Make Room for the New Goal

When you set a goal, you have to make room for it in your life. Most people find that they have to change their priorities in order to reach their goal. If the goal is important to you and you’re committed to achieving it, then this step is crucial to your success.

What can I give up?

This is the question you need to ask yourself when trying to fit your goal into your busy life. Look for leisure activities. Do you watch three hours of Netflix every night? Could you drop that down to one hour so you could use the remaining two to work on your newest goal? What about games you play on your iPad in the afternoon? Can you use that time to focus on your goal instead?

If you’re having trouble finding time you can use for your goal, install a time tracker on your laptop or tablet. At the end of your day, many time tracking apps will give you a summary of how you spent your time. This is a great way to discover pockets of time that you could be using to achieve your goal.

What can you put on the back burner?

Another way to find time for your goal is to make a list of projects that won’t be prioritized while you work on this goal. You can put this list aside and leave a note on your calendar to review these projects later.

When you do this, you’ll be able to fully focus on your goal. You’ll see progress faster, which will motivate you even more. You’ll also increase your chances of success and feel more positive about your goal. 

What's in conflict?

Many people fail to reach their goals because they have conflicting goals. These conflicting goals are sneaky and it can be hard to spot them. For example, your goal may be to spend more time with your kids in the evening. Now if you set another goal to go back to college to finish your degree in the evenings, you’ve created two goals that are in conflict with each other.

When it comes to goals in conflict, don’t think you have to pick one or the other. Instead, look for solutions that allow you to bring your goals into harmony. Using the above example, you could decide that you’ll go back to college in the evenings for three nights a week. But you’ll use the remaining four nights to spend more time with your kids.

Making room for your goals isn’t always easy, but it is necessary to your success. Remember that if you don’t follow through with your goal, nothing will change.

Discover how to make room for your new goal in the bonus workbook.