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Start Small: A Guide on how to Accomplish Big Goals
Hi Everyone!
Today, I am going to teach you about how to start small when you want to change something in your life. A lot of the time, we get so excited about the change we want to make that we just jump all in. I am guilty of doing this as well. We need to give ourselves time to try out the new thing and then build from there. When we decide we want to be more healthy, we don’t need to go to the gym for hours, start meal prepping and drink a gallon of water per day. If you start your new goals this way, more than likely it won’t become a habit.
So how do we start small and not let our ambition take over? We take a small portion of our goal and try it out. Let’s try this with wanting to be more healthy. You could start by eating out less for the first month but let’s make that more specific.
Let’s say you eat out 3 times a week. Try cutting that down to 2 times per week and going grocery shopping to have more options at home. After the first month, you could continue to cut it down or if you feel like eating out twice per week is fine, then you could move on to another thing like drinking more water. Most of the time when we try to do too many things at once we tend to get overwhelmed and more than likely you will end up going back to your old habits and wasting your time.
Ideas of starting small:
- Goal: I want to read a book a month.
Start with reading 10-15 minutes a day.
- Goal: Drink a gallon of water per day.
Start with having a full water bottle with you and trying to finish that.
- Goal: I want to eat healthier.
Trade out your unhealthy snack for a healthy one.
- Goal: I want to be organized.
Go through one small area of your house each week. (Ex. one cupboard or shelf)
- Goal: I want to retire early.
Meet with a financial planner and set up a second meeting to refresh what you talked about in the first meeting two weeks later after processing.
Sometimes goals seem scary or too big to accomplish at first. If you break them down and stick to your small start, you will be more successful. I have done it both ways and I am much more likely to stick with my habit if I start small. Whenever I make a big change too fast, I get overwhelmed and don’t stick with it.
Simon Sinek said “Dream big, start small, but most of all start.”
I don’t want to discourage any of you from improving yourselves. I just want to help you to be more successful with it. Please let me know what you think in the comments below. Thank you so much for taking the time out of your day to read my blog. I am so grateful for you.
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Smart Goals (Refresher)
Today, we are going to focus on SMART goals. I get asked a lot about how I accomplish so many big tasks and still have time to have fun while doing it. When I am thinking of goals I would like to accomplish, I like to use this formula in order to make my goals work for me! The SMART method helps push you further, gives you a sense of direction, and helps you organize and reach your goals.
What does SMART stand for?
Specific: What exactly are you trying to accomplish? Who, What, Where.
Measurable: How will I know when my goal is accomplished? What part of my goal can be measured?
Achievable: Is your goal attainable? You weigh the benefits from the risks and drawbacks. Can you pursue this without undervaluing your current obligations? Can you realistically accomplish this goal? Don’t set yourself up for failure.
Relevant: How is this goal significant to your goals in life?
Time-Bound: When will you accomplish this goal? Make sure you have a specific day in mind.
Let’s try turning a regular goal into a smart goal.
I want to run a marathon.
Specific: Who=I What= run a marathon Where = Ogden
Measurable: 26.2 miles
Achievable: This goal may not be attainable for everyone but it is for me. I have run many half marathons and I am following a training schedule.
Relevant: I want to live a healthy life so this falls into that category.
Time-Bound: The marathon is on May 18th so it will be accomplished by then.
Now we’ve turned a regular goal into a SMART goal.
I will follow my training schedule for nine weeks prior to running the Ogden marathon on May 18th. I have run multiple half marathons prior to my training weeks.
Let’s do another one.
I want to travel to Europe next year.
Specific: Who: Shane and I. What: Travel. Where: Europe (Ireland is priority)
Measurable: Did we go or not? Did we plan it or not?
Achievable: We will save up $200 each month this year and book our flights when they are the cheapest. We will also book our accommodations during different times so that it isn’t one big payment.
Relevant: Shane and I have a goal to have a big trip out of the country at least every two years.
Time-Bound: We want to travel during the summer so our goal will be completed by August 31st. .
Now we’ve turned a regular goal into a SMART goal.
