keep you on track toward the bigger picture, ultimately boosting your productivity and confidence.
Celebrating is a critical step, so don’t think about skipping it! It shows you you’re making progress, gives you confidence, and encourages you to keep going when the going gets tough.
Regularly evaluating your goals will ensure you’re on track and keep stepping toward your God-given purpose.
I want to leave you with this thought:
“A goal is not about what you accomplish. It’s about what you become.” ––Michael Hyatt
You got this, and Father’s got you!
Thanks a bunch for listening!
Until Next Time, Live Fearlessly Free!
Resources
Podcast Episode 090 - Set SMARTER goals to reach your dreams
https://heatherbunch.com/blog/2022/10/21/podcast-episode-090-set-smarter-goals-to-reach-your-dreams?rq=goals
Your Best Year Ever: A 5-step Plan for Achieving Your Most Important Goals by Michael Hyatt*: https://amzn.to/41AmL0I
Finish: Give Yourself the Gift of Done by Jon Acuff*: https://amzn.to/3KMQEnJ
This one will keep you moving forward when you want to quit on your goals.
*Amazon affiliate link; I will receive a small commission if you purchase through this link.