“A goal without a plan is just a wish.” – Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

From the first part article on how to design the life you want you have worked on identifying what is going on with your life and you assessed your life in these different categories:Work, finance, health, relationships and lifestyle. You then looked at your current situation in the different category and how you want it to be different if at all.

Now that you have got your assessment and your vision clear we’ve got to come up with how you can go from here to your ideal outcome won’t we?

Before we begin let’s talk a little about your previous experiences with setting goals and making change.

I imagine that like me, you are familiar with goals such as lose 10 pounds or 5 kgs, start an online business, eat healthier, wake up earlier, make more money, save more money etc. You know, the usual goals we set only to falter in our resolve less than a month later.

I am guessing that like many of the other goals that I have set, you found yourself unable achieve the goal for one reason or another. These reasons may have been substantial or they may have been excuses, it doesn’t matter because we are not here to call you out on your past experiences and guess what you will not be referring to them anyway so it is onward and upward from today.

Why are we not achieving the goals we set?

When it comes to goals, many people mistake the goals set for the ideal outcome/result/dream that they want to achieve and the problem with this is that goals are the milestones you need to reach to achieve the bigger picture of your outcome. Instead of looking at goals as the process,we think of it as the outcome and when we don’t achieve the goals we think that we have failed in our overall mission as opposed to just that step.

Say for example, you set a goal of losing weight, the weight loss is a goal and part of the process is exercising to achieve that goal. Your ultimate destination however is in fact looking good and feeling good. The outcome is you want to feel great in order to have the energy to achieve anything you want and you want to look good because do you know anyone who does not want to look good?

So losing the weight is an action towards getting what you want but the outcome is to look good. In order to have a clear plan, you need to be clear on what you are working towards in the first place which is what we will also work on today.

The next thing about goals is that we either skip on planning the steps required to achieve the goal or we go the other way and over-plan the steps needed and in the process make ourselves neurotic because we have set ourselves unreasonable targets to meet.

In both instances we have set ourselves up for failure because we are too overwhelmed to take any action and we let the goal die a natural death.

The third thing you have to know about goals is that they are flexible. Many of us are so rigid with our goals that when something changes, we just stop dead in our tracks because we can’t possibly do this thing now that such and such has happened. Your life will change with different circumstances so be adaptable to changes. This is not tossing out the goal altogether by the way, this is adapting how you get to the goal and making it work for you.

Confucius said:

When it is obvious that the goals cannot be reached, don’t adjust the goals, adjust the action steps

So to recap, here are the 3 reasons why some of us do not achieve our goals:

1. We are not clear about what we really want.

2. We are either not planning the steps required or we over-plan the steps – both lead to overwhelm.

3. We are too rigid with our goals and plans – this does not allow us to roll with the punches.

So now that you know what can stop you from achieving goals, it is time to work on The Plan.

The Plan….

Last week you had taken the first step towards designing your ideal life and as you know that was only a starting point. This week you are going to dig even deeper so make yourself a cuppa, grab a pen and paper and work on this with me.

The basis of this is simple – work out what are the outcomes you want in each category, next you have what goals do you need meet to achieve to get that outcome, followed by what you need to do in order to achieve the goals and finally how you are going to do this, please note that the how often requires a building of habits or routines.

Confused? Not to worry, here is an easy-peasy way to see:

Outcomes > Goals > Action Steps > Habits

How many outcomes or goals you want to tackle is entirely up to you although word of caution here, you must not expect to achieve all at once, pace yourself and set one goal at a time for each so you do not overwhelm yourself.

Now, let’s talk about how to build your plan.

1. Name your plan, something fun. You know like Su’s Super Duper Life Transformation Plan. Or, you can not name it anything it is up to you.
2. Draw out a table on your paper with 5 columns and as many rows as required.
3. Fill out the first line of each column in the individual columns:

• Category (this is the category of your life you are targeting)
• What do you really want? / The result/outcome
• What do you need to achieve the outcome? / Your goal
• What do you need to do to achieve the goal? / Your action steps
• How are you going to do it? / Your habits

4. Now you will fill them in according to what you want, your goals and how you are going to achieve all of this. Here is how it goes:

• The Outcome – this goes deeper than a superficial goal, often you might need to look at how achieving a goal will make you feel, just like the weight loss goal. Think about what really matters to you and not what you think you should do.
• Your Goal – what do you need to achieve between now and reaching your outcome? These are the more tangible results and often these are the ones people measure. Don’t think of this a monumental task to achieve because if it is then you may not have dug deep enough to differentiate an outcome from a goal.
• Your Action Steps – If you cannot figure out the steps to take, then you will definitely need to rethink your goals because logically speaking, if your goals were set correctly then you should be able to see your steps.
• Your Habits – In reality most things that we want to achieve takes time and often repetition, building a business requires you to show up daily, exercising requires you to be at the gym a few times a week and healthy eating requires you to plan, shop and cook weekly. These are habits and you will need to build a few in order to get moving with your goals.

As an example I have uploaded here an excel sheet you can use as a template with examples thrown in. (click on image)

Of course, feel free to use the template or any other format you personally prefer.

Now, go get this done whilst your memory is fresh.

You do not need a complicated plan and like I said before you can adapt how you get to your goals according to changes in your life. Let’s say your goal was to save $200 per month and this month you needed to spend more on things like a medical bill then save a little lesser this month and get back on it first thing next month. Don’t waste time chastising yourself on failing because this is not a guilt trip contest. Find a solution and not dwell on the problem.

Lastly, from today onwards please work on being less harsh on yourself. You know the scenario, you want to be the best partner, best parent, do a million things with your children, cook meals from scratch, and work out like a contender… the list goes on. Come on, be realistic here, you cannot do everything all at once so cut yourself some slack! When you are too harsh on yourself, you will feel discouraged and not motivated and when that happens you will simply stop working on any goals.

In conclusion:

Congratulations! You now have your life design action plan. That was not too difficult was it? Now all you need is to go take action, achieve your goals and before you know it you’ve achieved the outcome you want.

You have worked hard on this but this is scarcely the end of your life change journey. This is only the beginning, you have definitely worked out your brain for this but nothing will change unless you put the plan to practice so make sure you sign up for the free ebook below on how you can motivate yourself to keep working towards your goal.