18 Ways to Achieve Your Goals in 2018

📷: Sandis Helvigs

“Don’t Wait. The time will never be just right.” – Napoleon Hill

2018 is officially here, and chances are you’ve already started making your New Year’s resolutions. 

Unfortunately for a lot of us, we end up giving up on or forgetting about the goals we set for New Year’s — after all, setting goals is easy but accomplishing those goals takes work. 

So how can you achieve your 2018 goals? Here are 18 ways:

1.) Set Goals and WRITE THEM DOWN!

📷:Cathryn Lavery

I know, I know — this seems obvious right? But how often do you find yourself saying, “Oh, I’d like to do (insert X, Y, Z),” and you never get to it because you didn’t actually  write it down so you ended up forgetting all about it. 

It’s not enough to just think about what you want to accomplish. You have to also write it down because this will enable you to reference it later AND keep you on track thereby enabling you to follow through. 

2.) Write Down Your “Why”

📷:Ken Treloar

If you really want to be able to stick to your long-term vision and accomplish your goals you’re going to need a WHY. This is your purpose for why you’re doing what you’re doing. 

Here’s an example of what that might look like: 

Goal: “Eat healthy and organic.” 

Why (aka purpose): “Because the food I have been eating has been making me gain unnecessary weight and feel lethargic. I know I am what I eat, so by eating a healthy balanced diet without harmful additives and pesticides I’m going to lose weight (and keep it off!) and be healthier overall.” 

This WHY will be your clutch when you experience bumps in the road, challenges and/or dark nights of the soul. It will remind you of why you set the goal in the first place, and continue to inspire you to complete it. 

3.) Create a Goal Calendar 

📷:Estee Janssens

Using those goals you wrote down earlier, make yourself a “goal calendar” where you assign deadlines for when you’re going to complete each goal. 

For example, if one of your goals is to take a vacation to Peru and visit Machu Picchu this year, then set a deadline for when you’ll book your ticket and mark that date in your calendar. A week or two after that date, choose a date to select your itinerary and so on. 

By assigning yourself deadlines for when you’re going to need to take action, you’ll be more likely to actually do the things you’ve set out to do.  

4.) Journal Your Goals Daily

📷: Estee Janseens

It’s not enough to simply write your goals down once. If you want to do big things, you have to take action every single day. I repeat, if you want to do big things, you HAVE to take action EVERY SINGLE DAY. 

So every day, write down your goals for that day. Get as granular as you need to in order to ensure you complete everything necessary, and mark each item off as you complete it. 

Daily journaling of your goals will keep you on track toward completion and actually re-wire your brain to work with you rather than against you (goodbye procrastination!). 

5.) Make a Vision Board 

📷:Rawpixel

Think of anyone in the world who has experienced massive success — olympic athletes, famous actors and actresses, public speakers, entrepreneurs etc. All of these people understand the incredible power of visualization, and how when used regularly, it speeds up the process of physical manifestation. 

You too have access to this amazing mental power — you just have to harness it.

Create a vision board using pictures, words, items etc. that inspire you, and depict the goals you’ve set for yourself. Once you’ve completed your vision board, display it in a place where you’ll see it multiple times a day so each time you walk past it you’ll be reminded of what you want. 

6.) Listen to at Least One Inspirational Podcast Each Week

📷: Henry Be

You know when you listen to an incredible story of someone overcoming obstacles and making themselves successful against all odds how afterwards you feel a sudden surge of energy and inspiration?

This happens because all of us and everything around us is made up of energy. 

The more positive, uplifting and inspirational language you invite into your life, the higher you’ll vibrate physically, mentally and emotionally. 

Commit to at least one day each week to listen to an inspirational podcast, and invite inspiration into your life!

7.) Meditate

📷:Natalia Figueredo

Take 10 to 20 minutes every morning or evening to sit or lay in a relaxed position and realign your mind, body and soul.

When you’re working towards accomplishing goals sometimes you might find yourself overwhelmed, frustrated, exhausted or any combination of these things. By meditating daily, you’ll be able to quiet your mind, relax your body and allow inspiration to flow in and any blockages to flow out.

8.) Stay Organized 

📷:Arnel Hasanovic

Keep your house, room, car, office and any other personal space you spend a lot of time in clean and organized. 

When things are chaotic and feel disorganized, it can be hard to focus. By maintaining orderly professional and personal spaces, you’ll ensure your mind isn’t distracted by an untamed environment. 

9.) Do a Weekly Assessment and Grade Yourself  

📷: Element5 Digital

On Sunday of each week, review your accomplishments from the previous week and assess yourself using the following questions:

1.) What did I do well?

2.) What can I improve on?

3.) What grade would I give myself for my efforts and accomplishments?

