Best Way to Achieve a Goal



What an awesome feeling when you can say, “I DID IT!” Achieving a goal is a very empowering experience. My goal has pretty much always been to be a bestselling author of a book that helps empower and motivate girls.

Candace Hammond, a personal coach who helps teens reach their goals, offers these steps to go out and do it:

Choose a meaningful goal. You are more likely to achieve a goal if it is important to you. What’s something that lights you up inside? Something you really want to do . . . making a sports team, acing a test, getting into a certain college, traveling abroad. … It should be positive and healthy for you.

Achieve Goal Best Way to Achieve a Goal

Suppose you have a goal to accomplish, something that doesn’t really spark you-like, you’re not into your Spanish class, but a good grade will enable you to stay on the sports team. Work at seeing what you can get out of it, even if it’s not your favorite thing. Maybe you’re sick of practicing piano, but you have to keep taking lessons and play in a recital. Make it as rewarding as you can. For example, you might get some sheet music for a song you like and learn that along with what your teacher assigns. No knowledge is ever a waste. Try to see the big picture, and you can almost always find some­thing worthwhile to help you hang in there.

Break the goal into smaller steps. A goal can look so huge when you start. So break it down into bite-size pieces, or mini-goals. It will seem more manageable. And you will have a feeling of success each time you accomplish one of the mini-goals.

Have someone to support you. It helps to be accountable to someone else. Choose a person to support you who:

  •  Believes in you and your goal
  •  Is honest
  •  Is supporting you for all the right reasons (it is not about him or her; it is about you)
  •  If possible, has some experience with what you are going through

You might choose a mentor, a teacher, a parent, or someone else you can talk to. Being accountable to a friend could be sticky. It’s hard for a friend to stand up to you when you go off track. You don’t need someone who will be on you so much that you can’t stand it, but on the other hand sometimes those who love us can let us off too easily! Choose carefully.

Move into action. Start on your plan. Touch base with yourself on a regular basis to see how you are doing.

Keep your eye on the prize. Be clear about what it is you are working toward. If you don’t know what the end result will be, it will be hard to stick with it. If you want to make sure you stick with that running program so you can make the bas­ketball team, picture yourself out on the court outrunning everyone else!

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Reward yourself. Set up a reward system for yourself at vari­ous points in the process. When you’ve stuck with your goal for two weeks, a month, whatever works for you, do something nice for yourself. Got the grade you were working toward on that test? Treat yourself to something that would be special for you. To stick with something long term, you have to have fun!

Celebrate your successes. When you reach your goal, and of course when you achieve your mini-goals along the way, celebrate! Too often we just say, “Yeah, yeah, I did it. . . what’s next?” Take the time to feel really good about what you accomplished.



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