Monthly Goal Setting Will Change Your Trajectory

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The best way to make, and continue to generate progress, is to set and achieve goals. 

The goal-setting process is crucial to any success. If you have no clear vision of what you want to accomplish, you will be hard-pressed to accomplish anything.  Having clear goals in mind is vital to this process. Monthly goals are a great way of maintaining growth towards larger, long-term goals. They allow you enough time to make measurable progress without forcing you into a frenzy.  Learn how to set monthly goals that will boost your productivity and potential. Completely change your directory and create the life that you have always wanted.

Monthly goals, broken down weekly, push you to gain momentum daily without overtaxing your already busy schedule. 

If you already have a clear vision in mind, you are two steps ahead, good job! But let’s say you don't really have a monthly goal.  If you have a vision of where you want to be in the future, you basically have a goal. Now, let’s clarify it:

• Have you made some resolutions this year? 

• How are they going? 

• How long did you keep them? 

• Did you have a clear path on how you wanted to achieve them? 

• Have you taken any deliberate steps to achieve them?

• And most importantly, have you written them down or set a deadline?

Without a clear, step by step plan to follow, reaching even the simplest resolutions will be challenging. Let's stop and breakdown how we would set these goals, then maybe we can shed some light on why this is so important. 

Goal setting can look differently depending on your comfort level. Do you often have a dream of how your future will look like? Have you ever said, “Once I —-, I will —-”? These are precursors to goals. Without a plan, a goal is just a dream. You need to create a SMART plan to achieve them.

Specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, Timely Goals are the most likely to be achieved.

Creating a vision board is a great way to organize your different goals for each area of your life. This vision board in a box is a great starter activity if you are unfamiliar with them or how they work. Vision Boards use the power of visualization and manifestation to help you set and achieve crucial goals. These are generally large goals. Goals that will take time and planning to achieve.

Creating a vision board and posting it somewhere visible will potentially materialize this new possibility. You have created a plan, made it real, and now you can achieve it. Simply creating a vision board and including large, tangible goals has been shown to make it more likely to accomplish what you set out to. But first, you have to put it out into the Universe. Start with this vision board, and the path to your large scale goals will begin to become clear.

If you are struggling with setting long-term goals, try our FREE printable Passion Planner. This intensive workbook will take you on a journey of self-discovery. It will delve deep to discover your ambitions and your interests. It will help you really consider where you want your life to lead and what is important to you. Download it here and take the afternoon to complete it. I suggest a hot cup of coffee, a cozy blanket, and settle in.

Let’s say your goal is to live a healthier lifestyle.  It seems simple enough.  But without a doable plan on how you want to achieve this, you will quickly slip back into old habits.

Now there are different definitions of a healthy lifestyle depending on your starting point.  A good place to start is a goal, for the first month, or simply eating better.  Maybe your goal, for the first week, is to not buy any junk food on your next grocery shopping trip.  The week after that could be to substitute fresh veggies for a bag of chips once that week.  The following week we can make the same substitutions 3 times. 

Next, you can commit to trying out one new “healthy” recipe a week.  These goals should be clearly written out in your planner each week.  If you do not use a planner, post them somewhere that you look every day, like on your nightstand or your bedroom mirror, so that you are reminded of your goals each morning.

These simple steps are clear and well defined. You have either achieved them or not.  You can feel a sense of accomplishment when you cross the item off your list. 

Using a planner really is the best way to set and achieve goals. It will help you track your progress, but it will help you better track your time and obligations, increasing your productivity. This hardcover planner by Bloom Daily Planners is an amazing option for 2021. This stylish planner has space to track everything, even your monthly and yearly goals. There is even space for some vision boarding notes so that you always have them handy to reflect on.

Breaking down a large goal into these little pieces makes them more attainable. 

No matter how committed you are to buy that gym membership and work-out 5 days a week, starting January 1st, chances are not in your favour.  Expecting something so drastic from yourself is unrealistic and cruel.  Let yourself build-up to a goal that big.

Many resolutions fail, not because of goal setting but because of implementation. It is important in any area that you strive for progress over perfection. Achievable setting goals is much more rewarding than striving for something beyond your reach and falling short.

• Take baby steps,

• Create a realistic and achievable plan,

• Slowly increase the difficulty and commitment as you notice progress.

Perhaps you want to save more money this year.  You should still start with the little steps that have clearly defined parameters. 

