Are You Ready To Set Your New Year’s Goals?
How is one supposed to get ready to set their New Year’s goals? Why must one get ready? First of all, we all know from experience that achieving our New Year’s goals and resolutions can be very challenging. Read here to learn more about why New Year’s goals and resolutions are difficult to achieve.
But, before you begin setting your goals and intentions for the New Year, you might really benefit by first taking stock of what you have achieved this year. What accomplishments are you proud of? What needs recognition? Have you acknowledged all the smaller efforts and steps forward that you have taken? If you haven’t taken this step you will benefit from completing a personal improvement review.
Completing a personal improvement review is a rewarding way to gain closure on 2011 and it is an excellent way to help increase your confidence for the New Year. It is also a symbolic way of acknowledging that your accomplishments are important because you are actively investing in yourself and taking the time to grow and develop.
Before you start your New Year’s Resolutions for 2012, be sure to follow my goal setting program which includes seven steps that will drastically increase your chances of not only setting New Year’s goals but also ensuring that you actually follow through with your goals.
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Complete the online goal setting program for 2012!
Step 1: Explore what goals and intentions are the most meaningful to you at this point in time. What you wanted to achieve or create last year might not be as important to you this year. Don’t skip this step of brainstroming your goals.
If you haven’t already started an evolving achievement binder and learned how to manage your evolving acheivements binder you’ll want to read further on this because it’s an excellent way to organize your goals for any time of the year.
Step 2: Once you’ve brainstormed your goals take the necessary time to prioritize which goals are the most important and aligned with your current values.
Step 3: Writing your goals down formally and placing them somewhere you can be reminded of them every is important. This will help to keep you focused.
Step 4: Get clear on the benefits that you will reap as a result of achieving these goals. How will your life be better off as a result of moving closer to this accomplishment?
Step 5: Increase your negative motivation and gain clarity on the negative consequencs that you will experience if you don’t work towards achieving your goals.
Step 6: Identify what your limiting beliefs are so that you change them into more constructive ways of thinking.
Step 7: Gain clarity on what behaviours and habits are holding you back so that you can find alternative behaviours that will help propel you into further action with your goals.
Barriers to Women’s Goal Setting
There are three important goal setting barriers that women must overcome if they want to be a goal setting star! Here they are:
1. Women’s Goal Setting and Perfectionism Don’t Mix
Women’s goal setting requires that women overcome their need for perfectionism. Being a perfectionist and achieving big goals do not go hand in hand. In order to achieve big goals, women must let go of their need to be perfect. There are many pressures put on women today, – to have a great career, a family, to look sexy, and to please other people. I know I’m being stereotypical, but these are just a few of the pressures that women face and need to overcome in order to focus full heartedly on their goals.
For women’s goal setting to be successful, it is important to become aware of how perfectionistic attitudes might be holding us back. Remember, your action steps and results need not be perfect! Just as our families, relationships, careers and bodies are not perfect, neither will the results of our goals or action steps be perfect. Get rid of the belief that things need to be perfect. There is no such thing. The key is to get your goals started, continue moving forward and don’t allow your less than favourable results to hold you back from taking further actions.
2. Don’t Allow Juggling to Distract You From Your Goals
Secondly, women are known to juggle many balls in the air – children, relationships, husbands, careers, care-giving, etc. Women’s goal setting requires that you drop the Super Star mentality because you can’t have everything all at once. The key is aim for some balance, and to take small steps with your goals consistently over time. Rome wasn’t built in a day, and neither will your dreams be achieved that way either. Start small. Can you find 5 minutes, 10 minutes or even a half hour to get started or to keep going? Your actions need not be significant, but they must be consistent. Take small steps and trust that you can move forward. In no time, you’ll build momentum. Just wait and see!
3. Women’s Goal Setting Requires Time for You!
Thirdly, women naturally face the barrier of taking time for themselves and their goals because they feel guilty. They focus so much on playing the martyr and looking after everyone else instead of themselves. Don’t feel guilty about giving yourself time to pursue your own goals. Historically, women’s identities have been constructed based on who they are in relation to others, and sometimes albeit on an unconscious level, we tend to still base our identity on external expectations and role/relational obligations.
