HOW TO SET GOALS YOU CAN ACTUALLY ACHIEVE

When the alarm goes off in the morning, are you excited about your day and can’t wait to jump out of bed? Are you living the life of your dreams and exhilarated with each new day? 

Or do you find yourself looking at someone else’s life wishing you had what they have?

At nearly 50 years of age, I was that person looking at others and thinking, “they’re living their dream because they have something special. They don’t have to deal with the same circumstances I do.”

Well let me tell you, nothing could be further from the truth! 

So often, we waste time comparing our life to others. We see their success and think we could never do that, and it’s simply not true.

Today I’m going to show you how to start living that life you’ve been dreaming about by setting goals you can actually achieve. So grab a pen and piece of paper (or download our FREE Goal Crushing Action Plan from our community library) and let’s get started!

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Success Stories

The truth is, every successful person will tell you that they experienced many mistakes, setbacks, and failures before they ever saw their dreams play out.

Take Ruth Soukup for instance. 

Ruth is a wildly successful blogger at Living Well Spending Less and Elite Blog Academy, but she certainly didn’t get there overnight. 

In fact, it took many years of hardship, trials, and errors to get to where she is now.

She went through severe depression, dropped out of law school, and she and her husband were at the end of their rope when she decided to start a blog documenting how she was learning to better manage their money.

At the beginning of her career, she had many naysayers insisting that she couldn’t do it.

But she persevered. 

She worked her tail off and has now grown her blog into a multi-million dollar business, teaching people how to better manage their money and how to achieve a life they love.

Or let’s talk about Hal Elrod, author of The Miracle Morning.

In his words, he was a mediocre student, and the only record he ever held in high school was “the most detentions in any one school year.” 

While in college, Hal started working for Cutco Knives and decided that he was going to break the record for the most knives sold during their 10 day training period. 

On his first day out, he made zero sales and was ready to give up. After a talk with his supervisor, he got back up the next morning, and nine days later, broke the all-time record.

But that’s not the end of his story. 

A few short years later, he was in a car accident and told that he would never walk again. It was at that point he made a decision that though he couldn’t control what had happened to him, he could control how he lived the rest of his life. 

Proving the doctor’s wrong, he went on to not only walk again but he also beat cancer.

Now a successful author and coach, the man has shown that you can go after your dreams no matter what life throws at you.

As you can see, it doesn’t matter what you have going on in your life, you can still live your dreams.

It merely takes a change in your perspective.

A change in perspective

Let’s start making that change right now!

If you want something you have never had, you must be willing to do something you have never done.” Thomas Jefferson

Remember what Hal said when the doctors told him he would never walk again? 

If a man who was told he would never walk again could change his perspective regarding the rest of his life, then you can change your perspective too, right?

You, my friend, have what it takes.

You can actually achieve that “oh I’d love to do that one day” kind of life!

Absolutely nothing can hold you back, and I’m going to show you how below.

Get out of your comfort zone

That oh-so-cozy, comfort zone tricks us into thinking that there is no reason to leave it.

We know exactly what’s going to happen day after day, with no surprises, no excitement, and no frightening things of what’s to come (well for the most part anyway).

Today will be the same as tomorrow, and tomorrow will be the same as the day after that.

Booooring! 

Yes, it’s scary beyond the confines of your comfort zone, but I’m sure I don’t have to tell you, it’s where you will see the biggest changes in your life.

Absolutely, your new goals will require you to do something you’ve never done before. But once you can accept that it’s going to require you to Do It Scared, though you will most likely be cautious, the possibilities are endless!

It will require you to step out in faith, but it’s when you’ll see God show up in a very big way!

In Bruce Wilkinson’s book, The Dream Giver, he states

The more you turn away from your fear, the more you believe that your comfort zone is home and the more time you spend there, the more you become convinced that because you haven’t stepped through fear, you can’t.

Your comfort zone may be, well….comfortable, but you, my friend, have got this!

It’s time for you to take that first step. 

It’s time for you to realize that you are important, that your dreams do matter, and that you are capable of far more than you think!

Will it be easy? 

Nope! But I promise that you won’t regret it!

Squash the limiting beliefs

 

Start by first writing down all your limiting beliefs. Get them all out of your head and on paper.

What is stopping you?

Is it financial? Health? Young kids? Aging parents? 

Maybe it’s a job you don’t enjoy but just can’t leave right now. Or perhaps it’s friends or family members that don’t believe in you.

Are you feeling held back because you don’t know how to do something? Do you feel as though you don’t deserve to live out your passion?

Let’s talk about this for a moment. Maybe one of these will resonate with you.

• Financial 

Do you remember the movie, “The Pursuit of Happiness?” 

It was based on the true story of an entrepreneur, Chris Gardner, and the time that he was homeless. The movie showed us how he worked to get him and his son off the streets. 