We will save up $200 each month for the year prior to and leading up to our trip (15 months total to reach $3,000), we will book a flight to Europe as soon as we see one drop below $500 during summer of 2022, after our flight is booked we will continue to make accommodations for our time in Europe, we have done this before and we will complete this by August 31, 2022.
What is something you would like to work towards? It can be personal or work related. It can be anything! I have used these for school, work, traveling, fitness, etc. If you can think of any type of goal that you would like to achieve, it can be turned into a SMART goal.
Did you fail at achieving your SMART goal? Don’t get down on yourself if you don’t achieve your goal. Just Remember: Evaluation: What didn’t work? Revision: How can we make it work next time? Action: Try again.
I love using SMART goals to help me accomplish my goals. Have you used them before? What did you think? If you loved today’s post please subscribe below! Thanks for reading.
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Girl, Stop Apologizing
Hey Everyone! Today I am sharing a book that I read this summer that I loved!! It’s “Girl, Stop Apologizing, A shame-free plan for embracing and achieving your goals”, by Rachel Hollis. I don’t know about you guys but the pandemic took away some of my drive. I’m usually super motivated but I was starting to slip back into depression and old habits that I used to have. I feel as though this book lit me back on fire!
I really like the way this book is set up. It talks about limiting beliefs to let go of first and then how to change those beliefs into something better. I really love to read self-help books but I often feel myself getting very bored of the content, this is usually where I start reading another book instead. I don’t feel that way about Rachel Hollis’ books. They always keep me entertained and help me to learn new things.
Here are some of my favorite quotes from the book:
“Not having the knowledge just makes you teachable, not stupid. Not being in shape makes you moldable, not lazy. Not having the experience makes you eager, not ignorant. Flip the script and force yourself to see the positive, where you have only seen the negative.”
I love this because I know I myself get caught up in thinking the negative side. Why do we do that? Why don’t we think of the positive side first? I am going to strive to do this for myself.
“When your light shines brighter, other’s won’t be harmed by the glare; they’ll be encouraged to become a more luminescent version of themselves. That’s what leadership looks like.”
Why do we feel that when we become a better version of ourselves, we will somehow hurt others? Instead, we should think that we will be inspiring others to become better themselves. That way we can all be better together!
“You have to choose to be positive, to see the possibility and to see the blessings in your life each day. You choose your thoughts, and there isn’t one thing running through your mind that you didn’t allow there.”
I truly believe you choose your own thoughts. I have been in the deepest depression before. I know what that is like. I fight everyday not to get back there. Does this mean that I don’t think depression exists? Absolutely not, it is very real. If you need help to quit thinking terrible things, go get that help. There is NOTHING wrong with that whatsoever. I do think that eventually you do have to take a stand for yourself and refuse to think the negative things. As soon as I feel those thoughts coming back, I push them away as fast and they came.
“For all my dreamers, for all my hustlers, for all my girls reading this who are building and planning, don’t you dare compare your beginning with someone else’s middle.”
I love this quote the very most. How often do we find ourselves comparing ourselves to others around us? I know I do but I am working everyday to quit that. I feel that you can do it in all aspects of your life, your job, your hobbies, your relationships. Comparison truly is the thief of joy. Refuse to compare yourself to someone that has been doing it for much longer, it is not fair to yourself.
I hope that if you need some motivation you will give this book a chance. I really think that it can help to propel you toward your goals in life. Please let me know what you think in the comments below. If you’ve read this book, what do you think? Thank you for reading my post today!
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Listen to Your Body And Mind
Hi Everyone!
Today, I am talking about listening to your body and mind for self-care. I think that we all struggle with this from time to time. I know that I do.
So what do I mean, listen to your body and mind?
A perfect example would be from this morning for me. My leg started hurting yesterday morning while I was running, so I slowed and walked for the rest of my 2 mile goal. When I got home, my leg was still aching. So I iced it. This morning when I got up to go for another run and my leg was still aching. I didn’t go and that’s okay!