Even as an independent women, I still find myself getting sucked into this mindset as well at times. I too have felt guilty for pursuing my own dreams, but in the end it is worth the effort. Everyone else around you will be happier in the end when you are happy as well, accomplishing your own big goals.
Those are just three of the barriers to women’s goal setting. Stay tuned for more, and I also invite you to leave your own comments as well!
Health Motivation
Are you looking to increase your overall health motivation? A big part of health motivation involves having a good variety of foods in your diet that you really enjoy. If you’re looking for how to be creative with your diet and the foods you eat, you’ll really enjoy Julie’s website – Peanut Butter Fingers
You’ll be inspired by her frequent blog posts that include many great pictures of everything that she eats as well. She is a walking example of how a women stays on top of all her life goals! You’ll see! Visit Peanut Butter Fingers
Cheers! I’d love to hear about your favourite health motivation websites as well!
Allison
Managing your Evolving Achievements Binder
Have you captured all your goals, dreams and ideas for your future on paper? Are they organized in a meaningful way to you? If you haven’t heard of this idea, you’ll want to read my blog post on the Evolving Achievements Binder. Hopefully your many goals have been captured on paper, and you’ve been inspired to take further action.
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After you’ve put together your Evolving Achievements Binder, you’ll still need to manage it. There are a few good reasons why you should regularly review, dust off, clean, and re-organize your evolving achievements binder (aside from the fact that it’s fun to do!).
When I was reviewing my binder just the other day, I came across my health and fitness section, and noticed that it had literally exploded in size. I had inserted so many different resources, and pictures of all the new weight lifting exercises that I had been doing at the gym. I actually ended up taking out the majority of that section, and I started a whole new resource binder for my health and fitness. Now, my binder is much more organized again. I can easily go through and read what my future goals are with respect to my health and wellness, without getting distracted. I also realized, that I’ve probably accumulated more than enough information to write a small e-book on this topic! Perhaps I’ll have to start another blog just on that topic alone.
When I was reviewing all my goals, it was interesting because I noticed myself saying out aloud, “Oh I’ve already done that”, and “I just started doing that!”. Unless I reviewed my goals, I wouldn’t have realized all that I had accomplished. Also, I had never made those goals my key priority, and had never consciously set aside time to work on those goals. I think that demonstrates the power of simply writing goals down. Somehow, the act of writing down our goals must communicate with our subconscious mind, and as a result we automatically begin taking action, and attracting those people and resources into our lives to make things happen.
I also realized the importance of translating all our goals into habits. Daily, twice a week, weekly or even biweekly habits. If you can’t make something a habit, then rarely would those goals ever turn into reality. The areas where I felt I was having the most progress, e.g., career and fitness goals, were the areas where I had done significant planning around how to turn some of my action steps into habits. For instance, I set the goal of spending two times per week writing in my book, and in doing so, I almost doubled the length of it.
Each time you read about your dreams, you’ll notice that you will read with a new sense of clarity, because your ideas have had more time to crystallize. Or, you might have had more time to think about developing actual plans to take further actions steps.
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I’ve also discovered a few little ‘goals’ and ideas that aren’t even important to me at all. At first, when I jotted them down, they seemed like good ideas, but in retrospect I’ve learned that they are meaningless. So you’ll also benefit as you discover your authentic self, and more of your values. Likewise, I also read over a few goal categories that made me feel really scattered and overwhelmed. Clearly, those goals need further development. So, I’ve planned a time to go back and prioritize or rank all of those goals. Over time our big ideas evolve into something more serious. What we value will come into the forefront of our mind, and that which isn’t so important to us, will fade out a bit.
Finally, regularly reviewing your Evolving Achievements Binder will constantly remind you of what is most important, and it will help you stay on track. Just think about the people that don’t write their goals down at all. If you seriously review your goals each month, you are going to speed up the entire learning process around who you are, what you want to achieve, and how you’re going to do it. More importantly, you’re going to be unstoppable because you’ll constantly find yourself in action!
Cheers,
Allison
Evolving Achievements Binder
How to Organize Your Brainstormed Ideas and Goals
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Do you need a place to capture all your big dreams, ideas and lofty goals? I’m going to share with you my secret on how I organize my many goals and dreams.
I’ve decided to keep track of every whimsical goal that I’ve pondered.
