4 Simple Tips for Goal Setting That Actually Work

Goal setting is a way of aligning your energy with your life purpose to create momentum, motivation and movement. Yet, unlike LaVigne Natural Skincare’s Vitamin C Serum and Gua Sha Facial Massager, humans and goal setting are far from a winning power couple.

For today’s post, I’m not going to dive into the neuroscience and biology behind change, but rather get straight to the techniques that I’ve seen produce incredible life changing results in my own clients since founding Bloom Business Development 11 years ago.

There are my 4 ground rules as you look to create meaningful change through effective goal setting in the new year.

1. Keep the tasks small, the smaller the better (more on this in Tip #4).
2. Don’t rely on motivation to ride the waves of change. Motivation ebbs and flows and cannot be relied on. Think about those good intentions to work out that fall to the wayside after a long hard day.  Research has proven that we have a limited amount of willpower, so set yourself up for success and focus on making changes in the first three hours of your day.
3. Keep the tasks easy. If it isn’t easy to do, you won’t even get started.
4. Celebrate yourself every time you do the action by recognizing it in your mind … or out loud, whatever brings you joy.

Here are four goal setting tips that will allow you to make more money, have more fun and enjoy your life so much more. As you read through these, I want you to promise that you will take what resonates with you and leave the rest. Too much change de-rails your chances for any lasting change.

TIP #1 Get it D.O.N.E.

This is a powerful acronym that will change your life.

D – Decide & define 

Decide what are your top priorities and define them. (Use the next tip to help you with this part).

O – Organize

I don’t know about you, but I live and breath by my calendar. Start scheduling the time for this new behaviour that will create change in your life.

N – Strategic NO’s for Powerful Yeses

You need to stand tall in your boots and start saying a strategic no that opens up space for a heart centered + purpose driven yes.

E – Execute

All the deciding, defining and planning doesn’t matter if you don’t execute. Trust that warm, excited feeling in you that feels slightly uncomfortable. It’s a great sign you’re trying something new that aligns with your true desires for life. Remember, if it felt familiar it wouldn’t be anything new.

TIP #2 Time to be S.M.A.R.T. About Goal setting 

The second tip is commonly used and a powerful way to refine and define the behaviours that will actualize your dreams & desires. This tool will wipe away those frustrations and start creating some serious life ON purpose traction as you stretch the limits of your comfort zone.

Be S.M.A.R.T. about goal setting

Specific

Measurable

Achievable

Relevant

Timebound

Saying, I need to make more money or I need to grow my business, sleep better, find a way to move past this or I need to lose weight or ditch that guy are NOT goals.. Statements like, I want to make a million dollars and lose 40 lbs by December 31st … well those are NOT achievable and lead to frustration and further disappointment.

When using the S.M.A.R.T. goal setting method, you can produce momentum mojo like these:

I drink an 8 oz glass of warm lemon water each morning before breakfast.

I  wash my face each night before I go to bed.

I spend the first 30 minutes of my morning five days a week working on revenue producing tasks or my top priority as set by my team ( Pick the one depending on if you are an entrepreneur or a professional).

I run for 30 minutes three times a week for the next 4 weeks at 7 am. I will schedule those runs into my calendar each week on Sunday.

That is S.M.A.R.T. goal setting. That is winning.

When it comes to your desires and dreams, ask yourself is it specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time bound? Otherwise these are just ideas. Your ideas need to be unpacked into specifics if you’re going to create change and up-level your days.

BONUS – I ask my clients, and myself, does this feel good in your body? Do you lean in or pull back? Does this idea make you feel relaxed or tense? It’s really important to have crystal clear clarity that the changes you’re thinking of making are coming from deep within you rather than from conditioning, old stories you’re telling yourself that aren’t serving you or pressure from an external source like a boss or close personal relationship.

Tip #3 Write things down.

Can you recall a time where you did a bunch of researching, dreaming and unpacking an idea but never pulled the trigger?

When you write something down you increase your changes of achieving it by 42%. It gets better; when you tell someone about those goals you increase your odds by 65%. When you have an accountability partner, something I like to call a account-abili-buddy, you increase those odds by as high as 95%. This is why the most successful people in the world work with a coach.

Tip #4 Start Tiny to Create Massive Results 

The tinier the behaviour, the better. Start small to create massive change. For example, I set the new tiny goal of doing two squats every time I went to bathroom for the month of August. I’d become more sedentary since COVID hit and wanted to get my body moving. By the end of the month I was up to 10 squats each time I went and had naturally started doing yoga classes and cross fit workouts too. It all started with a tiny habit of two squats. Four months later I’m working out 3-4 times each week and moving onto new tiny habits.

A great method to create a tiny habit that sticks is to anchor your new habit to an existing one.

After I

I will

If you want to start flossing:

After I put my toothbrush away

I will place my floss on top of it

Or take better care of your skin:

After I brush my teeth

I will wash my face

A nice mindset shift I love love love, is shifting I have to’s into I get to’s. Statements like, I have to catch up on my emails or I have to tackle that mountain of laundry become a practice of gratitude when you start those thoughts off with the words I get to. All the things in your world that you get to do, they are blessings of abundance, opportunity and life long learning and it all shifts with one short word, how cool is that?!?

Sometimes my weeks have no wiggle room, between clients calls, discovery consults and horseback riding lessons. I get to spend time with so many interesting people who trust me to guide them down this highway of life. What a blessing. I have the resources to take my kids to classes and lessons and watch them grow and develop – “I get to” is a great take-away.

It’s your job to drill down the specifics of WHAT you want. The HOW is the response of your consistent & deliberate action. Success is not an act but a habit after all.

Make it small and easy.

Identify behaviours that you are motivated to do that are also easy to do.

To learn more about harnessing the power of your time, you can visit my blog at BloomLisa.com/Blog or follow me on IG https://www.instagram.com/bloomlisa/ where I share loads of tips for purpose driven change makers.

Keep going, keep growing.

Lisa Van Reeuwyk

PS – I have a free goal tracker and weekly planner you can download, grab your copy here https://bloomlisa.com