The Best Ways to Keep Your 2017 Goals on Target

It's 2017 which means it's time to refocus, re-motivate, and (in some cases) rebrand. It's still January which means if you made a New Years resolution you're probably still putting the plans in motion to reach your goal. If you're setting lofty goals, thats a good thing, but it can seem daunting. So how do you get to work on making your dreams a reality?  You need to make sure yourself and your business are ready. You need a game plan and fresh new ideas. Sometimes that is easier said than done. Below are a few tips and tricks that I use in order to achieve my goals.
So how do you stay inspired and motivated for 2017? Let me sharewith you a few tips and tricks I use to keep working towards my g

Get Enough Sleep

Getting enough sleep is vital to fueling creativity and not being a grump! I say "getting enough sleep" and not "going to bed and waking up early" because those things might not be possible depending on the field your in. When I was in the event industry I sometimes wouldn't come home from work until somewhere between midnight and 2:00am. So waking up at 6:00am the next day would mean everyone who had to deal with me the next day getting a watered down version of myself, no matter how many cups of coffee I guzzled down. Falling asleep is a whole other beast because entrepreneurs never stop thinking about what else they could be doing and how they can be doing it better. Personally, I find chamomile tea relaxes my mind and puts me into dreamland almost instantly. Also, exercising is important to getting your body to be able to rest as well as your mind. to often exercise is associated with pain but if you find something you enjoy doing like tennis, or hiking, then you won't even realize you're working out!

Make Obtainable Goals

While your overall goal should be high, your weekly goals should be obtainable. For instance, if your main goal is to have a highly successful event planning business that is your only source of income, some obtainable goals would be to sign up for two  wedding shows this month, gain  50 new twitter followers, and attend one networking event that week. I suggest making a map of your upcoming week on Sunday and following it as you go. Write a detailed to-do list for each day and include how long you want to spend doing each task.  Perhaps you want to grow your Instagram followers so  you put on your map to post three times that week, and spend X amount of hours liking, commenting, and following other accounts. If you break down your goal into smaller chucks, it doesn't seem so lofty!

Get Inspired

Ok so  it possible you're setting you're weekly goals and getting enough sleep but  finding it hard to find the right things to post on social media, ideas for your clients, or what to write in your next blog post.  Sometimes, it's hard to look at your computer screen and feel inspired. It's like there's a little voice in the back of your head that's screaming "do something interesting, NOW NOW NOW!" Which often times makes us want to power off the laptop and crawl into bed for another hour.
When that ugly monster gets in my mind there's a few things I do to vanquish it. The first is go for a walk. I talked about earlier how exercise is good for helping you get to sleep and it's also good to spark creativity. Often we need a break from all the technology we're consumed by and to get some fresh air. Personally, I've had some of my best ideas come to me while mindless wondering around the neighborhood. Another way to spark creativity is to brainstorm. It's better when you have a co-worker or pal to brainstorm with because, as they say, two minds are better than one. Of course, that isn't always a possibility but it is possible to brainstorm by yourself. Give yourself a topic such as "new product idea for 2017" and write in stream of consciousness. Don't think, just write. You'll be surprised what ideas you didn’t know you had! If you are brainstorming with someone else, one important thing to remember is to take a page out of a comedians book and say "yes, and..." even if an idea is farfetched, odd, or illegal, you can take those bizarre ideas and turn them into something useful.

Thanks for reading this post, I hope you enjoyed it and it made you inspired to reach your goals! Here's to wishing 2017 is your best one yet!