CONQUERing Collaboration: How to Accomplish Goals

Goal setting and learning to accomplish your goals can be part of your journey towards feeling empowered. As a small business, we are constantly setting short- and long-term goals that we spend a lot of time working on. 

As individuals, we also set personal and professional goals. Sometimes, we work really hard and achieve our goals. Other times, we ditch our goals and decide to carry on with our lives. 

This post is dedicated to thinking twice about ditching your goals. Goal setting is an important part of life—it's how we become better as people and how we make our lives better. We'll talk about best practices for setting goals, share some strategies to achieving your goals, and then we'll turn the floor to our CONQUERing community to share their best practices to accomplishing goals. 

What are the Four Golden Rules of Goal Setting? 

Before we can talk about how you can accomplish your goals, let's talk about the practice of setting goals. How you decide what your goals are can determine how likely you are to accomplish them. If you just say to yourself that you're going to run a marathon, but don't establish why you want to, share with others that you're planning to, or set up a plan of attack, you're likely not going to run a marathon. 

That's why we wanted to start with some golden rules for setting goals. There are definitely more than four rules you can implement when you set your goals. For the purpose of this blog post, we decided to narrow it down to four that we think are very effective and that you can implement as soon as you finish reading this post. 

These are the four golden rules of goal setting: 

1. Make your goals specific and connect them to a "why." Specifically, you want to set goals that are concrete and that you can realistically accomplish. Setting abstract goals is setting yourself up for failure. It's also important to connect your goals to a "why." Why do you you want to accomplish this goal? The why establishes your motivation for wanting to achieve a goal. 
2. Share your goals with people close to you. Sharing your goals with others makes them tangible. You're also setting up an accountability system when you tell someone you want to do something. These people will likely ask about your progress and will celebrate with you when you accomplish your goals. 
3. Incorporate actions to achieve your goals into your daily routine. When you're setting a goal, think about how you can implement the action-items required to achieving them into your daily routine. If you're noticing that you don't think it's feasible to fit everything into your day-to-day, revise your goal into something more manageable. 
4. Personalize your approach. It's important to be realistic with yourself and how you operate. Some people like to hit the ground running and accomplish their goals all at once. Others find it better to break thinks up and slowly work towards the end goal. Think about the type of person you are and personalize your plan of attack.

There are definitely additional ways you can set goals. You could set SMART goals (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-based goals), mini goals, or any other method that you've found works for you. 

What are Strategies to Achieving Goals?

Once you're happy with your goals, it's time to set a plan to accomplish them. Again, there are plenty of strategies you could implement to achieve your goals. As we discussed earlier, it's important to reflect on what will work for you. While these strategies work for us, there might be other methods that resonate with you. 

Here are the six strategies we find effective to accomplish goals: 

1. Make an action plan. After you've decided what your goal is, work on an action plan for how you will achieve your goal. Write down all of the tasks you need to complete your goal and put them in sequential order. In general, writing things down makes them tangible in our minds. 
2. Set sub goals. Take the tasks you laid out in your action plan and make them sub goals. These are smaller goals that bring you closer to your end goal. Setting sub goals is a great way to keep track of your progress and stay motivated. You can even have mini celebrations when you accomplish your sub goals. 
3. Establish deadlines. Set deadlines for all of your sub goals and when you would like to achieve your end goal. These deadlines can be flexible, however, it's important to have a general timeline established to keep you on track to achieving your goals. 
4. Identify potential obstacles. There will be things that get in the way of achieving your goals. As you're creating your action plan, think of anything that might come up and stop you from reaching your end goal. Come up with a game plan in case these obstacles do arise. There will also be things that you can't plan for so it's important to have a general plan you can implement to get back on track when something sets you back. 
   
5. Get an accountability partner. Find someone you trust to be your accountability partner. Share your action plan with them, including all of your deadlines, and ask them to hold you accountable so you hit each deadline. It could be nice to find someone who is working on their own goals so you can act as their accountability partner as well!
   
6. Be flexible. Most importantly, be kind to yourself. Things are going to come up that will set you back in your progress. It's important to be flexible and adjust your deadlines when you need to. Try not to let these things shake your confidence. You got this and having to change your goals slightly or push back deadlines is completely okay. 

There are many other strategies you can implement to achieve your goals. At the end of the day, what works for you might be different than what works for us. It might take some trail and error, but you will find the best strategies that help you achieve your goals. 

CONQUERing Collective's Key to Achieving Goals

We asked members of the CONQUERing Collective what their favorite tips and tricks are for accomplishing their goals. There were so many amazing responses and tips that we certainly plan to try as we work towards our next goals. 

Here are five keys to achieve goals that the CONQUERing Collective shared: 

• Make lists. Brandy W. suggested making lists. She said, "I like making lists or spreadsheets...Break large goals into smaller goals. Create milestones and give myself a little reward when I hit one." 
• Focus on intentions. Rachel C. focuses on her intentions. She said, "Sometimes I have to remind myself to start my day with intention - especially on things I have been putting off far too long. When I intentionally take steps that will keep me off the couch, I get more done...I have to remind myself that small accomplishments are still accomplishments and should be celebrated!"
• Stay positive. Caitie H. is all about positivity. She said, "What has worked for me is just always being positive, learning to laugh at yourself through the hard times, and always be yourself."
• Practice manifestation. Allenah C. uses manifestation. She said, "Manifesting has gotten me to some amazing places, and has helped me to get better opportunities. I fully believe that having a certain energy towards a goal will help lead you to that goal." 
• Use a checklist. Natalie M. uses a similar approach as Brandy. She said, "Make a list. It's so easy to feel overwhelmed when you have things running through your mind. Write it out. Practice triage. Seeing it on paper always makes it feel less overwhelming...I also find it incredibly satisfying to check something off." 

There were plenty of other gems shared, and some advice that aligned with the strategies we shared! Achieving your goals can be a daunting task but you have what it takes to accomplish anything you set your mind to. 

Start Reaching Your Goals

Now, all that's left is taking everything you learned in this blog post and applying it to your life. It's never too late to set a goal and start working towards it. If you need a little extra motivation, check out these fidget rings to encourage you to stay on track. 

YOU GOT THIS	FOCUS	YES YOU CAN