For years, I wasted so much time and money on buying pretty journals and notebooks for writing down my goals. I’d end up not only writing down my goals, but I’d use those notebooks as a journal as well. So, my goals and other thoughts all became mixed up with no real functional order. Also, it became difficult to add in new goals, and delete my old irrelevant goals. It was also challenging to put all my various goals in different categories.
Of course, when those notebooks became full, I ended up throwing many of them out. After all, I had no need to keep all my journal entries, and I figured that I would just re-write out all my goals in the next notebook that I would buy.
You can avoid all these problems by putting together an ‘Evolving Achievements’ Binder . This is an easy to use, practical filing system that allows you to easily maintain, update and delete goals as you see fit. You will devote this entire binder to your goals. Think of it as a landing place for your ideas, desires and wants. The key is to capture those ideas so that you can evaluate them at a later time. I’ve decided to keep track of every whimsical goal that I’ve pondered.
Here’s what you’ll need:
1) A nice 3-ring binder
2) Lined paper to go inside your binder
3) Tabs or dividers
It’s so simple and easy to maintain, and since I’ve converted to this Evolving Achievement binder, I’ve never gone back to using journals for the purposes of organizing my goals.
Also, having the dividers or tabs will allow you to organize your goals by various categories that make sense to you. Whenever you think of a new idea, you simply find the tab/divider that corresponds to that type of goal, and add it in.
From time to time, because we are busy woman, there will be phases in our lives when we get side-tracked and abandon some of our goals. When you have your goals all organized in one spot, it prevents you from misplacing and forgetting or about your goals. It might sound a bit ludicrous to suggest that someone would forget about their goals, but it happens all time.
For instance, think of your to-do lists that you have. Imagine that you’ve written some of your errands on a few sheets of loose paper around the house, while some are in your journal, and others are in your calendar. When the list of errands is scattered all over the place you are bound to misplace, and thus forget about what you need to get done. You easily lose your focus.
It’s really no different with our goals. We need to keep them all organized in one place, – a place where we can be sure to find them! This way, when a period of time goes by and you haven’t attended to your goals, you’ll be able to pick up right where you last left off, without any delays.
The ‘Evolving Achievement’ binder will also allow you to insert your plans for how you’ll achieve your goals. Whenever you come across new resources, services, or other ideas about how you can achieve your goals, you’ll insert them in the same section along with those goals. As we’ll discuss later, once you have brainstormed and set your goals, you’ll need to devise a general plan or at least outline some steps that will allow you start taking actions toward your goals.
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Just as people forget about their goals or get sidetracked, the same thing happens even after people have committed to their goals. They start taking action, and then they run into a few barriers. Once they get stuck, confused, or frustrated, they lose their focus, and forget about their plan and abandon it. When your plan is written down, you’ll never forget what your next steps are.
If you have multiple plans written down, you will always have something to return to, along with many other ideas for what you might try next to achieve your goals. Having a binder dedicated to achieving your goals will increase your confidence that you can indeed achieve those goals.
For me, the binder is like a concentrated source of energy that fuels my goals and propels me to take more and more actions toward those goals. This happens because it provides a person with a clarified focus. Everything you ever wanted to be, do or achieve, will be contained within this binder. The ideas have already been turned into something concrete and tangible. This helps you perceive and think about your goals more seriously just because you can see them! Then, the mere act of reading your goals over and over again, imprints them deeper and deeper into your subconscious mind.
So, what are you waiting for? Start your own ‘Evolving Achievements’ Binder today! Don’t loose sight of what is important to you.
Goal Setting Software
These goal setting software programs have become popular because they are helping people to organize their personal goals. I myself, was contemplating on buying some goal-setting software until I encountered many great free goal setting software programs. However, I’ve realized there are pros and cons to using these tools as opposed to writing your goals down on paper.
Benefits and Drawbacks of Using Goal Setting Software
One benefit is being able to have all your files together, and this includes your personal goals. Just as you are in the habit of checking the online news, your email, Facebook and anything else online – now you can check your goals at the same time.
Also, many of these programs provide for a nice visual background, and a sense of true interactions since others can also read your goals. You feel supported and you feel a sense of community which can be motivating in and of itself.
There are a few disadvantages to using these online programs. First, are you going to take the time to login to check your goals? Or, will it become one more ‘to-do thing’ on your list?
