Dream a little dream….

I’ve been using sheets of paper for goal setting and mind-mapping for years. I’ve also tried Lululemon’s vision and goals worksheet (you can download it here).

But the problem is that goals evolve. I don’t want the same things than the person I was yesterday. Or last year. Or five years ago. My solution was to cross out. Write across. On the back of the page. Start a new page. Rewrite everything. In any case, it’s been messy. In order for me to pursue things and keep coming back to something, the tools need to be visually appealing. I need to want to work with my tools. Piles of paper here and there are not nice.

Brainstorming….

Contemplating…

Go!

Purely by chance, I found a new way of approaching things.

I tend to follow and find out about small, independent Australian companies and creative initiatives. At one of the local yoga studios I’ve seen diaries by independent Melbourne company Mi Goals (yes, the traditional, boooring paper diary has made its comeback!), but they’ve also developed awesome goal setting books. Yes: A proper book that you can keep, add to, amend and where you can tick off things (yay!). It keeps track of all you’ve achieved, but also has plenty of room for addition. Oh, and it looks nice on the desk!

They’ve got different books for goal setting; all of them are very structured, and every few pages you’ll come across something inspirational that keeps you going – they’ve also added an overview of helpful hints if (like me) you’re unsure where and how to channel your goal-setting energy.

They’re not sugarcoating things. This is what they have to say about transitioning from setting goals to actually making them happen:

• The secret to achieving your goals isn’t found in an Instagram quote. It comes from real, actual work.
• Planning is the critical step to take your goals from vision to getting shit done.
• When you set goals you write down the who, what and how and list out your milestones and To Do’s.
• Get really clear on your deadlines. If you don’t make this time-critical, it’s too easy to put it off.
• Transfer your key milestones into your diary; then start to work back from your goal deadline to figure out when you need to get certain tasks done.
• Make your monthly, weekly and daily plans. Manifesting your goals merely by meditating on them every day rarely ever works.
• At the end of each month you need to decide what your focus will be for the next month for each of your goals.
• Then each week drill down to figure out what needs to get done each week.
• Schedule these tasks out for certain days of the week – because something scheduled is way more likely to happen.

So here you go: The motivation, the plan – and the tools!

Remember: GOALS ARE DREAMS WITH DEADLINES 🙂

How do you plan and schedule your goals? Do you keep a log of achievements to keep you going?

Image credit: Mi Goals Instagram