Implementing Goals

by Jill
(Palatine, IL)

I know it is important to have realistic goals. Here is my problem. I can create reasonable goals, but I do not complete nor implement them. For example, I had a goal of decluttering 4x a week by spending 1 minute in each of the rooms in my house (kitchen, living room, 2 bathrooms, bedroom.) I have a very small townhouse.

I did not complete this goal. Maybe it is laziness, but I just don't do it. I've had the goal of decluttering my bedroom for 2 years now. I cannot even see the carpet in my room, nor sleep in there. Most of my clutter is contained in that room, thankfully.

Ideas? Help!

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Implementing Goals

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Jan 02, 2009
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The Key to Implementing Goals NEW
by: Tracy

First, you are not alone. So many of us suffer because we cannot complete the goals we set for ourselves. This makes us feel like failures. When we feel like failures we lose all of our motivation and when that happens we throw in the towel. It is a vicious cycle.

You said that you feel your goals are reasonable, yet you do not complete them. If that is the case, your goals are not truly reasonable.

We have to be ruthlessly honest with ourselves when it comes to setting goals. While 1 minute, 4 times per week may seem reasonable, if you are not doing it, it is not reasonable for you. Perhaps you can try 1 minute, 1 time per week and build up from there.

As far as decluttering your bedroom, that is always a great goal, but decluttering an entire bedroom is a huge accomplishment! You need to break that goal down into the smallest baby steps you can.

Start with one goal per week. Perhaps in your first week you can declutter one shelf of a bookcase. Continue doing one shelf per week until the entire bookcase has been decluttered.

Next, maybe move on to one dresser drawer per week. If you have boxes of stuff in your bedroom, do one box at a time.

Working toward your goals this way will take a lot longer, but changing your habits has to be a very slow, deliberate thing or you will not stick with it.

Think of it in terms of a snowball. You start out with something the size of a golf ball. As you roll it and roll it, it gets bigger and bigger. If you send it rolling down a hill the momentum it picks up makes it go faster and faster and grow bigger more quickly.

When you set out to accomplish a goal you have to start with something very small. The pride of accomplishment that you feel when you complete that very small, but very meaningful task, is what will build the momentum you need to move on to bigger and bigger tasks and accomplish your goals over a shorter period of time.

So do one thing...even if you pick up one piece of trash and throw it away, and take a moment to feel proud of yourself for removing that one small piece of trash from your life. Chances are that you will feel so good you will want to pick up another piece of trash, and so on.

Be honest with yourself. Start small. Stick with it.

Best of luck. I know you can do this!

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