For myself, I love to read my goals every night as I lay in bed. Somehow, this seems more real and personal for me. My journal is so easily accessible, whereas I don’t always feel that my software is if I’m not at my computer all the time.
Also, if I’m plugging my goals into the computer, I’m more likely to get distracted with all the other things occurring online, and so I might not focus as much on setting my goals.
In contrast, there are many benefits a person can reap from the power of hand writing their goals. It has been thought that it is a more active approach integrating many different sensory faculties. As you move your had across the page, often times your hand will cross the median of your body, and this is thought to activate different parts of the brain.
Handwriting might actually ingrain the goal more into your subconscious mind. This is important, because it normalizes and ingrains how badly you want your goals – your desire and expectation to achieve these goals simply becomes your true waking reality -and you won’t accept anything less.
Of course, if your goals are in notebook, they aren’t as confidential as someone could find your notebook. Also, if you’re the type of person who would lose your notebook, or paper on which you’ve written your goals, then maybe using a goal setting software program is best for you. Check out the following goal setting software programs!
Goal Setting Software Programs
Joe’s Goals – Free Goal Setting Software
Take the tour, and check out this amazing platform first! You can easily add new goals and new logbooks to track everything! This program is all about measuring your success. You just click on a calendar to log in information! It’s fun!
A Program that Creates Wallet Size Goal Setting Cards!
Try this totally advanced platform now!This along with the free goal setting program will keep you inspired and taking full action!
Receive Your Goals by Email!
goal setting software program because you can have your goal emailed to you each week! Advertise your goals to yourself through email so you don’t have to remember to go out of your way to read them! How great is this? Reminding ourselves of our goals is half the battle in my opinion!
The Fun Life Tango Goal Setting Program
This is a totally cool, easy to use goal setting program. The platform itself is very colourful and well put together.
It sort of reminds me of Facebook in that you can decide whether or not to share your goals, and your level of privacy. The flip side is that you can view your friend’s goals as well! You can choose an alias name if you’d like. They have a really unique set-up where you can view a whole bunch of people’s goals, and you can even adopt someone else’s goal and have it set up on your own profile!
There is also a task tracker, so you can remind yourself of the little steps required to meet your bigger goal. I promise that you won’t be disappointed with this site – you’ll love this one for it’s ‘looks’ alone!
Value Based Goal Setting!
This is yet another great site – no joke again! As soon as you get to the site, you can watch an inspiring video informing you on what the goal setting software includes. Watching this video alone is worth the trip to its site!
Join A Goal Setting Ring for Group Goal Setting
This good program has all the standard features as above. While it is not as visually appealing, it does include other perks such as a goal setting guide, the ability to set goals as part of a group, and finally, it also includes charts to track your progress. Have a peak at this program, and you can begin sharing your goals with others and receiving support right away!
8 Goals Online: Set Your Goals and Track Your Progress for Life!
Another user-friendly goal setting freeware program that allows you to track your progress in achieving your targets. This has a video demo for you to follow instructions on how to use it. It has current, future and lifetime goal categories. What is unique about this program is that it contains a section called “Reason to Achieve”, so that you write down why the goal is important to you. The program also contains some decent charts as well.
43 Things Goal Setting Freeware
What I like about this site, is that you can type in your goal without registering to see how many other people have that goal as well! This is a great site that is user friendly and free of course, – well up to 43 goals, and then you’d have to pay. You can take the 43 Things Goal Setting Tour to see what it is all about. While this site is not overly aesthetically appealing, it has a very nice basic look.
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Goal setting and Time Management
Goal setting and time management – who doesn’t want to become more efficient in these pursuits?
Let’s face it, – it’s something that we all struggle with!
Each of us has weaknesses and strengths in regards to achieving the many different areas of goals in our lives:
- Health Goals
- Financial Goals
- Career Goals
- Education and Personal Development Goals
- Relationship and Leisure Goals
Which areas of goal setting and time management do you struggle with? Have you tried to get your life together so many times before in the past, but you’ve just never gotten yourself to really focus on the needed tasks?
Do you ever secretly pray and wish that you could find a way to motivate yourself into action? Do you wish you could get yourself together?
Well you’ve come to the right place, because I am all about helping people find ways to motivate themselves into action. Motivation is one of the most mysterious human dilemmas that I am super passionate about.
