4 Simple Steps To Achieve Your Goals

Well, 2015 is history and 2016 is here.   I hope you're ready to make 2016 the best year ever.  If you haven't done any planning yet, I have a great (and free) tool for you to use, right here.  Let's assume you've done some planning work or you're about to.  Now is the moment of truth.  And the question for today is "What are you going to do with all those plans?"

I'll be honest.  This has been tough for me.  I've been guilty of being the guy who makes great plans with no real way to execute those plans.  But, not this year.  What has changed?  Just some simple and direct steps.  Here are a few I've taken over the last couple weeks to actually get me where I see myself being at the end of 2016.

1. I've done the work of assessing where I am and where I want to be.  I set aside the time and kept the appointment with myself.  That's a big move in and of itself.  I wrote about that here.  
2. I asked myself some powerful questions about who I wanted to be and what the answers to those questions imply.  With those tough questions answered, I set some audacious goals for 2016.  I'm not going to share my goals here, because I've read some pretty convincing stuff that suggests that sharing goals publicly tends to trick us into believing we've already achieved them.  I can say, from experience, that has been true for me. 
3. I've themed my year.  Although I'm not sharing my goals publicly, I am excited to share my theme.  For me, 2016 is the year of "Hard Work and Discipline".  
4. I've done the preparation to set myself up to achieve my goals.  Specifically, I mean that I've:

• Scheduled repeating weekly time for every goal that requires regular time and attention. That's most of them.  If you don't know where to start, I'd recommend Google Calendar. I've used it for years and love it.
• Scheduled weekly time to assess my progress toward my goals.  I can't achieve it if I don't measure it.  Neither can you.
• Ordered and assembled all the books on my 2016 reading list.  I really can't imagine growing significantly without reading.  I had a few of the books on my list, but most needed to be ordered.  I ordered 10 books from Amazon this morning.  I'm excited to get reading and I'll be positing a book review here after I finish each of them.

These are the steps I've taken.  You can take the exact same steps.  The question is, will you? 2016 will be exactly what you make it.  Of course the future is not predicable and there will be some unforeseen obstacles and some some unforeseen opportunities.  But, by and large, we create our future based on what we do and don't do today.  Make 2016 great!

What are some questions you're wrestling with right now as you look at what your 2016 holds?  Leave a comment below.  I'd love to know what you're working on and working through.