If I were to ask you what you would like to accomplish in 2020, what would your answer be? Maybe you would like to read more books, lose more weight, save more money or pay down more debt. Maybe you would like to spend more time with family or less time at work. Maybe you’d like to learn a new skill like cooking, skiing or painting. Whatever you resolve to accomplish in 2020, I want to encourage you to take two steps towards accomplishing them and give you a few tips to help you make 2020 different than all the years before it.
Two Steps Towards Accomplishing Your Goals
The first step I would encourage you with in accomplishing your goals is to pause and reflect on 2019. Odds are this year has brought you many twists and turns, shocks and surprises and more ups and downs than a Six Flags rollercoaster. That tends to happen in life, so we would be wise to expect it to happen in 2020. This year will bring you happiness and sadness, losses and gains, disappointments and surprises. Expect it. But resolve that 2020 will be different in one specific way: You will accomplish what you intend to accomplish. You will take a chance, you will be bold, you will attempt the impossible and you will accomplish the unthinkable.
The second step I would encourage you in accomplishing your goals is to create a system. Don’t be content to simply have a goal. Write down your goal and then write down how you will accomplish your goal. This step is vital if you wish to achieve anything in life. You should focus far more on the habits that help you achieve your goal than the goal itself. Habits are what create outcomes, not goals. For example, if you have a goal to lose weight, write out how much weight you want to lose followed by your plan to help you lose that weight. Your goal and your system should be paired together, but your system should be the engine that drives your goal. Here’s an example:
Goal: This year I want to exercise more
System: I will accomplish this by going to the gym or exercising at home three days each week for at least 30 minutes each time. I will track this by using a fitness tracking app on my phone.
The example above is specific (exercise more) but broad (not limited to one type of exercise or one place of exercise or a specific day). You want your goals to be specific enough that they can be accomplished, but broad enough that your system has flexibility.
A Few Tips to Help You Accomplish Your Goals
Tip One: Track your progress.
Once you have your goal and system in place, find a way to track your progress. I try to use my smart phone as much as possible for things like weight loss, exercise, and family time. I use an old-fashioned paper and pencil for tracking things like the books I read, but you could use the Goodreads app on your smartphone too. It doesn’t matter how you track it or what you track it with, it only matters that you track your progress and celebrate victories along the way.
Tip Two: Habitualize your system.
Don’t just assume that because you have a goal and a system that it will happen. You have to be intentional, especially when attempting to incorporate a new habit into your life. Habits are created intentionally.
Tip Three: Share Your Goals
Accountability is huge. If you are comfortable enough sharing your goals with an accountability partner, you should. Especially if you have failed at the same goal year after year. Share your goals and create and create a reward. For example, let’s say this year you have a goal of losing 20lbs in 2020. Share this with a friend and ask him or her to hold you accountable. If they have the same goal, create a competition and choose an award for the winner. Make it fun and push yourself and be held accountable.
Tip Four: Pray Your Goals
Tell God what you want to accomplish in 2020. Ask Him to help you and ask him to guide you through the journey. Commit your goals to Him. And when you fail (and you will have days of failure), ask him to help you get back on track.
By taking these steps and applying these tips to your goals, you can ensure that 2020 will be a year of achievement and accomplishment. You will be shocked at how much you can accomplish once the ball begins rolling. You will be shocked at how the goal you’ve had for years can finally be accomplished by writing your goal down, writing your system down, habitualizing your system, tracking your progress, finding accountability and seeking the help of the Lord. May 2020 be the year that you finally achieve that goal you’ve long desired to achieve!