Start with a budget.  Your goal for the first month can be something as simple as sticking to it.  Or, maybe you only eat out once this week.  Next week you don’t eat out at all unless it is previously scheduled.  Another week it could be no impulse buying.

Another route could be transferring a predetermined sum into savings.  Try $10 the first week and $15 the second.  Slowly increase the amounts weekly until you get to an amount that works with your budget. These small goals all build into a larger ultimate goal, but they are things that you can apply to your life today. 

Being able to track daily progress will motivate you to continue making progress towards progressively larger goals.

Improving your GPA is a goal most students share.  A good place to start would be X number of hours of studying, per subject, per month, depending on your starting point.  This, of course, is broken down weekly and adjusted as needed. Notice again that these goals can be broken down into smaller segments that you can achieve daily and weekly.

If you are still on the fence about using a planner, I want to re-emphasize how important they are. These are crucial tools to help you to achieve your goals. To-do lists often have an “out of sight, out of mind” existence. When you do not reflect on this list, it just does not exist. Having a planner that you check and update daily will help you to cross these items off faster. This adorable Mokani planner is an inexpensive option to help get you started with a planner. It is highly customizable, and a little less intense than the Bloom Daily mentioned earlier. If you are hesitant to join the planner life, this may be a low commitment option for you. It is like a cute little notebook with an intention.

The best part of goal setting is the sense of accomplishment you get from achieving these goals. 

Breaking down large goals into tiny manageable levels allows you not only to make an intimidating goal reasonable. It will also give you room to grow into larger expectations of yourself. If you successfully save $100 this month.  Maybe we can aim for $200 next month.  Maybe you were able to overshoot that goal and save $150. 

How much better about yourself will you feel if you save the $100, or more, that you set out to save this month than if you didn't save any of the $1,000 you wanted to save this year.

Setting goals with no plan on how to achieve them is just a set up for failure. Giving yourself a month to achieve something is a reasonable time frame without forcing yourself into an unrealistic schedule. It also gives you some leeway, so if you fall short on a goal one week. You can still make it up by the end of the month. The most important thing to remember is to break your monthly goals down weekly and review them daily. This keeps them present in your mind, so you are constantly looking for ways to make progress. This progress is what leads you to your destination.

Goals can be almost anything, even obligations that already exist in your life.  You might have a goal for this month, to complete all your past due to homework. Perhaps you need to elaborate on the large pile of lecture notes you have been neglecting.  Maybe next month’s goal is to stay current. The most important thing about goal setting is to be realistic. Goal setting does not have to be reserved for yachts and fancy houses. Today your goals may be more humble but no less important. Once you see how successful you can be at setting goals for essential duties in your life, you can begin to dream bigger.

If you are unrealistic about your goals, or the time frame in which you can achieve them, you'll never be able to reach them. 

If goal setting is new to you, it is best to start with things that are already expected of your time. Items like keeping your study schedule or getting the mark you want on an upcoming exam are a great place to start. These are examples of goals that are great for beginners. They are a good gateway to obtaining the motivation and sense of accomplishment that will push you to believe in yourself.   

Building self-confidence will lead to setting more goals, which will lead to making more progress towards your dreams.

It is also a great way to practice self-discipline. Putting restraints on yourself for things such as spending your money or time can help you teach yourself how to say no to yourself. It can also help you be strict regarding taking care of your responsibilities and obligations before you indulge in your wants.

Now while you don't need an ultimate dream, of where you want your life to go, in order to set short-term goals.  It is a good idea to start getting into that mindset. This year, set the goal to choose a profession or, to build and run a multinational company, or perhaps its something closer to home.  Having these clearly defined, long term goals, will help to drive not only the theme of your short-term goals, but also give you a clear sense of direction, and make huge undertakings more manageable. 

Year by year, month by month, and week by week, you can tick off each of these milestones while on the path to your own personal success story.

If you have not already picked up our freemium goal setting passion planner you can download it here. This is an intensive goal setting workbook that dives deep to discover what your priorities are and where your ambitions lie. You will be challenged to discover your dream life and how you want your future to look. These is the most intensive goal setting worksheets you will complete.

I would like to be transparent so that there are no misunderstandings. As an affiliate, I may earn a small commission from any products linked in this post. This is not a sponsored post, and I was not asked to recommend these products. These are products that I genuinely love and wanted to share with my audience.