Good Morning everyone! I’ve introduced a new category here on SimplyShantel; …Self-development!! For those of you who don’t know me in real life, Self-development and Self-improvement is something that is very near and dear to my heart. I work really hard at doing my best to become a better person and I believe that we’re all constantly in a state of evolution so it’s important to tune into that.
It’s the second week of November and it’s really great time to re-evaluate and tune into the goals that you set earlier in the year. What about your new years resolutions? Are you still on track? If you’re not, that’s okay! Today’s blog post will help you tune in and get focused again, so that you can start 2016 in the right mind-frame.
Ready, Set, Let’s get started…
1) CREATE A PLAN
No matter what it is that you want to achieve, it all starts with a plan. We’ve all said things at the top of our heads with no clear focus to get it done. Anyone can say, I want to quit smoking or I want to lose weight but only those that plan for it are on there way to getting it done. Your goal also needs to be realistic and precise – just like the goals I mentioned above, those aren’t attainable. There’s a big difference between someone who says “I want to lose weight” versus “I want to lose 20 lbs by May 1st, 2016.”
Once you have the end point, work backwards! What would require you to lose said 20lbs by May 1st? Perhaps you need to increase the frequency of your workouts, or maybe you need to extend the duration – rather than working out for 45mins, maybe you increase it to 60mins? Maybe it’s scaling back on the amount of sugar/salt/carbs etc that is in your current diet? It’s important to look within and be realistic with yourself, the goal and what you can produce.
2) HAVE A TIMELINE
In addition to a plan, you need markers on a timeline to keep you on track. It’s easy to make a goal that you want to achieve in the next 6 months and 4 months into it you realize that you haven’t accomplished what you wanted to. It’s critical for you to have some sort of metric, otherwise you might feel like the progress you’re making isn’t causing a dent in your success. Your timeline could be daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly or annually (for larger goals) whatever it is and whatever makes sense, make sure you apply it to your goal-setting and create reminders for yourself.
For example, when I launched my blog in Dec 2014 I had an Instagram following of 587, now I sit at 1,835 in less than year, I’ve more than tripled my following! I tracked my success every month and would document what might have changed in the given month (for example, if I went on vacation or if I wasn’t posting as much). My goal is 2,000 by Dec 31st, 2015 with a stretch goal of 3,000. Whether I hit the stretch goal or not, I have clearly documented my progress all year long to see what I did well and what I could improve on.
3) CREATE A VISION BOARD
A vision board is a fantastic way to visualize whatever it is that you want to achieve. I highly recommend vision boards for everyday life but it should be tailored to exactly what you want to produce. Taking cues from the Laws of Attraction, you want to be completely surrounded by your goals and aspirations. If you have a major goal of starting a clothing line or being the best make-up artist, than you should create a vision board that replicates solely that. You can create a virtual vision board also, but a physical one looks better has a larger impact and you can look at it multiple times a day!
4) DON’T BE HARD ON YOURSELF
The worst thing you can do when goal-setting and goal-planning is to be excessively hard on yourself, seriously it’s counter-productive. It’s important to push yourself, but you’re still human and you will make mistakes and you will have set-backs, don’t give in and don’t give up. If your goal is worth accomplishing then it’s worth re-evaluating and re-adjusting if necessary.
5) CELEBRATE
No matter what the milestone and accomplishment, take a moment to celebrate what you’ve created thus far. We can get so incredibly caught up in going further and further and focusing on the future without ever taking a moment to stop and look behind you. I am totally guilty of this as well there is so much I want for my blog and brand that a lot of times I feel like I haven’t accomplished anything, but if Shantel from 2013 was speaking to me now, she would be incredibly excited and thrilled at my progress. Eat a donut, drink some champagne or put on your Louboutins and embrace the journey!
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feature image via weheartit
xxo.
