New month New goal, that has most times been the mantra for most of us every new month. We begin the new month with an elevated spirit to achieve something new or to tick off an item from our bucket list.
However, as days become weeks, our high spirit is dampened. We are less motivated to work towards our goals. The mantra ‘New month new goal’ is slowly forgotten.
It becomes hard to keep an elevated spirit and set new goals for the next month if you weren’t able to achieve last month’s goals. You might try to reassure yourself that the new month will be different from the previous ones.
But applying the same method from the previous month would yield little or no result.
Setting new month goals requires deep thinking and planning.
You need to reflect on the past month and ask yourself some introspective questions. The answers to these questions will help you plan better.
Besides lack of proper planning, there are some underlying conditions for not achieving monthly goals.
Here are five reasons for not achieving monthly goals:
1. Setting vague goals
One common mistake in setting a monthly goal is setting unspecific goals. If your goals are vague, it tends to be hard to achieve.
An instance of a vague goal is setting ‘personal development’ as a new month goal. In this case, there is no specific area of personal development that is being targeted.
- Is it growing good habits?
- Or having a positive mindset in situations?
- Or operating from a place of love? Or anger management?
- And the list goes on.
Thus, you need to narrow down your goals to a specific target. Your goal should be precise and not expansive.
For someone who is working on developing himself, you can narrow down your goal to either one or two areas of personal development.
By doing this, you won’t find yourself struggling to achieve so much within a month and your goals will be more achievable.
2. Not prioritizing goals
Prioritizing is often disregarded in the New month New goals strategy. That is why trivial goals are set at the top of the ladder.
Prioritizing your goals helps you not to become overwhelmed by your goals. This is because you are not handling too many things at once.
For instance, you shouldn’t have a long-term goal such as having a multinational company as a priority for a monthly goal. You can start by reading a specific number of books about owners of multinational companies.
Obviously, building a multinational company will take years of consistent hard work.
While setting your monthly goals, consider positioning goals that are important and achievable within the given time frame at the top of the ladder.
3. Dismissing valuable resources
Have you ever wondered why after being so engaged all through the month, you were able to achieve just 1% of your set goals?
Well, you probably dismissed some valuable resources that could assist you in achieving your goals.
These valuable resources include a planner, journal, vision board, goal-related books, and sticky notes.
All these might be too familiar and can easily seem unimportant but they are what you need to make your mantra ‘new month new goals’ a reality.
Aside from your personal drive to achieve the goals, you need an external motivator and these resources close that gap.
A Planner helps you track and plan your activities. With a daily planner in hand, you can’t be found guessing what to do next.
All your activities are already pre-planned alongside their allowed time.
A journal assists you in recording your goals, thoughts, or new ideas. Writing your goal in a journal serves as a reminder of what you what to achieve and also tracks your progress.
Vision boards are visual representations or images of your goals. A vision board not only motivates you to achieve your monthly goals but also gives you time for introspection.
Reading goal-related books broadens your vision toward your goal. You will learn from the mistakes of those ahead of you and also regain faith through their experiences.
It’s reassuring to know that you are not alone and someone had once been where you are.
Sticky note serves as motivational reminders. It can be placed anywhere as long as you can view them repeatedly. Sticky notes keep your goals alive because they are always in your face.
4. Setting unrealistic goals
Unrealistic goals are goals that don’t address basic things like the goal challenges and its time frame.
- What are the challenges surrounding this goal?
- Are there any solutions or ways to adapt to these challenges?
- Can this goal be achieved within a month?
- Are there going to be situations outside my control?
- How do I react to such situations?
These are questions you should ask yourself when setting your ‘New Month New Goals’ plan.
The importance of doing this exercise can’t be overemphasized. Knowing the answers to these questions will prepare you for the challenges associated with your set goals.
Your new month goals should certainly have a specific time frame. Having a time frame assists you to break down your goals into bits and allocate a deadline for achieving them.
If your set goal doesn’t address the challenges, motivation, and time frame then the chances of achieving the goal are minimal.
5. Not measuring your progress
Do you measure your progress periodically while working on your goal? Or do you wait till month end before you check your progress?
If you do the latter then you need to change your ways. You can start by setting milestones.
Wrike defines milestones as a specific point within a project’s life cycle used to measure the progress toward the ultimate goal.
In other words, milestones are those little accomplishments that you can use to measure your progress towards your set goals.
For instance, If you have a set goal of reading four books monthly, you can set your milestone to be reading one book per week.
Eventually, if at the end of the week you can accomplish that, you will also be able to achieve your monthly goal.
Another thing to consider is what tool do you use to measure your progress? Do you use your planner or an accountability partner?
Whichever way you choose to measure your progress, ensure it’s effective and unbiased.
Lastly, do you track your progress weekly or daily? It is advised to track your progress every 2-3 days depending on your goal.
This is because it’s easier to correct a three days error than a one-week error.
In conclusion, as you begin a new month chanting the mantra, New month, New goals, don’t forget to take the necessary actions needed to smash those goals.
Cheers to you smashing your monthly goals!