Finish Strong: The End of Year Goal Challenge

Let’s take a journey together.  I have made a promise to myself. I won’t wait another day to become the best version of myself possible.  I’ve put off changes that I’ve wanted to make for a long time.  “I’ll start tomorrow.”  “Sundays and Mondays are always a good time to start something new.”  Those are just a couple of things I’ve told myself week after week.  That stops today.

Just look around.  Tomorrow is not promised. Therefore, I don’t want to look back even a month from now and say, “If I had just started back then, I could have reached my goal by now or been much closer to it.”  I know that I am not alone.

I want to invite you to join the Fall Into You Challenge. 

We are going to be stating our intentions, putting them down on paper or in our electronic device of choice, making a plan and taking one step at a time.  Throughout the challenge we will check in on each other, encourage each other and mark our progress.  This challenge is meant to encourage you to take that first step that you’ve been putting off for whatever reason and doing it with like minded people.

With the time changing and less sunlight can make you feel less motivated.  It happens to the best of us.  We can take advantage of the cooler weather and shorter daylight hours to commit to time spent towards accomplishing our goals.  Most of us have gotten through our vacation season.  Let’s take this time to have a mindset shift. So, instead of looking at the change of seasons as a negative, we can look at it as an opportunity.  

First, let’s begin the challenge with this question. What story do you tell yourself about yourself?  Second, who do you aspire to be?  It’s never too late to be the person you want to be.  Be honest with yourself about where you are, where you want to be and why you don’t think you’re at the place you want to be.  Third, have hesitated to move?   Are you been afraid to step out and do whatever it is?  It’s time to dig down deep.

I too will be asking and answering those questions for myself.

Let’s get started.

This week we are going to write down our goals, research and identify steps we need to take to reach those goals.  Look at the characteristics and habits of people who are already where you want to be.  Which of those characteristics and habits can you adopt? In other words, what are they doing everyday, and also see what they are saying they no longer do.

Part of my research is going to be finding women online that are doing the things that I want to do, view their posts, read what they say about themselves and write down the things I can use to help me on my journey.  I don’t necessarily want to copy them, but I do want to see which of their habits I can incorporate into my daily life.  Are they writing out daily plans to stay on track?  Are they using particular tools to assist them in achieving their goals?

Now, let’s write down 3 goals.  Goals that can be obtained in 90 days and 1 that may be more long term, but the habit or process can be started during the 90 days.  Remember, these goals are unique to you.   They don’t have to be overly grand.  We want to be able to look back in 90 days and see changes.  

We are going to write SMART goals.  SMART as it pertains to goals, stands for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Time-Bound.

• Be Specific about what it is you want.  Is the goal clearly defined?
• Measurable refers to being sure the goal can be tracked.  Can you see progress from moment to moment.
• An Achievable goal is something that is realistic.  Don’t set a goal that is so lofty that you set yourself up for failure before you even begin.  Do you have the right skills and or resources?
• A Relevant goal refers to the big picture.  What is your reason for setting that goal?
• Time-Bound is how we measure the success of the goal.  Since we know the time of the challenge is 90 days, write down the date you begin the challenge.  Seeing your start date is going to keep you focused on the journey.  We’ve given ourselves 90 days to accomplish these goals, so when we start is important.

After you write down your goals, ask yourself what one thing you can do to get started in reaching that goal.  You are going to start acting like the person you want to become.  For example, I want to grow my business.  In my research I found that it requires me to manage my time well.  I will dedicate my time to my business rather than grabbing my phone.   As a result, I my business will improve over time. It doesn’t mean that I have to give it up social media. but I do have to be mindful of how much time I spend doing things that are not going to be helpful.

You’ve determined what changes you need to make and what steps you need to take to reach the goals you’ve set.  The next couple of weeks, test those changes and or steps to see if there is any progress or if you need to make more changes.  It’s okay if something doesn’t work.  The most important part of this phase is to actually do something towards reaching your goals.  You don’t want too much time to pass without any progress.  Remember the goal is Measurable.

Again, begin acting like the person you want to become.  Every accomplishment begins with TRYING.  Will waking up 30 minutes earlier or going to bed 30 minutes earlier allow you to build habits that will help you to reach your goal?   One of my goals is to build my small business that I share with my husband.  I work a full-time job so I want to wake up early to work on a task that will help me do that.  That means I have to be mindful of my evenings.  I can’t stay up late scrolling on social media and expect to wake up early.

Get honest with yourself and claim what you want.  Act like you believe in yourself before you believe in yourself.  Honestly, I have allowed fear to paralyze me.  I have always had a fear of failure even though I know that when I have applied myself, I have actually been successful.  Now that I have said it out loud, I am ready to take my own advice and claim what I want.  It’s time to embrace knowing that I can be successful.  I know that I have what it takes to achieve my goals.  I will live out each day with intentionality with my future in mind!

Follow me on Instagram and join the Inspiration community on Facebook.  I will be posting daily tips and sharing my progress.  Let’s encourage each other along the way.  Taking the first step and finding success along the way is much easier when you have someone else there with you.  Even though everyone’s goals will be different, we can still support each other.  Maybe your goal is something someone else has mastered and can give you some advice.  We really are stronger together.  So don’t be afraid to share your story, progress or setbacks.  

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100084687393101

https://www.instagram.com/ingrids_inspiration/

Again, it is time to dig deep.  We are going to end the year strong.  You don’t have to wait until the first of the year to set new goals.  Now that we are off of summer vacation, we can buckle down and get things done.  Set those goals, take the first step and keep pushing forward.  

You’ve got this!  We’ve got this!

Just as a bonus, check out this clip from Sara Jakes Roberts to inspire you to jump start your journey.

How To Birth Your Purpose X Sarah Jakes Roberts

Remember, it is more painful to live a small life knowing you gave up on your dreams than to dare to fan the flame.