When you write down your values, your vision and your goals as well as the practices or habits you will be undertaking that will get you to your goals all in one document you then have yourself a NORTH STAR. This North Star will guide you in knowing where your focus should lie when your attention gets pulled in many different directions. Your North Star is your personalized code of conduct and game plan. Just having your North Star should give you a sense of purpose because it’s designed BY you to put you on the path to YOUR personal vision. Living and growing intentionally is very rewarding and can help shake feelings of being “lost”, or fear in the uncertainty of the future.
Now its time for a crucial step on your path to achieving your goals. It’s to look at this North Star and to commit to it! I mean REALLY commit to it!
Give yourself a time frame for which to work on your new practices and habits. I usually work in increments of 90 days. The journey is not over at the end of the 90 days which is why it’s important to have a BIG picture vision of what you want in life. One that is 1-5 years out (or more if you so choose) so that you don’t lose your momentum and are motivated to set the next 90 days to continue. Since our brains are geared towards staying in our comfort zone if you don’t already know what will come next you may end up stopping altogether. I’ve seen it all too many times when I was working in gyms and we would run 6 week weight loss challenges. People would have great results but then just STOP at the end, gain the weight back and be back in the next 6 Week challenge starting from scratch a couple of months later. Because they ONLY had the short term goal, they did not have their long term vision and a plan to keep going.
Setting goals in increments allows you to feel less overwhelmed with the enormity of what needs to be done to create the life you see for yourself in the distant future. Breaking things down into increments allows you to analyze what worked during the previous 90 days and what didn’t allowing you to adjust the course for the next increment. Things also change in our life and some things may no longer be relevant and having this break to assess gives you a chance to realize that.
It’s also easier to commit mentally to 90 days than it is to commit to new changes for the rest of your life.
Here is a list of ways for you to commit and stay committed once you have your North Star:
- Look yourself in the mirror and read out your North Star document and then formally commit to yourself to stick with it for the next 90 days.
- Write down your commitment in your journal
- Think of your big picture vision often (ideally just before bed and upon waking)
- Have an accountability partner
- Arrange your environment so that is easy to stick to your plans (ex: Get rid of the junk food in your home if you want to lose weight, throw out all the ashtrays and lighters if you want to quit smoking)
- Don’t do too much too fast or you risk burning yourself out and losing motivation. When you have your big picture vision the journey is now a marathon and not a race
- Stay inspired by filling your mind with things that relate to your goals (ex: Learn new healthy recipes if you want to have a healthy lifestyle instead of scrolling social media for celebrity gossip, or join a yoga class rather than sitting on the couch and watching TV
- Find your tribe! You need likeminded people around you who are supportive and understand what you are going through. This helps with long term goal attainment. You will not learn how to be the best Lion or Lioness you can be by hanging out with sheep.
- See yourself as your own best fried who you don’t want to let down. We’re often good at committing to others who are important to us, but not ourselves.
So, create your future vision, then create your North Star then give yourself a time frame, be it 90, 60 or 30 days and make the commitment! Your future self will be glad you did!
Feel free to reach out to me if you need help setting your goals!
