01 Feb Happiness is…achieving your goals this year
7 powerful and practical tips for kicking goals this year!
As noted in our eNewsletter this morning, here at The Happiness Institute we want to make sure 2010 is a year full of happiness and success for all of our thousands of loyal and passionate readers. To help with this, Prof. Sharp (www.drhappy.com.au) has put together the following tips with the aim of increasing your chances of following through with the resolutions you set one month ago…
1. Review your goals and make sure they really are realistic. You may well have already considered this but now that your a few week’s into things, have a re-think and determine whether or not your goals are valid ones
2. Review your motivation for setting and working towards your goals. Are they really things that you want to achieve, or are they really goals other people (e.g. your partner, colleagues, parents, children etc) would like you to achieve. It’s one thing to clarify “the what” but if you’re not fully committed to “the why” then you won’t have the motivation you’ll need to work hard and to persevere
3. Find a buddy to help you stick to your plan and to share in your success and achievement. Ideally, find someone who shares your passion for a specific goal and meet with or talk to them regularly about your progress
4. Don’t forget that there’s no such thing as a straight line in nature…that is, few meaningful and important goals will be achieved without some problems or without having to overcome some obstacles. Be realistic about this so that you won’t be so surprised when you face your first hurdle
5. Break your goals down into small, manageable and achievable chunks. Success and happiness come one step, one day, one moment at a time. So aim high and set ambitious goals but work out also, what you need to do this month, this week, today and even…in the next hour
6. Track your progress; find a way to measure whatever it is you’re trying to achieve and monitor how you’re going. What doesn’t get measured doesn’t get done so chart what you do and then…
7. Reward yourself; often and in a way that works for you. Rewards can be tangible (such as buying yourself something nice when you hit a milestone) or intangible (such as giving yourself a pat on the back or receiving praise from others). Either way, rewarding yourself regularly will boost your motivation and help you to keep going…which is what we all need to do!