I don’t know about you BUT it is my own 6th week of working from home with limited movement out of the house. While some of us have full time or day jobs we still do from home, some of us do not. For those of us who work, many of us have always desired to find time to work on some of our personal goals. For those of us who currently do not work, some of us have the will to do something new but do not know how and some of us can’t just figure out when to start. Today, I am writing to share some of the tips I am currently using in this lockdown/stay at home season. Yes, this lockdown is a season and I join every “believer” from different parts of the world to say, “this too shall pass”. Let’s check out these tips….
Before I turned 40, I spent some time by myself to pray and meditate about what I truly want going forward. As I sat still, I wrote down a few things that came to mind. Here are a few:
Fit for purpose: To be strong physically, emotionally, mentally and spiritually to be able to achieve my WHY – the reason why I am here on earth which is to HELP PEOPLE!
Thrive: To be the best I can be by doing things I would never dare to do.
Give: To give of myself to the world – my resources, including money, skills, experiences and time.
Kind: To be kind to people no matter who they are.
Save: To maximise my resources – to save more, to make my money work for me and to earn more using my skills, strengths and abilities.
Gratitude: To give thanks in everything. To see good in all circumstances.
I wrote all these key words down and placed them on my vision board. Now, I am mindful to work on those things everyday, even if it means going out of my way or spending a minimum time on achieving those things.
Here Are a Few Ways You Can Achieve Some Goals in this Lockdown Period
1.What is the Goal You Want to Achieve?
The first step in achieving anything is to have an idea at least of what you want to achieve. For example, I mentioned above that I want to be fit for purpose. That is a goal. At this step, it is just vague until I do something about it.
2. Write the Goal Down & Plan
This is another important step in achieving anything. Get yourself a pen and writing pad. If you have one you can dedicate to goal setting, good, if not, an exercise book / copy / notepad would be ideal for this. So, let’s give an example here….
I will go back to point one above – to be fit for purpose. In this case, I have written this goal down and then went ahead to plan on how I would achieve it which is to use my work travel time to exercise. So, I used to travel from 6.30am – 7.00am, now I don’t because I am working from home. This means, I encourage myself to work out from 6.00 – 6.45am. Have a shower afterwards and sit at my desk at 7.30am. Before workout, I have a very light breakfast, lay out my clothes, tidy up my space and then workout. You should try to plan and then follow through – the later is the hardest bit but doable. You can do it. I also plan my day the night before everyday – have a list of to do. Try it, it helps your day run smoothly.
Note that the ideal for goal setting is to have a mental or visual picture for what you hope to achieve whether daily, weekly or monthly. Make your goals SMART:
Specific: Clear, well defined, unambiguous. E.g: I work out from 6 – 6:45am daily etc.
Measurable: How do you quantify you are achieving your goals. For example, to be able to run 5km after continuos work out for 3 weeks etc.
Achievable: Not impossible to achieve. For example, running 5k on my first day of work out may not be attainable.
Realistic: Am I able to achieve this goal at the set time? Make your goals not overwhelming. This may cause you to give up.
Time bound: Set a time for your goal and by when to achieve them. For example, to be able to run 5K 3 weeks from my initial workout etc.
3. Embrace Flexibility
One of the qualities I personally have is that I love to push myself. If I set out to achieve a goal and I fail, I tend to beat myself up. As I have gotten older, I have now learnt that failure is a good thing to some extent because you have something to look forward to achieving.
So, we have gone ahead to set those goals. If it happens that on one day you can’t follow through on that goal, it is not the end of the world. Go on and do other things by keeping your day going. However, don’t make not achieving your goals daily a habit, push or encourage yourself to do it.
For example, my workout time currently is 6.00am – 6.45am, if it happens that I can’t work out for one reason or the other on a day, I make time to do so either at my launch time or later at night. If I am not able to, I go back to my routine the next day. You see, not doing one thing in a day is not that deep, do it the next day but be mindful not to make not achieving your goals a habit.
5. Stick With a Routine
You know I mentioned for your to embrace flexibility BUT it is equally important to stick to a routine. Having a routine helps you also to identify what to do and when to do them. It makes working on your goal very easy for you because you have a set time for working on your goal. So, be flexible BUT have a routine. Currently, I only use my travel time for workout on Mondays – Friday, that is having a routine. I have to say that I am in a great shape.
4. Follow Through
Yes, it is important to embrace flexibility, it is great for your mental health but following through is equally very important. So, imagine finishing that online course you have always wanted to do, how would it make you feel? OR Imagine getting in shape, how would it make you feel? The joy of following through is that you propel yourself from where you are to that place you have always wanted to be. It feels fulfilling, so follow through.
5. Celebrate Your Wins
Gratitude is giving thanks in all things. You see, research has shown that those who give thanks boosts their mental health continuously. One of the ways to remain grateful or remain in the state of gratitude is to celebrate your wins. As you can see, I have shared some of my goals with you. Here is what I do, everyday I get to work out, I end up saying, “I am so grateful I could workout today”, this makes me feel good. On days when I miss my goal, I still go ahead to say, “I am grateful I am alive today, even though I couldn’t work out”. You see, the ideal for celebrating your wins is to see the reason to give thanks in everything. In doing so, you remain positive, if not all the time, most times. You may not think it that way but waking up daily is a big WIN! So, give thanks for life, even if you miss your target at any point 
I was wearing: Edit Dress | Christian Louboutin Cornielle 100mm Pumps. Full Detail and styling tips HERE
You see your intention should not always be to be perfect, it is to be the best you can be at daily. An accumulation of being the best you can be daily is what brings about a fulfilling and purposeful life.
I want to thank you very much for stopping by today and for reading. I do hope that you are inspired. Wishing you a lovely week ahead. Please don’t forget to leave me your comments below, I love reading from you.
Lots of Love,
MJ