Your grade should be based on the effort you put into the week. Don’t give yourself an “F”  just because you didn’t get everything marked off of your “to-do” list. This is the time to look at what you can do better next week, and what you did well so you can continue to do that. 

10.) Use The Buddy System 

📷: Alexis Brown

You know when you tell someone you’re going to do something, and then you feel like you have to do it (even when you don’t necessarily want to) because you said you would?

Well, goals work the same way. When you set goals, choose someone to hold you accountable and do the same for them. Then do weekly and monthly check-ins on the same day at the same time to ensure you’ll each follow through. 

11.) Be Confident 

📷:Brooke Lark

“Whether you think you can, or think you can’t — you’re right.” – Henry Ford 

Self-belief is the fuel your body needs to be able to continuously progress in the direction of your goals. Let go of any fears, doubts and limiting self-beliefs and always remember your WHY. 

You can do anything you set your mind to. The only limitations you have are the ones you impose upon yourself. 

12.) Don’t Wait For Inspiration — BE Inspiration 

📷:Tim Arterbury

Inspiration isn’t going to come knocking at your door, so don’t wait for it. Your life is YOUR masterpiece, so you have to learn to be your own inspiration. 

One of the greatest mistakes any person can make is to have a dream, and never go for it due to lack of inspiration. If you wait for inspiration to hit, you might be waiting forever and leave this earth with a blank canvas. And that would be a true tragedy. 

So surround yourself with things and people that make you feel good, and learn to pull inspiration from everything you experience. 

13.) Take Action, Especially When You DON’T Want To 

📷: Bethany Legg

Procrastination is a dream killer, and in those moments where you really don’t “feel” like doing something that will help you achieve your goals — TAKE ACTION IMMEDIATELY. 

Don’t make excuses. Don’t say you’ll “get to it later,” because chances are you won’t. Even if you’re feeling tired, exhausted, not up for it, inspired etc. TAKE ACTION. 

This will build momentum that will keep you going. 

14. ) Write Down Your Goal for the Day

📷: Jeshoots

Everyday, write down one overarching “big” goal. This specific goal should ultimately mean that by achieving it, today was a success for you. 

Now, when you’re setting a “big” daily goal, make sure it’s attainable and believable to you. Otherwise, you’ll end up disappointed. 

Keep in mind, small goals completed are what ultimately add up to massive achievements. 

15.) Write Down Your Daily Targets

📷:Green Chameleon

Everyday choose 3 daily targets to hit. These three targets when added together should be enough to accomplish your “big” goal of the day. 

For example, when my big goal of the day is to publish an article on this site, these are what my daily targets look like:

1.) Edit article 

2.) Publish article

3.) Promote article on social media 

By selecting the top three things that will help you accomplish your goal, you’ll have more direction and clarity to ensure that big goal gets completed. 

16. ) Plan Your Day the Night Before

📷:Glenn Carstens Peters

One of the easiest ways to set yourself up for personal success is by planning your day in advanced. 

Rather than watching TV at night, or aimlessly scrolling through social media, use the last 15 to 20 minutes before you go to sleep to plan for tomorrow. 

Write down all of the things you need to accomplish in order of necessity, and commit to completing them in the order they’re written. Also, write down the time frame needed to complete each objective (even if it’s an estimation). This will help you better understand what you may need to push until later or how much more you can add to your plate. 

17. ) Celebrate Your Wins

📷:Japheth Mast

Celebrate your wins every single day! Write them down. Tell someone someone about them. Allow yourself to feel good for all that you’re accomplishing and all of the small victories along the way.

These small wins will encourage you to keep pressing forward as you’ll see the budding of your “tree goal” manifesting into reality.  

Then once you complete your big goal, you’ll be able to go back and see all of the pieces that came together to bring you exactly what you wanted! 

18.) Express Gratitude 

📷:Simon Maage

You’re an energetic being living in an energetic world, that’s why it’s so important to express gratitude for what you already have. Quantum physics tells us “like attracts like” and by focusing on the good things you already have in your life, you’ll start to attract more of those good things.

So each morning when you wake up, choose three things to say thank you for!

Above all remember, it’s a new year full of limitless possibilities and new beginnings. There has never been a better time than RIGHT NOW to begin living the life of your dreams! Get your new year started off on the right foot by putting these 18 tips to use TODAY! 

Xx,

Antasha

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 About Antasha Durbin: Antasha is a spiritual writer, life-long student of the universe, and psychic tarot card reader. Her website, cajspirituality.com, is dedicated to casualizing the spiritual experience and making it attainable for anyone, anywhere, anytime. Follow her for free, easy-to-digest and highly actionable advice on spirituality, mindfulness and empowered living.