Wow! It’s hard to believe it’s already July! With the beginning of a new month comes a fresh opportunity for us all to set our monthly goals. Whether you’ve never set monthly goals before, or you’re an experienced goal-setter who would just like a little bit of inspiration, these five tips will help keep you on track.
1. Align to your future vision
Your future vision should be your guiding light, showing you exactly which direction you want and need to be heading in. Write down a vision statement and refer back to it often. You could start by articulating what your dream life might look like in 3-5 years’ time.
I have my vision statement in the front of my planner so I can refer back to it whenever I’m setting goals, or even when I just need a bit of a motivation boost. Sometimes things can come along that look shiny and interesting and worth doing, but if they’re not aligned to your vision, it might end up being a waste of time - and no one wants that! Ensuring that your monthly goals fit in with your vision will help you achieve exactly what you want to achieve.
2. Spend some time reflecting on last month
It’s easy to focus on the stuff you haven’t done, and to forget all the amazing things you have actually done in the past month! Take some time to congratulate yourself on your wins and achievements.
Ask yourself:
- What can I learn from my achievements?
- What can I do differently?
- What can/should I take forward to next month?
Don’t skip this step! This is incredibly important for your motivation and inspiration: think about what you’ve achieved this month and tell yourself you are going to achieve even more next month!
3. How can your monthly goals fit into your medium-term goals?
I like to break my goals down, and so I set yearly, three-monthly and monthly goals. The beginning of the month is a good opportunity to decide how your monthly goals will help you achieve your medium-term (and maybe even long-term) goals.
If you’re at the beginning of a new three-month cycle, watch out that you don’t pile everything from your three-monthly goals into the first month as you’ll overload yourself! You set your three-month goals over three months for a reason! Be sensible and realistic, but make sure your monthly goals will help you make real progress as you work towards those medium-term goals.
However, if you’re at the end of the three-month cycle, this is your last opportunity to really push yourself and deliver on the goals you set! You might find that the monthly goals you set and the end of the three-month cycle are quite similar to the original three-month goals - that means you’re getting somewhere!
4. Don’t be overambitious, but do stretch yourself
It might be tempting to set hundreds of really impressive goals, but imagine how deflated you’ll feel at the end of the month if you haven’t achieved many of them. Now imagine how you’ll feel at the end of the month if you’ve got a few achievable goals that you absolutely smash, maybe even over-delivering on a couple. Keeping your goals achievable is going to make you feel a lot more in control, but setting goals that will push you a bit too will help you achieve more and grow personally.
You should also consider how many goals is right for you - too many and you’ll underachieve, too few and you won’t push yourself. If you’ve got a big project that you’d like to crack this month, it might be that it’s the only goal for this month. And that’s ok!
For example, if you’ve just started your own business, one of your goals this month might be to get your website up and running. This is a huge undertaking! It’s absolutely fine if that’s your only goal for the month.
5. Plan your time
Have a look at your month and start planning when you are going to work on your goals. You don’t necessarily need to plan every hour of ever day, but if you have an idea of when you are or aren’t free to work on your goals, you will have a better idea of what you can realistically achieve this month.
For example, if you’re running a side-business but have a huge project at your main job coming up half way through this month, you might not have the time or energy to deliver on lots of demanding side-business goals as well. However, if you know you have a free weekend coming up, you could plan in some time to work on your goals then.
The best thing about this tip is that when you come to planning your weekly schedules, you’ll find it easier because you’ll already have an idea of when you’re able to focus on your goals!
Want to make some serous progress on those 2020 goals?
If you have big dreams and ambitions then the Make It Happen Planner is the perfect tool for you. Designed to help you hit your biggest goals and give you all the support you need along the way to achieve them.
AND it's not just a planner! As part of the course and community, I'll also be running a Live monthly goal setting session and Q&A!
You'll also -
- Get really clear on your vision for the future, and set specific and ambitious goals to get your there
- Be supported to create medium term term goals over three months and monthly goals too
- Learn how to deal with overwhelm, be more productive, create good habits and re-write any self limiting beliefs that may be holding you back
- And so, so much more! There is so much amazing gold in these new planners, course and community - I can'y wait to share it with you!