I have a goal this month to run 50 miles. I am at 42 and I’m not going to give up. My way of getting there might just look a little different than I had imagined. I thought I would be able to run the full 50. I might end up having to walk 9 of those miles. Though it wasn’t what I originally had planned on, I will still get there.
I have learned over the years to be flexible with my goals. If something isn’t feeling right, maybe I’m too stressed or my body hurts, it’s okay to adjust my goal to match. Now this doesn’t mean be easy on yourself but it does mean don’t be too hard on yourself. If your body is physically hurting, you need to listen to it. If I had kept running, even when my leg was hurting, that could lead to a serious injury. I may have to go easy for a few days until it feels better, but what if I seriously injured it and had to be out for months! It’s so worth it to listen to your body and let it heal itself.
I love the quote, “Your mind and body will tell you exactly what it needs. All you have to do is listen.”. If you are exhausted in the morning, maybe sleep in if you can. If you have a headache, stop doing whatever is triggering it. If you have an achy muscle, ice and rest it. If your mind is racing and stressed, take a break or go easier on yourself.
I also love the quote, “Listening to your body and honoring it’s signals is one of the true forms of self-love”.
I think that this topic is very important and I hope you loved learning about it. I challenge you to listen to your body and mind, please take care of yourself before you are forced to. Please let me know what you think of this topic in the comments below. If you love my content, please subscribe! Thanks for reading!
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Using Vision Boards To Accomplish Goals
Hey Everybody! Today I am writing about using vision boards to accomplish your goals. I thought it would be an appropriate time since everyone is making New Years resolutions. I know some think that doing this is “weird” but try to hear me out.
Vision boards are a visual representation of things you want to attract to your life. This could be a poster with things taped or glued to it, a collage on your phone, or a collage made on the computer. These are only a few examples of what you can do. The trick is putting it somewhere you will look at multiple times a day. You can change your desktop on your computer or the background on your phone. My favorite is a poster in my bedroom.
You want to place it somewhere you can see it all the time because your subconscious will be thinking about it even when you aren’t. I know this sounds a little bizarre but try it out! You wouldn’t believe the stuff I have accomplished from making my own vision boards. I put pictures of places I wanted to visit and without even realizing it I took the same picture while I was there! I didn’t even realize that I did this until months later looking through my trip pictures. It still blows my mind!
You can make these for long or short term. I’ve made them for the current year up to the next five years! It’s completely up to you.
Thanks for reading! If you loved today’s post please subscribe below. Happy New Year!
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SMART Goals
Hey Everybody!
Today we are going to focus on SMART goals. I get asked a lot about how I accomplish so many big tasks and still have time to have fun while doing it. When I am thinking of goals I would like to accomplish, I like to use this formula in order to make my goals work for me!
What does SMART stand for?
Specific: What exactly are you trying to accomplish? Who, What, Where.
Measurable: How will I know when my goal is accomplished? What part of my goal can be measured?
Achievable: Is your goal attainable? You weigh the benefits from the risks and drawbacks. Can you pursue this without undervaluing your current obligations? Can you realistically accomplish this goal? Don’t set yourself up for failure.
Relevant: How is this goal significant to your goals in life?
Time-Bound: When will you accomplish this goal? Make sure you have a specific day in mind.
Let’s try turning a regular goal into a smart goal.
I want to run a marathon.
Specific: Who=I What= run a marathon Where = Ogden
Measurable: 26.2 miles
Achievable: This goal may not be attainable for everyone but it is for me. I have run many half marathons and I am following a training schedule.
Relevent: I want to live a healthy life so this falls into that category.
Time-Bound: The marathon is on May 18th so it will be accomplished by then.
Now we’ve turned a regular goal into a SMART goal.
I will follow my training schedule for nine weeks prior to running the Ogden marathon on May 18th, I have run multiple half marathons prior to my training weeks.
What is something you would like to work towards? It can be personal or work related. It can be anything! I have used these for school, work, traveling, fitness, etc. If you can think of any type of goal that you would like to achieve, it can be turned into a SMART goal.
If you loved today’s post please subscribe below! Thanks for reading.
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