I’m a bit late to the new years resolution buzz but I don’t think you ever need a specific time to decide what you want your future goals to be. Funnily enough the first day into the new year and I found myself with a massive amount of motivation to create something amazing after having spent the last month in a pretty deep slump. I will admit joining the Steemit family played a significant part in sparking some inspiration as there were so many others who were dedicated in manifesting their ideas and goals.
I want to try and keep this simple, because at the end of the day I know I have the potential to achieve anything I put my mind towards. It just requires motivation and accountability and what better way to create that then writing things down (and sharing publicly?). I believe to be successful in accomplishing goals you need to visual whatever it is you desire and I mean really visualise by using all of your senses.
Say for example you want to go on holiday to Hawaii, close your eyes and picture yourself on the beach - the waves crashing on the shores and against your feet, smell the saltiness of the air as it invigorates your lungs, feel the soft white sand between your bare toes, hear the tranquil silence echo through your ears bar the sound of the waves. How do you now feel about going to Hawaii? Why I think this is so important is because when you are able to fully immerse yourself in your ambitions, you create a stronger drive to accomplish them. You do not leave space for fear or doubt to convince you that you can not achieve what you desire.
A side from mentally envisioning what you want I think having a physical representation can help when your thoughts get a little off track. Things like written goals or vision boards with images, drawings, pictures help to keep me inspired.
BREAK YOUR GOALS DOWN! The next step is to break down goals into bite size pieces, goals so tiny that you can’t fail. At the end of the day to achieve anything you’ve gotta take the steps to get there. You never just start at the end - there is always a progression. Baby gotta crawl and fall before he can walk!
I mean if your goal was to make a sandwich usually you’d begin by visualising what kind of sandwich you would want - like for example a PB + J. So then you’d think about what you would need - bread, peanut butter, jelly, a knife and maybe a plate. So then once you know what you need you get the items - say if you’re missing something you go to the store or adapt - maybe just a jelly sandwich will suffice, then you make it. Put all that good shit together and BAM! you got a sandwich. When previously you had just envisioned, now exists in your reality.
Okay, you’re probably thinking that some goals aren’t as achievable as making a sandwich, but I would beg to differ. Something that has always amazed me is that every single thing that we get to experience that exists outside of nature started as someones idea. I mean look around you - what do you see. At some point that object was just a concept or an idea that someone had and was like hey, I’m going to make this thing because I have a desire too. Humans are creators by nature but I think we often discredit that by what we often perceive as creation - you have to be some sort of intellectual scientist or inventor when really we are always creating just at a different degree. So keeping that in mind - apply it to your goals.
Now you've got your mini goals be sure to always reward yourself for accomplishing them. With the progression of technology and the need for immediacy, we have quickly adapted to having short attention spans and needing instant gratification - so whilst it can be hard to get out of that mindset you can sort of trick yourself into getting that instant gratification by always rewarding the small things. This will help create a feedback loop of accomplishment and satisfaction and leave you feeling less overwhelmed.
One of my goals is to become more consistent with my art. I always put pressure on myself to only ever start if I am going to create a masterpiece. It always has to be a final product. The problem with that is that a final product requires a lot of smaller steps to complete (conceptualising, experimenting, planning), it doesn’t just fall into place. So the goal I’ve set myself instead is to just practice putting pen to paper, even if I just draw a straight line at least I accomplished my intention and that deserves a reward (usually my reward to myself is that I can relax - literally taking the pressure off having to push myself if I really don’t feel like it), anything after that is just a bonus.
Surprisingly enough when I take that pressure off myself and remove the expectations I feel more driven to create. Because I think at the core of achieving goals you need to create good habits and breaking bad habits to create good ones can be difficult, but thats why I think mini goals are so important and rewarding yourself for them. Keeping in mind though, there still needs to be a level of accountability. You should aspire to have some drive but not so much that it deters you all together. Surround yourself with things (or people!) that inspire you or just take a step back from your projects for a while if you are feeling unmotivated. Giving space and taking pressure off can sometimes help you come back to it with a fresh perspective if you ever feel stuck. Just don't give up entirely!
So in saying here are some of my goals for 2018. I will probably continue to add to this list because I don’t need a particular date to dictate when I can be making good shit happen. I’m also open to the uncertainty of life and circumstances and know that these things don’t need to be set in stone. I think its better to have intention to create direction in life and to take steps for that but also being open to the probability of change because usually it’s directing us towards better things even if it doesn’t always feel like it. You just gotta keep trust in the flow of life and ride the waves!
Hope you lot are planning to smash some serious goals. I got faith in ya! 😉
Big love to you.
Sarah. 💚
