Hitting a Wall With Your Goals? Do These 3 Things to Get Back on Track
We all have the best of intentions when we set goals early in the year. Our energy is high, our spirits are positive, and we are ready to achieve anything. Over time, we realize we’re not making as much progress as we had hoped. Other projects or priorities continue to distract us from what we had planned to tackle. And then, it’s June. Sound familiar?
I am no stranger to these feelings or this reality. I’ll admit, it has happened this year. I have goals from multiple areas of my life that have not come to fruition the way I would like so far this year. At this stage, we all have a choice. We can hope we get back on track, or we can take time to recognize where we are at and build a plan for the next steps. I have found the three steps below are a helpful place to begin in getting the right goals aligned and back on track.
Review
What goals do you have
How many goals did you set?
What progress has been made?
Why do you think it has stalled?
Take time to review all aspects of the goal or goals you set for yourself. Dissect what you had hoped to accomplish, why, and where have you missed moving it forward. You may learn that the goal was wrong to begin with, or it may help to see it in a new light and reestablish its importance.
Reframe
Did you choose the right thing to concentrate on or set out to achieve?
Are you approaching the goal the right way?
What other perspectives can you now see what you had hoped to achieve from?
You have the right goal, but perhaps you positioned it wrong or took the wrong approach. It could have been a timing issue with unexpected other activities. Regardless, if the goal is still relevant and important to you, can you reposition it to make sense for the situation you now find yourself in? This may be a good place to speak to peers, colleagues, a mentor, or a friend to gain additional perspective on what they are seeing.
Finally, combine steps one and two to look at the reality of your calendar and your day-to-day routines. Are there actions you can take to schedule your time differently to ensure you have the space needed to achieve the reframed goal?
Re-energize
Go back to WHY this was important to you in the first place.
What will it mean to get this accomplished?
There is always a WHY behind a good goal. From your review step, connect with why this goal was meaningful to you in the first place. (And if you cannot define that, pause the goal and move on to something else.) Assuming this goal still has a strong importance to you, utilize the feeling that will come from achieving something that has meaning for you. Purpose is a huge motivator for almost anything.
Just because a goal has stalled, or you haven’t made the progress you would like as we reach the mid-point of the year, is no reason to completely abandon it. Make time to review your goals, the progress, barriers, and importance to ensure you are concentrating on the right things. Reposition and reframe the goal to ensure it is relevant to your current situation. Connect with the why behind your goal to be energized by what achieving the outcome will mean to you. Investing a little time with these three steps can get you right back on track to feeling good about your goals.
How can you re-energize your goals?
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