How to Prepare to Achieve Goals

Mexico is a country known to have more than 6,000 cenotes. Throughout the year, people from around the world travel to experience a swim in those peaceful, yet deep waters. For those brave enough to try, they leap, dive, and even flip into the waters more than 15 feet below. Onlookers who are too scared to make the same plunge observe in awe wishing they could do the same.

Today’s topic focuses on the concept of taking leaps, not into cenotes, but in life. However, just like leaping into a cenote, leaping in life can feel scary, requires a little bit of bravery, but is just as freeing when you do finally jump.

Why is it important to leap? Leaping in life is critical because failure to do so when needed can result in feeling stuck in place. Stagnancy is a feeling that many late bloomers can become all too familiar with when they allow fear and anxiety to take over. A late bloomer can find themselves missing out on career opportunities, love, and the joys of life by being too afraid to leap. However, in order to grow in life, we must become comfortable with taking calculated risks.

With that in mind, below you will find a fail proof method that you can use to take calculated leaps of faith in your life, no matter the type. Take a moment to grab a pen and paper, as you read each step write down your response. Let’s get to work.

Step 1: Complete a self-evaluation.

Ask yourself, “what areas of my life am I currently unhappy with?” Is it what you do for work? Your friendships? The way you look? Yourself? What is it?

Figure it out and write it down.

Many times, people get so stuck on the feeling of being unhappy that they don’t take time to actually evaluate WHAT it is that they are unhappy with. In order to grow in life, self-reflection and self-evaluation must become your favorite activities. So, what are the specific things about your life that you don’t like?

There are 5 key areas of life that late bloomers tend to feel dissatisfied in:

• Career/Education
• Interpersonal Relationships
• Mental Health
• Physical Health
• Finances

If you haven’t already taken the late bloomer quiz, this is the perfect time to do so. This quiz can help you begin step 1 by identifying areas of life where you may be behind.

Are You a Late Bloomer? Quiz – Late Bloomer Chronicles

Bonus tip: if your mental health is an area where you are behind, start there first.

Step 2: Set an OBTAINABLE, yet specific, goal.

The key word here is OBTAINABLE. A form of self-sabotage people love is setting goals that are so far out of reach that it is almost guaranteed that they will fail. Don’t do that to yourself.

This happens ALL OF TIME during weight loss journeys. A person will say, “I am going to lose 60 pounds in 3 months.” Yet, how many times has 3 months gone by and the 60 pounds were not loss? Some people will wrap it up to them just being incapable of losing weight and completely toss the idea of ever being at a healthy weight out the window.

Instead, set a goal that is generic in time, but specific in description.

“I am going to lose 60 pounds.”

What goals do you have set for yourself? If you are unhappy with your career, is the goal to find a new career? If you are unhappy with your friendships, will you explore making new friends? If you’re unhappy with yourself, will you go to therapy?

Pick a goal.

Step 3: Create small habits that will lead you towards your larger goal.

Sometimes you have to hop before you can leap. And crawl, before you can walk. In other words, goals must be broken down into smaller habits.

Your focus will be achieving these smaller habits first. Know that by completing the small habits overtime, you will obtain the larger goal.

For example, this looks like, “I am going to lose 60 pounds.” Therefore…

• I will walk for 15 minutes each morning before work.
• I will replace sodas with diet sodas.
• I will eat homecooked meals during the week and decrease eating out to only during the weekends.

Break your goal into bite sized pieces.

See the article: The Secret to Achieving a Big Goal Is… | Psychology Today

Step 4: Be consistent and know that it’s okay to start over and either decrease or increase the intensity.

Nothing in life is achieved overnight. Consistency is more important than intensity when it comes to obtaining goals in life. Sometimes people can tend to start off their goals too intensely only to find themselves burnt out in only a week.

This could look like a couch potato deciding they will run 5 miles…starting tomorrow. GET A CLUE!

When it comes to your small habits, you want them to be intense enough that you are moving forward, but not so intense that you are unable to maintain them.

Once you have created small habits as stated in step 3, you can always build upon these small habits SLOWLY overtime if you find that you could do more. This looks like…

• I used to walk for 15 minutes, now I walk for 30 minutes each morning before work.
• I replaced all sodas with diet sodas, now I also drink 8 cups of water each day.
• I used to eat homecooked meals during the week, now I eat homecooked meals every day except Saturday.

Step 5: Build an accountability team.

The next step is telling your goal(s) to someone who wants or needs you to succeed. Sometimes as humans we struggle to hold ourselves accountable. However, guilt and shame are powerful motivators.

Working towards a goal and having to inform your accountability team or partner that you did not complete any of your small goals during the week, is the ultimate let down. Not only to yourself, but to the person who is invested in your success.

Using our weight loss example, this could look like…

• Finding a workout partner
• Getting a trainer
• Telling your healthy friend about how you want to be at a healthy weight

Bonus tip: DO NOT avoid your accountability team or partner.

Step 6: Reward yourself along the way

Each time you obtain a small goal on your journey towards your big goal, reward yourself. The brain loves the dopamine effect of receiving rewards in exchange for achievements. However, don’t go overboard.

Using our 60lb weight loss example, this could look like:

• Picking up ONE of your favorite cookies when you lose 5 pounds
• Getting a new workout outfit when you lose 10 pounds

What small ways will you award yourself along this journey towards your goal?

Step 7: Leap and repeat

At this point, your confidence in your ability to leap should be at an all-time high. You have prepared and as a result, you are ready. By achieving one goal, you will find it easier to achieve more goals.

Bet on yourself, I promise you can do it.

Later Bloomers!

-This post is dedicated to P.E.