Have you got 5 minutes to change your day? – My quick and easy 10 Step Goal Setting Process

I’ve said it will take 5 minutes to read this post so I’ve divided it into 2. The goal setting process is at the start so that you can get to work on them immediately. Below this I’ve written about how I came up with them and also a little bit of how I applied it to achieve a personal goal. I hope you enjoy them and that you are able to set quick goals and follow through the process to achieve it also!

The 10 Steps I’ve come up with are:

1. Write it down so you can SEE it

2. Set your goal so it is SMART – Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Time Bound.

3. Feel the fear and doubts and do it anyway!

4. Avoid negative self talk. Speak positive about your goal and your abilities!

5. Believe it’s possible.

6. Believe it’s worth it – get a big enough WHY – a reason why you will succeed.

7. Don’t quit when it gets hard – keep going!

8. Celebrate!! Feel great after it! You deserve it!

9. Cross it off your list of goals.

10. Go to the next goal and repeat process!

11. Give an extra 10% always 🙂

 

Goal setting is one of these things I don’t do enough of if I’m honest. I know deep inside that setting goals gives me more energy, gives me an excitement for life and takes me closer to my dreams with every goal I achieve!

So why don’t I do enough of it? Because of the perceived time it might take for me to set some goals. My schedule for my week is insane between working, coaching, singing and training for my cycle to Rome this year. I have downtime put in for rest and recovery but most of the time I’m always doing something!

So when I was out training yesterday I decided to try a quicker goal setting process that I used to bring my mileage up while cycling.

It was a wet, windy evening and I was cycling to the next town to meet a friend and cycle them home. I thought I’d gone a lot further than the speedo was saying (always feels like you’ve done more than it says!!), so when I got back to my town I knew I wanted to go further!

I was at 36km which is the distance I’d done the 2 previous evenings I was out on my own. I set myself the goal of getting to 45km and then I could turn in for the night and enjoy a dinner cooked by my girlfriend!! This is only a 9km difference but after cycling 36km I was already tired! Don’t forget the wind and rain lashing down on me on the bike and you can see it wasn’t an easy decision!! Here’s how I applied the process!

1. Write it down so you can SEE it

I was out on the bike at the time of setting this goal of getting to 45km within 30 minutes. It doesn’t seem a lot but with the wind and rain it was a stretch! I looked at my speedo and imagined seeing 45km on it. There’s no cheating using this way, it’s SMART – Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Time Bound.

2. Set your goal so it is SMART – Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Time Bound.

I made sure to give it a distance like 45km within 30 minutes. It gave me the focus of doing 9km within a certain time frame. This focus helped me keep going.

3. Feel the fear and doubts and do it anyway!

It’s not easy on your own in the dark and lashing rain to stay out when you could be at home with a nice cup of tea and a hot dinner! I have a fear of dogs chasing me when out on the bike also which doesn’t help! I didn’t know if I could keep pushing myself that much but I pushed through, I faced my fears and kept going!

4. Avoid negative self talk. Speak positive about your goal and your abilities!

You will doubt yourself and you will want to quit! Neuro Linguistic Programming would have you say to yourself “This is easy!”, “The bike doesn’t weigh a lot!” but I think be your own COACH – “You can do it”, “You’re nearly there!”, “You’re doing great!” worked better for me! Keep pushing yourself and keep pushing your mind, your mind will give up before your body does!

5. Believe it’s possible.

If you think it’s impossible you won’t achieve it! Don’t listen to people’s opinions of what’s possible or impossible. Get out there, believing it’s possible and you WILL achieve more than you ever thought you could!!

6. Believe it’s worth it – get a big enough WHY – a reason why you will succeed.

My reason WHY for being out in the wind and rain training is because I know my cycle in June will raise a lot of money for the Irish Cancer Society. This is my WHY. I have a number of people who come to mind when I get tired training and their image in my mind motivates me to get out there and keep going!

7. Don’t quit when it gets hard – keep going!

Your mind will give up before your body does, keep going!! You will burn, you will experience discomfort, don’t listen to your mind, reinforce the positive talk – “You can do it” etc… Your muscles will scream at you to stop and your mind will remind you of this and show you the easy way out. Don’t listen to it – your muscles are screaming at you because they’re growing and you’re pushing them!! That’s what they’re designed for! Keep going 🙂

8. Celebrate!! Feel great after it! You deserve it!

When you’ve completed your goal CELEBRATE!! You deserve it! Feel great after it knowing you’ve done something you set out to do and you COMPLETED it! Not everyone that sets a goal completes it, so celebrate and enjoy the feeling!

9. Cross it off your list of goals.

This is why writing your goals down is so important! When you can see yourself crossing off a goal on a list of goals, the satisfaction is incredible! I set this goal for myself while out on the bike, I came home and wrote it on my list of goals just to cross it off 🙂

10. Go to the next goal and repeat process!

Enjoy the process and set more goals!! Use this simple system to achieve them and repeat!!

11. Always do 10% more.

I actually pushed myself when I got to 45km to get to 50km and didn’t stop until I got there! It’s possible and I know you can do it, because if I can, anyone can!

Best of luck in your goal setting! Let me know how you get on and if you want to have some accountability set your goals here below in the comment section and check back in later on to see how you’re doing!

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