Month: June 2017

Setting SMART Goals

In my previous post Worthy of More I mentioned the acronym SMART goals. I know some of you may have been thinking what is a SMART goal. Well let me explain. SMART stands for: Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic and Time Based.

Specific– When creating goals you always want to be as specific as possible. Be very clear about the goal at hand. If you ask for something in general what you receive will be general, so be specific. For example if you send someone to the store to get you a candy bar and they ask you what kind of candy bar, and you say just a candy bar & you receive a candy bar you don’t particularly care for you can’t be upset because you weren’t specific. If you send someone to the store and tell them go bring you back some purple washcloths then your chances of getting the washcloths that you asked for is very likely. So be specific when creating your goals.

Measurable-The goal must be measurable. This will help you in seeing the progression of your goal. Basically you will need to know if you are on track to achieving your goal. Depending on the goal there are various ways to measure your goal. If you are trying to lose weight a good way to measure is by the pounds or inches you lose in a particular amount of time. Maybe you are trying to get out of debt you can measure by how much debt is paid off in a specific amount of time. Which ever way you choose to measure, asking how questions are helpful. Questions such as how many, how much or how long?

Attainable-It must be achievable. For example to say you want to lost 50lbs in 3 months is not an attainable goal nor would it be healthy to attempt. A goal to lose 10lbs in 2 months seems more attainable. Choose goals that you have a chance to succeed in. When I say that I don’t mean choose easy goals but maybe the goal you desire may just take a bit longer but it’s still achievable. Like the example of losing 50 lbs, you can still set the goal to lose 50lbs just give yourself more time to do it in. Also in making sure it’s attainable consider the amount of time you would need available each day or week to move toward achieving the goal. Make sure you have the time available to make this goal happen and if you don’t right now look for gaps in your schedule where you may be able to make time for it.

Realistic– Of course when setting goals the object is to succeed, so setting goals that are realistic are key. It needs to be realistic as far as time, money and effort. If you know you only make $10/hour don’t set a goal to own a BMW in one year or get out of $20,000 in debt in 3 months. Be realistic as you can with your goals.

Time Based– When setting a goal, it needs to have a deadline. You need to realistically give yourself a time when you want to achieve the goal. Make sure when setting a deadline that you don’t give yourself too less or too much time to complete the goal. There are times when the deadline may come sooner because you may have been ahead on your tasks. There are also times when your deadline needs to be pushed back due to unexpected circumstances, but that’s ok. Just keep working toward the goal for the new deadline.

Having SMART goals is key to achieving your goals but there is also one more key component to achieving goals, and that’s writing them down. It has been said that when goals are written they are more likely to be achieved. When writing goals they should be written in present tense and they should include your deadline. For example: I have lost 30lbs by February 1, 2018 or I have completed my book by December 31, 2017.

I want you to know that the sky is the limit! Now let’s go set some goals to achieve!

Remember you are a Worthy Woman!

Worthy of More

I was having a conversation with someone about something and I made a statement at that time I thought was true. Then a little later I started listening to a podcast and it made me realize that the statement I had made wasn’t true at all. I realized that all this time I felt like I was doing something for the benefit of a specific person, when all the while I was doing it out of fear.

After really reflecting I realized that not only do I need to make a change, but I am worthy of so much more. What is it in your life that you continue to put up with out of fear? What is it in your life that you know requires a change because you are worthy of so much more? Though the fear of the unknown can be scary I believe regret and stagnation will far outweigh that. So what are you going to do about it? In my case I know what I’m going to do about it, I’m going to move forward to make the change. What about you? What is it that you need to change? Is it your place of residence, your job, a relationship?  Regardless of what it is you have it in you to make the change.

So what are the steps for change you might ask. Here are the steps for change:

1. Decide – first step to change is to    decide. Decide what it is that you want and stick to your decision. I know sometimes for me I can make a decision to do something an before I know it I’ve talked myself out of it for whatever reason. If you are like me we have to learn to be confident in our decisions. Yes sometimes the decisions we make are difficult ones that may require us to step out of our comfort zone, but that definitely a good thing because as this quote that I came across states “You never change your life until you step out of your comfort zone; change begins at the end of your comfort zone” -Roy T. Bennett

2. Create a plan- This is a key step as well. I mean once you decide you have to come up with the tasks that will be necessary to accomplish whatever you decided. Write down the tasks and break them into small goals that you can work toward daily to reach the overall goal. When creating these be sure to write them down and make sure they are SMART(Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, Time Based). I will talk more about this in a future post.

