Everyone has things about themselves they want to change, but people can get lost or “spin-their-tires” when they don’t have a secure and reliable plan in place. This post is all about planning to succeed!
When I began 2019, I decided that this was the year to start becoming the person I wanted to be. I wanted to cut out smoking cigarettes/cigarillos for good, I wanted to reduce my grocery and eating out budget, I wanted to continue to lose weight (I lost roughly 25 pounds in 2018, and another 15 so far in 2019. I am hoping to lose another 40 before the end of this year), and I wanted to start my career of being a writer.
This is a lot to change at one time, and as these past five months of 2019 have flown by, I’ve come to face the hard truth: changing your life is a slow game, and you need to motivate yourself to make these changes. Here are three tactics I use to perpetuate my changes and fuel my desire to keep growing.
Journaling: Journaling isn’t just something that angst-y teenage girls do when their parents ground them and they can’t see their boyfriends this weekend. Many people turn to journaling as a way to release their emotions and really mentally reconnect with themselves. Journaling allows you to really think about where you are in the world and wonder, is that really where I want to be? I use my journal to list out my goals and brainstorm ways to reach them, to really deep dive into my feelings and remind myself why I want to change. Do not think that you need to buy into expensive journals, I bought a six dollar Exceed Dot Classic Notebook, a ten dollar pack of Papermate Flare Pens and began divulging my feelings, failures, or successes; and every time I do I am comforted with clarity and new perspective.
Planners: I love planners. I love their uniformity, their design, and most of all the prospect of success and goal-attainment. Planners should be used to keep you organized on your tasks, and should be used for any use necessary in the path of your goals. I use my planner to track how much money I spent that day, the daily chores I need to do, to meal plan, and to track my word counts/blog posts. Use your planner as an accountability tool, and use positive reinforcement with…
Rewards: Positive reinforcement has been shown as a more effective tool than negative reinforcement, so set the standards you need to achieve your goals and tie rewards to these. Here are some examples:
John wants to lose weight, so his goal is to increase his exercise and decrease his calorie intake, something that he’s journaled a lot about wanting to do. Once John has chosen a diet and workout regiment, in his planner he would plan out his meals and workouts for the week. If John completes his workout and eating regiment for the week he’s going to treat himself to drinks and dinner with a few friends at a local bar.
Sarah wants to read and write more everyday, and has written journal entries chronicalling her goals. In her planner she would list her targets, such as to write her first draft of her novel for an hour everyday and to read for an hour everyday. She’s decided that if she meets her daily targets for the week, she’ll reward herself by purchasing a new book on Saturday.
Make sure to balance the desire of the reward with the difficulty of the task, give large milestones and break throughs with large rewards, don’t cheat yourself by giving in when you didn’t earn it!
Take the time to search your mind and heart for your goal, and then plan to chase it down like a lion chases a gazelle. With tenacity and hunger.
Ethereal Quill Blog 