Not only did he accomplish it, but he became wildly successful.

• Health

Joni Eareckson Tada was paralyzed in a diving accident and lives her life in a wheelchair. Yet, God is still using her to encourage men and women all over the world. 

Or consider Jen Bricker who was born with no legs and still, she is a successful aerialist.

• Young kids 

I personally know a handful of very successful bloggers who have 7-9 kids and they are still running very successful businesses. 

Rather than getting stuck on how hard it will be to achieve your goals because of young kids, consider what an incredible testimony it’ll be to show your children the value of hard work and what it looks like to accomplish something you’ve worked so hard for.

• Aging parents

This is certainly a fact of life, but just like anything, you can learn how to plan and schedule your day so that you’re not neglecting your duties to your aging parents, and still going after your dream, one step at a time.

• A job that you don’t like

Change it! Seriously, it’s that simple.

O.k, maybe not that simple, but you can start putting systems in place right now to make it happen.

I’m not saying you should run into work tomorrow and quit your job tomorrow. 

I’m saying you start to intentionally schedule your day to make the changes you want to see.

As with all of these limiting beliefs, it will require a change in attitude and learning to accept where you are for this moment in time. 

You still have to provide for your family, so do so with your current job and make a strategic plan to accomplish your goals.

• Friends and family not believing in you

Ah, the naysayers!

Here’s the thing. That will never change. 

No matter what you do in life, there will always be a “Doubting Thomas.” 

It doesn’t matter. You don’t have to get into conversations with them about what you are doing. 

The only opinion that matters is God’s. Stop letting other people’s opinions control your life.

• You don’t deserve it

Poppycock! 

It doesn’t matter what you’ve done in the past or how you’ve lived your life. God put you here for a reason. 

It’s time to forgive yourself (because God already has) and stop being weighed down by past mistakes and choices.

You may have sinned, but you are not that sin.

You deserve to go after that dream and live it. 

• You don’t know how

Let me just tell you that when I started FOI, I knew absolutely nothing about blogging. 

I was not (and still am not) good at computers and techy things. I had no idea there was actually a strategy for blogging. 

With technology what it is today, there is an infinite number of resources at your disposal. You can grab your phone or laptop and learn from the comfort of your own home. (And a lot of those resources are free!)

So you see, every one of those limiting beliefs is simply an excuse that keeps you from going after what you want.

Once you have written them down, take a red pen and mark a large letter “X” over every one of your limiting beliefs. 

Recognize that they are simply a ridiculous excuse to keep you stuck inside that boring comfort zone.

Now that there’s nothing stopping you, you are wide open to dream big!

 

The bigger the better

Here’s the thing. If you dream small, then that’s exactly what you will accomplish, but if you dream big, then there’s absolutely nothing you can’t do.

You have total control over what you can achieve, so it’s time for you to envision a future that is bigger than how you’re living right now. 

In the 12 Week Year by Brian P Moran and Michael Lennington, they state that

In order to achieve a level of performance that is greater than your current performance, you will need a vision of the future that is bigger than the present.

Today I want you to give yourself permission to reach for the moon! Determine right now that no dream is too big!

Brain dump your dreams

Now that you have squashed your limiting beliefs and given yourself permission to dream bigger than you ever have before, let’s start setting those goals!

If you’ve never heard of brain dumping, be ready to have your life changed!

Simply put, brain dumping is getting everything out of your head and onto paper.

Remember, do not censor yourself. No dream is too big or silly.

It’s also important to note that at this point, you should not ask yourself how you are going to accomplish these dreams. Yes, it’s an important question, but it’s not the right time to ask.

Be specific. Don’t just jot down some basic ideas. Allow yourself to get lost in your dream and let it take you wherever it wants to go.

Now grab your favorite beverage (I’ll be sitting here with my cup of chai!), find yourself a quiet place to work, turn off the notifications on your cell phone, and just start writing. 

Ask yourself:

1. If I could have absolutely everything I ever wanted, what would it be?
2. What does my dream life look like? Where would I live? What will I do? What is my dream job?
3. In five years, where do I want to be?

Consider the following areas in your life:

• Spiritual
• Family
• Financial
• Health
• Professional

Remember, nothing is too crazy. Anything and everything is possible.

Once you squelch those limiting beliefs, do you see how open you become to what is possible?

Wrapping Up

Achieving your goals is not going to be a quick road. 

It’s going to require a change in mindset and time to learn new things. It will stretch you beyond anything you’ve ever done before. 

But my friend, throughout your journey you will discover that you are far more capable than you ever thought possible.

Once you finish writing down your goals, you’ll be ready to learn how to intentionally schedule your day to make time for everything you need to do to accomplish your dreams. (I’ll show you exactly how to do it whether you have one hour a week or twenty!)

So go out and get it, my friend. You deserve it!

Until next time, 

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