Are you ready to experience another one of my “Ah-ha!” moments? What I’m about to share with you has dramatically changed my life. I call it the power of comparions.
When it comes to leveraging your success with goal setting and time management, one of my super successful strategies that I’ve used on myself and with my clients, is the power of comparisons. The best way to explain this is for me to demonstrate a personal example in the area of health.
First let me ask you – Do you constantly struggle with getting the motivation to exercise? Do you wish you had the workout motivation that would allow you to feel like a million bucks? Perhaps you feel like there just isn’t enough time?
Or, maybe you technically have the time, but you find yourself with conflicting values. Part of you wants to exercise, while part of you wants to sit in front of the television and veg. Hmmm…Sound familiar?
Now, here is where the power of comparisons come in for increasing your motivation with goal setting and time management. Are you ready for a personal breakthrough?!
Motivate Yourself Using The Power of Comparisons!
Here is how you need to think when it comes to motivating yourself. First of all, exercising and working out is obviously something you value, or at least something that you want to value. So, compare then, all the time spent in your life, where you are engaging in activities that you don’t actually value. What activities do you engage in simply because you feel obliged to engage in?
The here, is asking yourself the following question: If I spend amount of time doing something that I don’t really care all that much about, then when wouldn’t I spend that same amount of time exercising? Why wouldn’t I give myself the gift of spending my time working out?
Here are some powerful comparisons that have been really transformational for me that have revitalized my goal setting and time management techniques as they relate to my health.
Keep reading because one of these comparisons might change your life too! Don’t you just love those “ah-ha!” moments?! Ok, ok…back on track to my personal example…
Here are a few of the comparisons I say out aloud to myself when I need to motivate myself:
If I used to get up at 6am, three times a week to attend a research and statistics class that I hated, then why wouldn’t I get myself up at 6am these days so that I could give myself the gift of a great workout?
In other words, if I’ve been willing to spend and invest my time in an activity (boring class), that I didn’t enjoy or care about all that much,and in a particular manner that I wasn’t fussy about (early morning), – than why wouldn’t I get myself to apply this same amount of self-discipline to a goal that truly does matter to me?
If I used to get myself up at 6am to drag myself to a class I cared nothing about, than why do I not demand of myself to be up at 6am to fit my exercise into my day? Do you see the comparison here?
I am comparing how I’ll easily invest time into others’ expectations of myself, but then I won’t hold myself to the same rigorous standards when it comes to my own exercise goals. It is a bizarre, yet liberating way to think about things.
So, when it comes to your goal setting and time management techniques – remember to think outside of the box! Use the power of comparisons! Compare how you are already spending time on things you don’t value, yet you are not spending time on what you do value – exercising for example.
The “ah-ha!” here, is – if I’m willing to spend time doing things I don’t value, like, or care that much about, then why wouldn’t I spend at least the same amount of time doing something that is truly important to me!??
Stay tuned as I develop my website! I will be adding many more examples on my website – examples that will create many more powerful realizations for you – whether you want to improve your goal setting and time management techniques as it relates to your health, wealth or your personal relationships – you will find the motivation here!
[tags] goal setting and time management, time management [/tags]
Definition Goal Setting
Definition Goal Setting: The Power of Language
What is Goal Setting?
The word “goal” is only one piece of language that describes goal oriented behaviour. The definition goal setting, is not clear cut in my books.
That is, there are many different ways to think about what goals are.
I’m afraid though, that for a lot of people, the term has negative connotations. People think of deadlines, time committments, and last but not least – the idea that failure is possible.
So, to help move away from this typical way of thinking about goals, I want to provide several pieces of language, or other ways of thinking about goal setting. There is obviously more than one definition. Goals can also be thought of as:
- Intentions
- Aims
- Desired Changes
- Dreams
- Hopes for the future
- Wishes
- Manifesting what we want
- Focus
Do any of these words or ways of thinking speak to you? If so, then I want you to think about one of these particular words as your definition.
Goal setting is most effective when you have a way of understanding what works for you!
Or, you might want to begin with a more holistic goal-setting program where you can begin the brainstorming process of what you want out of life. Try it now!
[tags] definition goal setting, what is goal setting, goals, personal development, motivation [/tags]
Law of Attraction
What exactly is the Law of Attraction (LOA) all about? It’s not just about asking, believing and receiving.