3. Get some accountability– I can not tell you enough about the importance of accountability. I’ve known for a while about accountability, but last year I really made it a priority. That’s the reason I was able to relaunch this blog and not talk myself out of it, by having people to truly hold me accountable. I don’t know what it is but it does something for you when you know someone is expecting you to accomplish something and will make sure you do it. It eliminates that habit of putting it off until “tomorrow”(which usually never comes if no one is holding you accountable). It forces you to get rid of the excuses and produce results. So be sure to get a reliable and trustworthy person to hold you accountable on what you have decided and making sure you reach your goals.

4. Stay laser focus– Focus almost seems like a skill these days with all the technology and social media outlets we have access to. When you make a decision to do something, as I have talked about in a previous post most of the time opposition will come to distract you. You must remain focused on the goal at hand. I remember I had a boss who it seemed like anytime she would make an important business or life decision she would face unbelievable opposition. If work related I would come to her with the different problems that we faced but it seemed that she was nonchalant about it many times. Well it was because she had recognized that opposition came every time she made a decision so she had to decide to be laser focused and work on the task at hand. Every time she did that she achieved her goals in the desired time frame and sometimes sooner. Though I know in life there are times when many things are going on around you that seems important, but you have to decide if you’re going to allow that distraction to get you off  focus or remain laser focused and achieve the goal you desire. Let me warn you sometimes you criticism for being laser focused but don’t worry, that’s just a distraction too. Keep looking straight ahead and you will have reached your goal before you know it.

You and I are worthy of so much more than what we have been settling for. You have it in you to make the decision and follow through on the decision to the end.

Remember you are a Worthy Woman!

Say Yes to Success

“Success is determined by the things we say no to.” -Unknown

What have you been saying no to or should be saying no to? Saying no to distractions and saying no to what doesn’t line up with our goals. Which can sometimes mean saying no to your friends, family and yourself. So you set a goal to write a book and you planned to write daily from 5-6 a.m. and your kids ironically start waking up at the same time.  Do you just accept the fact that you aren’t going to be able to work on your writing when the kids wake up earlier? I say the answer to that is no. You may have to wake up at 4 instead of 5 or go to bed at 10 instead of 9 so you can get your writing done.  Basically making the adjustment to still get that small win each day, which in my opinion is a form of saying no to distractions. As we all know they will come to see if they can get you off your focus.  It’s as if a force comes to see how bad you want that goal. Are you going to allow it to stop you in your tracks or are you going to fight for what you want? Fighting may require gaining more focus, walking up earlier, going to bed later and oh yes, sometimes just simply saying no.

I know saying no can be difficult but think about it like this. When you say yes to something you should be saying no to what will it cost you? Will it cost you the time needed to getting your win for the day? If so is it worth the sacrifice of you not meeting your goal? I mean some things you just won’t be able to avoid and that’s fine but these avoidable situations shouldn’t be daily. If they are, you may need to step back and assess why that is. I remember a friend of mine telling a story about how a friend of hers would always call her on the same day every week needing a ride to pick her daughter up, but she wouldn’t tell her in advance she would call right when she needed to pick up her daughter. For a few weeks my friend would drop what she was working on and go take her friend to pick up her daughter, but when she realized the pattern she stopped. It was hard for her to leave her friend without a ride like that and say no, but her continuing to say yes was causing her to not get the things done that she needed to get done for the day. Basically she was saying yes to her friend’s so called emergency and saying no to the goals she was trying to accomplish for the day. She learned a valuable lesson during those weeks which was “don’t make someone else’s emergency your emergency”

If we are going to ever get to accomplish our goals we are going to have to be unapologetically focused. In doing so there will be times when you not only have to say no to your friends but to yourself as well. Telling yourself no to that chocolate cake if you know you’re trying to lose 20 pounds or no to lunch with the girls if all it will consist of is the latest gossip and talk of the latest T.V.  show.  Think about it if you say yes when you really should be saying no, something will suffer and success may be on the line. The way we become successful is by achieving small goals which will ultimately lead to the big goal. There may even be things that you are asked to do that you’d like to do but shouldn’t do. For example if your goal is to be a fashion photographer and you are mastering your craft in that area. It might not be a good idea to accept an offer that the local newspaper offered you doing landscaping photography. Though it may be good, it may not be good for you. Though it seems good these type of things come as a distraction, as well to again see how bad and how focused are you on reaching your goal.

So the next time you have to decide yes or no to something be sure, if you answer yes that the task lines up with your goal. As the quote I stated at the beginning of this post said ” Success is determined by the things we say no to.”  If a no is in order I know you have it in you to say it with confidence knowing that you just said yes to your goal and ultimately your success. Now go out there and succeed.

Remember You Are A Worthy Woman!