3 Things that will help you SET and ACHIEVE your goals in 2014 and beyond...
Okay so it's that time of year again.  I don't know why people use this time to set personal goals but I'll leave that for another blog post.  For me 2013 was a year of taking chances and dreaming big.  I'm proud to say that 2013 was the year I broke out of my own self constructed 'box' and set out to achieve my dreams.  

I've learned a lot about setting goals and I want to share that with you so maybe you'll achieve some or all of the goals you are about to set.  It's my hope that by the end of this article you'll be inspired enough to dream big, set goals always and not allow a calendar that you didn't invent to guide your own goals.

1.  Set small goals that will lead to big changes
I want to lose weight, I will workout for an hour a day, I want to save more money and the list goes on and on.  I've discovered that most peoples dreams are serious life changing events.  Be honest with yourself, if you haven't been able to do these things thus far in your life it's unlikely you'll be able to do them any better on January 1st.

The key to making large changes is setting BOTH small and large goals.  Losing weight and working out for an hour a day are great goals but if you can't even workout for 15 minutes a day then you'll never make the full hour (or at least for any significant amount of time that will make a lasting change).  Instead of charging the gym on January 1st (or Jan 2nd if you had too much fun) set a goal of 15 minutes a day, 6 days a week for a month.  The consistency will be better for you, less of a change, and you'll be forming a habit instead of fighting old ones.  Keep adding 15 minutes each month until you get to your goal.

Why did you make a New Years resolution?  To make life changes right?  My point is this, who cares if you reach that goal in January or April?  The goal is to reach that goal an that's it.  By making small changes you increase your success rate exponentially and you don't have to set the same goal the next year.        

2.  Flexible planning
I see this same post on Facebook every year where every week for a year you're supposed to make a $1 incremental deposit into your saving account and by the end of the year you'll have saved approximately $1,300.  While this is a great goal I see a major flaw with this idea and that is that 'life happens.'  Sure January and February are easy but as the year goes on the deposits get larger and more difficult.  Do you really want to be making your largest deposits during the holiday season?

Why not print out the sheet and deposit as much as you can when you can and just check off the amounts as you make them?  This will alleviate stress around holidays, birthdays, anniversaries and other life events both planned and unplanned.  Personally I get some money around Christmas time so I should knock off the more expensive deposits then.

My point is that planning is important but flexible planning will last you longer and ultimately lead you to greater achievements.  The journey may be more important than the destination but it's got to be YOUR journey.  Keep your eye on the big picture and what works for YOU and YOUR life.    

3.  Don't be afraid to fail or have set backs
I started a 90 day workout program called P90X about 3 years ago.  I did it for about 2 weeks pretty religiously until I missed a day and then I quit for about a week.  I picked it back up and completed about 30 days until my grandmother passed away and I had to leave town for the funeral.  When I got back I had lost my momentum and couldn't find the motivation to get back into it.  A month or two later I decided enough was enough and started again this time for almost the full 90 days and quit yet again a week or two before I'd be done.  I forget the reason I quit now but I do remember how disappointed in myself I was.

Then it occurred to me, why am I doing this?  Am I doing this to complete a 90 day program or am I doing it to improve my health?  I had let the challenge of completing the program get in the way of the real picture. Now I workout and eat healthy for one reason and that's to live longer and live happier.

The point is to use failures and set backs as lessons and learn from them.  If it hadn't been for me quitting so much I might have completed the 90 day program and quit for good.  Instead my failures and set backs led me to a lifelong habit.  I think John Maxwell says it best, "Failure can be your best friend or your worst enemy, the choice is yours."

Bonus.  Challenge yourself
The opposite of goal setting is true too.  If you're setting goals that you're reaching too easily or too fast then you're not challenging yourself enough.  Don't be afraid to dream even bigger.

Conclusion
I don't know what your goals are for 2014 but don't fall into the trap of setting goals and not achieving them. Every year it seems like the same thing.  People make these life changing goals and quit within a matter of weeks.

Set yourself up with success by making short term and long term goals.  Make you short term goals attainable with little effort and allow those short term goals to add up to something great.  Allow your goals to be flexible and look at failure and set backs as a little friend giving you advice, and take it.  Most of all allow yourself to dream, dream big and never stop dreaming!