Don’t get me wrong, those are important steps, and they have their place in how achievement works, however, they are pretty general steps to give someone.
In fact, many people simply think of the LOA as really hokey. However, I’m certain that I know what the Law of Attraction is really about, and it’s quite powerful. Here it is…
Law of Attraction Boils Down to Action
This principle is simply another way of understanding that, in order to achieve success, one must consistently take actions to continue “attracting” their good fortunes.
With each action step that you take toward a goal, you get feedback from the universe. Your actions tell you what is working, and what is not working.
There is always some trial and error involved, and in doing so, you learn new, practical information that assists you in achieving your goals.
You learn things that you didn’t even know that you didn’t know. You come across new resources, you meet new people, and discover new opportunities.
Essentially you find, or rather, “attract” tons of little gold nuggets in disguise along the way.
Attracting success is simply a matter of being so focused on our goal-oriented actions that we can’t help but notice all the things along the way that will help bring us more success.
When you know what you want, and you take action and go after it, you constantly “attract”, notice or stumble upon the opportunities that will be valuable to you.
As you take action and unlock one door, a few more new and undiscovered doors open for you. Every time you take action toward your goals you gain clarity on what your next step might be.
Your focus and your committment to action are the driving forces behind the LOA.
Develop Systems, Habits and Routines for Action
So, your job, is make sure that you have consistent actions in place to work toward your goal.
Develop a system, a routine or a habit that will make taking action easy and automatic for you. This is the key.
If you build this momentum, then you will have the Law of Attraction working like crazy for you.
My advice to you, is the find the lowest common denominator of action that you can take every day, week, or month, that will move you closer to your goals. Start anywhere. Jump on the bandwagon and get some momentum.
Develop a schedule of actions that you can stick to. This is no different than the habits you put in place for your fitness goals, your health goals, or your financial goals.
Slow and steady does it – consistently putting one foot in front of the other, moving forward bit by bit.
My saying is: One step a day is the only way!.
So, there you have it, the Law of Attraction demystified. If you want to attract your dreams, goals and desires, it all boils down to taking action.
Take action. Do something. Keep doing it. Move yourself forward and get the law of attraction in full gear for you!
Don’t delay, start today! Learn more about The Science of Getting Rich, with Jack Canfield and Bob Proctor. These two men have been studying The Law of Attraction longer than anybody else. I highly recommend the principles that they teach.
If you are looking for more cool articles are the Law of Attraction in the Real world, be sure to read Jeanette Maw’s blog, which will blow you away with more ideas on implementing the law of attraction.
Procrastination
Is procrastination a problem for you? If you’re like most people, then it probably comes and goes…
I am going to give you a very powerful technique you can use to drastically reduce the number of times that you put off important actions.
Essentially, you need to learn how to motivate yourself. Do you know what motivates you?
In fact, there is one psychological tool that everyone can use to motivate themselves into action, regardless of what their goal is. Are you ready for it?!
It’s called the Pain and Pleasure Tool. It’s a simple, yet powerful transformational exercise that you can start using today!
The key to this exercise is that people do whatever they can to avoid pain, and they do whatever they can to experience pleasure.
So, if you can attach pleasurable associations to achieving your goal, and painful associations to not achieving your goal, then you will be more motivated to take action. You’ll want to avoid the pain, and experience the pleasure!
Until you take the time to focus on what is painful about your current state, and what would be so wonderful if you achieved your goal, then you’ll walk around unconscious, lazy and you will procrastinate.
Try doing the following exercise, as it will create a state of urgency!
Pain and Pleasure Exercise
Here is how you use the pain and pleasure tool.
1. Pull out a sheet of paper.
2. On one side write the title, “Pleasure I Will Experience from Achieving this Goal”.
3. On the other side of your sheet, write the title, “Pain I Will Experience if I Don’t Achieve this Goal”.
4. Make each list as long as you can!
The more strong reasons you have behind achieving your goal, the more likely you are to take your goal seriously.
The more you think of how your current state is a let down, then the more motivated you will be to move away from “inaction”.
Procrastination or Lack of Passion?
It could be possible that you are putting off activities simply because you are forcing yourself to do something that you are not passionate about.
Find out if your problem is a lack of passion or simply a procrastination problem!