Keep Your Expectations in Check
If you don’t, you will have a hard time reaching your goals
Goals can help motivate you. They can push you to keep trying when all you want to do is give up. The hope of achieving said goal is the reason you get out of bed in the morning.
But what happens when you create goals that you can’t achieve?
Let me explain.
If you set a goal, with clear and obtainable objectives, you are more likely to reach that goal. Even surpass it, and keep going.
However, if you are like me, and set these huge lofty goals with a discombobulated thought pattern for success, you will not even come close to what you want.
If you do not set realistic checkpoints and objectives, this will lead to failure. If you don’t realistically think of what attaining the goal would mean, you will have a hard time finding the motivation to keep working toward it.
I can’t tell you how many times I thought of an idea and just jumped right in. No planning, no thought process. Just started in one direction and thought I had it all figured out. I thought I knew where I would end up.
A few months in, I would become discouraged and frustrated that I wasn’t where I wanted to be. It was taking too long. I wasn’t making any progress.
My boyfriend would challenge me by saying, “You are not setting realistic goals. You are trying for something and not putting in enough time. You aren’t giving yourself a chance. You have no plan”.
And of course, being the person I am, that pissed me off.
There is something to say for what my boyfriend has said to me on more than one occasion.
He is right. I don’t set realistic goals. I don’t have a plan. I am also impatient and want things to happen right away because I feel like I am putting my heart and soul into the goal.
However, once I realized that I wanted to start writing and turn it into a full-time career, I made myself slow down. I took online writing courses, read books, and formed a plan. Not just a quickly thrown together plan, but one that I could follow with clear objectives.
The plan is still a work in progress. And that’s ok with me.
If you are anything like me, do yourself a favor and stop to think. There is nothing wrong with having big dreams. In fact, I think we should all shoot for the highest level of success.
However, to reach that level of success, you need a plan to help you get there. You need help from people along the way that will support you. Maybe even people that have done what you are trying to accomplish so you can learn from them.
Read a book about what you are interested in doing. For example, when I became interested in freelancing, I went on Amazon and bought a few books about freelancing.
Also, study people who have come before you and absorb their knowledge like a sponge. Don’t unnecessarily struggle when you can learn what you need from others. It is up to you to implement what you learn and make it happen.
Picture where you want yourself to end up, and create a plan that will help you get there. Create small steps to reach your goal so it is more attainable.
Focus on what it will take to reach the goal instead of just the goal itself. That way, you will be better prepared and know the way to achieve what you are after.
Going after a goal is difficult no matter what. Make it easier on yourself by keeping your expectations in check, and keep working hard.
