Reviewing your goals daily. Why do you need it and how to do it

Has this ever happened to you? When you simply forget about your objectives… Today we will show you how with the help of a simple act of yours to avoid this in the future. It is easy and quick but it will make all the difference between reaching your goals and failing to do so.

A matter of paying attention

It was in the early 70s of the last century, in the middle of the oil crisis, when governments across Western Europe looked for a way to lower their energy use. Dutch researchers noticed a significant (around 30%) difference in electricity consumption between some households from an Amsterdam suburb. It turned out it was simply a question of a minor “interior design” variation.

In high consumption houses, electricity meter boxes were located in the basement, while in the lower ones they were in the hallway. Apparently, some owners were more aware of how much they were using than others. This, of course, got reflected in their energy bills.

The readily visible up-to-date readings of the meters were the reason behind the difference in behavior.[1]

Monitor and then act accordingly

Well, knowing your current account balance plays a big role in how much money you spend, right? Or that just hopping on the scales to check your weight is as good as anything that would force you to realize that you have to make it to the gym today.

These and many other examples from our everyday life boil up to this conclusion:

Your brain is constantly processing what’s in front of your eyes and this makes it easier for you to act on it.

Well, it only makes a perfect sense to take full advantage of this, right?

The daily review

The “GoalBuddy” system has this one basic rule: you have to review the weekly steps every single day.

The logic here is straightforward. If you keep a close eye on your three 90-day goals, then your chances for their completion go up dramatically!

Otherwise…

… you will wake up on Friday to discover that the week is almost over and you haven’t done much.

We know this very well from our own experience. When we fail to exercise effective control over ourselves we don’t do very well on our goals either.

Why is it so?

The small weekly steps are extremely important. And yet they are not of the urgent type.

We tend to leave them in the back burner especially when letting some every day but more pressing issues take precedence.

This is even more so when we haven’t built the habit for them and therefore they are more likely to slip through the cracks in our otherwise very busy mind. These steps though are key for our success.

The weekly review

In the book “Think and Grow Rich“,  says, “Whatever the mind of man can conceive and believe, it can achieve.”

This is also true for the vision as well as for today’s topic – the weekly steps. By bombarding the subconscious with what needs to be done you will start noticing many more ways and opportunities to do so.

Still, though, we can’t accomplish anything without acting!

A dream is just that until you visualize it as an action of a weekly step. That’s the line which once crossed couples the dream with a promise to yourself to act upon it.

If the important stuff is non-stop on your mind then you will always be able to make the time for it.

How is this done

It’s very simple and not lengthy at all.

Write down only the three small weekly steps. You can put these on your phone, notebook, or anything else. It’s good to have it fit on one page (the display or piece of paper) so that you have a quick and only one go at it.

And you can read it every morning. You can also do as Ivan and set up a reminder which he worded as “Read the weekly steps! 10 seconds!”

And if you have this one extra minute

You may also rewrite it.

The reason for this is that the extra effort to worded it better only makes you more focused on them.

It should be short

But let’s not get carried away and forget that the idea here is to make all of this as much of a routine as possible.

Therefore, limit the whole exercise within just a couple of minutes. Otherwise, it will become too much of a burden and it’s likely that you drop it all together at some point.

“The early bird catches the worm”

Morning is the best time. As research shows our brain is at its best in the first few hours after we wake up. This period should be reserved exclusively for things that matter most to you.

First of all, you can start the day with a clean slate as you should be doing instead of being overwhelmed with the many more other responsibilities and challenges that life always readies for us.

Later on, you would be able to get everything under control and thus get the opportunity to do your weekly steps. Plus, there is one more upside here.

You can plan and prioritize better before the rush of the day has taken over and your attention span has been much shortened by your responsibilities at home and work.

Perhaps, just like us, you will learn that you can even manage to do some meaningful work towards any of your objectives.

Morning rituals

You can do something extra and follow the example of Niki who integrated the review of the weekly steps with the visualization method. His day begins with his imagining completing them and then he fast-forwards himself to the moment when the dream comes true.

This process of getting in sync with the vision opens the door for yet another positive side-effect. In the course of the day, he will be running into more and unsuspected till now new instances of how to get closer to his objectives.

And why not in the evening too!

While the purpose here is to get ready for a day of action and success, bedtime is another alternative for the review process.

You can try to “prime” the brain for the next day. Then you may even start waking up with some ready-made ideas and solutions.

Or, as Zig Ziglar[3] worded it very well, “If you want to reach a goal, you must ‘see the reaching’ in your own mind.”

If it were so simple, how come few can boast with any good results in that!

This may come as a shock to you, but …

The main reason people are giving up on their goals is simply that they easily forget!

So, turning the review into your second nature is the key. The following two will make it happen for you:

1. Build the habit of reading your weekly steps first thing in the morning. It may become your 90-day goal. It’s sure worth it.
2. Use an app to alert you for it.

And that’s pretty much all!

One good week…

… is made of seven good days. And one way to start your day on a good footing is to do your review in the morning.

And one more piece of Zig Ziglar’s wisdom: “People often say that motivation doesn’t last. Well, neither does bathing – that’s why we recommend it daily.“

Review your goals and you will most certainly enjoy success!

 

[1]     The quote is from the book “Atomic Habits: Tiny Changes, Remarkable Results” by James Clear.

[2] The American self-help author Oliver Napoleon Hill is widely renowned for his book “Think and Grow Rich” (1937) which ranks among the 10 best-selling books of all time in this genre.

[3]     Hilary Hinton “Zig” Ziglar (1926 – 2012) is an American author and motivational speaker with millions of follower all over the world.