Goal achievement is easier said than done. I used to rush through the first quarter of the year trying to achieve as much as possible. Many a time, I found myself also rushing through the last quarter of the year while trying to catch up with pending goals!
With time and experience, I’ve come to realize that the process of working on your goals is smoother when you have routines.
Routines can be boring, which is why we try to avoid them. But when it comes to goal achievement, they provide you with consistency and focus.
Below are 7 routines that keep me focused and provided me with a system that runs my goal achievement process.
7 Routines That Keep Me Focused on Goal Achievement
1. Yearly, quarterly, monthly, weekly and daily planning
Using this system consistently is one of the most powerful routines in my goal achievement toolkit. This 5-step system is the backbone of my goal achievement process. I’ve used many systems and none worked 100% so I kept updating each new one I found until I got a hybrid that works for me.
Here’s a summary of the process:
- Come up with 6 major goals for the year.
- Prioritize them to get your #1 goal.
- Break this goal into monthly sub-goals that feed into each other.
- Break the monthly goals into weekly objectives.
- Use the weekly objectives to create your daily-to do lists.
- Evaluate each day, week, and month and update your plans accordingly.
- Stick to the rule of 3: set 3 main goals per year, 3 goals per month, 3 objectives per week, and 3 to-do’s per day.
I’ve explored this system at length in a previous blog post on a 5-step process for achieving your big goals.
2. Prioritizing the most important goal
My main goal generally has to do with business growth. For example, my top goal this year has to do with building my online visibility and credibility through writing.
I’ve narrowed down the goal to writing a minimum of 500 words each day. This could be one or more of the following:
- blog post.
- email to my e-newsletter subscribers.
- long Facebook post (in my our Facebook group, on my personal profile, or a group I belong to).
- writing my next book.
While I’m able to write anytime of the day and from anywhere, I’ve found it most beneficial to schedule this as my first task each day (Tuesday to Friday). So the first hour of my work day is taken up by writing and I write, even when I don’t feel like.
Looking at your main goal for the year, what’s the most important thing that you need to do every day in your life, job, career, or business? Put it in your schedule early in the morning.
3. Rewards
This habit has become a motivating factor for each milestone I achieve, big or small. It’s also a part of my self care routines.
Rewards don’t have to be big or expensive and they can be as simple as getting a new novel. Even having coffee with friends at the end of a well-utilized day can be something to look forward to.
Building rewards into your goals is a great way to keep you motivated as you work on your goals. The rule here is that you only get the reward after completing a task or achieving a milestone.
4. Weekly focus
I use Vic Johnson’s 52 Mondays: The One Year Path to Outrageous Success and Lifelong Happiness which has helped me develop a number of routines.
This book is more of a program that gives you a lesson and exercise to focus on each week. The aim of each week’s lesson is to move you closer to your main goal for the year.
It took me time to get used to doing the weekly lessons. Today, I don’t think about it because it’s already scheduled for all 8:00am on all Mondays in my online and offline calendars.
If you can, get a group of like-minded people to work through this program with so that you have physical accountability.
5. Tracking important metrics
You need to come up with a list of metrics that are important for your life, career, or business. These metrics may not be related to your goals, but have an impact on your goals.
Time tracking
I get easily distracted because I run a virtual business from home. It’s also easy to spend time talking to people on phone in ways that help them grow but don’t move my business forwards.
I use a simple A5 notebook that I keep open on my desk. The left hand page is for keeping track of my day. The right hand page is divided into 2 columns. The left column is for the things I know I will do on that day. The right column is for what I have actually done that day.
At the end of the day, I can actually see where I spent my time wisely and where I wasted it. This makes it easier for me to evaluate my week and to get rid of time wasters.
Income and expenses
You cannot afford to lose track of your income and expenses, especially if you’re a solopreneur or have a small team. I used to leave my financial tracking to the end of the week and sometimes lost track of what had been spent (especially cash and MPESA).
I’ve now built in 30 minutes at the end of each workday to check and update finances. This is one of the routines that have helped create more peace in my life because I do both personal and business finances.
Industry specific metrics
Each industry has metrics that are used to measure growth and success. For my industry, these include:
- people connected to.
- discovery calls done.
- new clients.
- income and expenses.
- email list growth.
- blog growth.
- questions people ask directly, on social media, on the blog and in response to email newsletters..
Tracking these metrics gives me a snapshot of my business growth. It also identifies challenges faced by my readers, and provides ideas for marketing and for future programs.
Note: You can track virtually any goal as long as you’ve identified what the important metrics are for that goal.
6. Morning and evening quiet time
Having an hour to myself each morning has changed my life. The first hour of my day is spent aligning myself spiritually through reading the Bible, meditating, and prayer. I then read a book that develops me, my business, or career (coaching).
When I I forget or ignore this routine, the day goes haywire and I lose focus on the important things I should be working on.
At the end of the day, I wind up by reading a novel followed by a short meditation just as I drop off to sleep.
7. End of day reflection
It’s great to wind up each weekday with the question, “What have I done today to move towards my goals?” This helps evaluate whether I’m on track or off track. It also helps me get back on track very fast if I’m starting to veer off.
What are your routines?
In this post, I’ve shared 7 routines that have helped me stay focused on my personal and business goals. I’d also love to hear from you.
Do you have any routines that have worked for you in the past or that are working for you now Please share in the Comments below.
(Image credit Pexels)
