If you are like many people you set new goals for the year.  And, if you are like the majority of people the optimistic feelings of hope and excitement that come with goal setting may already be a distant memory.  Not to worry.  You may have just hit a bump in the road and you can easily get back on track. 

But first, read over these 5 things that may be getting in your way:

You don’t really want to change.  Before embarking on any effort to change, make sure you have the right motivation.  Do you really want to change or are you doing it because you think you should?  (listen to the conversation Alyssa and I had about this here)  Trying to force yourself into doing something you don’t really care about is just a recipe for stress and shame and no one has time for that.  My advice:  either do it or don’t do it but stop thinking about it.  You will feel so much freer if you just admit that you don’t want to change and move on.

You haven’t prioritized.  You probably want all kinds of things in the areas of relationships, finance, health, etc but you have to start somewhere.  Focused, intentional actions are the key to getting what you want.  Trying to everything at once just won’t work.  Select a few priorities to work on at a time.  You’ll be amazed at how much progress you can make when you are purposeful about making priorities.

You’re trying to change everything overnight.  Be realistic and go into your goals with the knowledge that change does not happen overnight.  Change occurs as the result of many steps forward and just as many, if not more, backward.  Go into any endeavor with the mindset that it is a learning experience.  Be okay with making mistakes.  Just pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and start again.

You haven’t created new habits.  It takes time to create new habits.  Some say 21 days, some say 30 days.  The point is it takes more than 1 day or 9 days.  One step at a time repeated over and over will get you where you want to be.  What one thing can you commit to doing each day for the next 30 days?

You know what you should be doing but you’re not doing it.  So you’ve prioritized, you know you need to create new habits, you know you really want it, but you can’t get started.  This is really common and nothing to beat yourself up about.  In fact, I had to schedule a half hour to sit down to write this because I’ve been thinking about it for days and haven’t done it, despite the fact that I really want to!  Some tips for dealing with procrastination:  set a timer, schedule your time, ask for support, turn off distractions, and take baby steps.

Now, if you’ve decided that you really do want to change, The How to Organize & Manage Your Time planner can you help you stay on track.  It covers prioritizing, baby-steps goal setting, time blocking, and progress checks.

Some users of this planner have started groups to help each other stay accountable and they have reported great success.  Grab a friend or two and commit to starting your own accountability group today!