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How to Finally Follow Through on Your Goals 

 January 7, 2021

If you are anything like me, then you have probably started this year by setting a few goals for yourself. Maybe you want to start eating healthy or begin going to the gym.

The problem that often arises with goal setting is, we have all these great aspirations and intentions, but struggle to follow through.

Sure, the first few days, maybe even weeks go exceptionally well, but then we end up missing a day or two of eating well or exercising and sure enough, we slowly begin to forget we set the goal in the first place.

We set excellent goals, but then somehow, they end up getting lost in the busyness of life.

Here is how you can finally follow through on the goals you have set for yourself this year:

Goal-stacking is a goal setting system designed to ensure that you reach your goals. Here is how it works.

  1. Set your long-term or annual goals.

Begin with the end in mind. Where do you want to be at the end of the year? It’s very important in this step to make sure each one of your goals is specific and measurable. So, instead of saying, “at the end of 2021, I would like to be healthier” say, “At the end of 2021, I would like my body fat percentage to go down by 6%”.

Make sense?

When the goal is specific and measurable, it makes the process of achieving it much simpler.

  1. Set your quarterly goals – based on your annual goals.

Now that you have determined what you would like to accomplish by year’s end. Now begin to work backwards.

Ask yourself, “what do I need to do each quarter to achieve the goals I’ve set for myself?”

Back to the body fat percentage example… If the annual goal is to lose 6% body fat, then by the end of Q1, you should set a goal to have lost 1.5%.

If your goal is to read 12 books this year, then your Q1 goal would be to complete 2 books.

  1. Set your monthly goals – based on your annual and quarterly goals

Alright, now we start getting specific.

The question here is, “what can I do this month to achieve my year’s end goal?”

An example here would be, if you want to read 12 books this year, make sure you read half of the first book this month.

Are you understanding how this is breaking down?

  1. Set your weekly goals – based on your monthly goals

Now that you know what you would like to accomplish this month, you can begin to plan out each week.

What will you be doing on Tuesday this week? How is that going to push you toward your year’s end goal?

Specificity is the end of poor production. The more specific and organized you get on a micro basis, the more productive you will be.

  1. Set your daily script – based on your weekly goals

Now we get to the most granular part of this process. Every day, whether it is the night before or Sunday leading into the week, you should write out a script or checklist.

By having a day script, you do not wake up guessing what you will accomplish that day. It is already planned out and ready for you at your desk.

Here is an example from my day script:

7:00 – 7:45         Read

7:45 – 8:00         Breathing exercises

8:00 – 9:30         Flow Block 1 – Content Creation – Write the Blog

9:30 – 10:00       Breakfast

By having a plan, you reduce cognitive load, anxiety, and stress and allow yourself to, without interference, produce at a high-level.

So, are you tired of fizzling out on your goals? Tired of setting a new year’s resolution just to see that once again you are not following through?

This is the year to be different.

Get specific. Get organized. Goal-stack.