Once someone called me a “tornado of great ideas who needs focus” in a business meeting. I am an idea person. I am a creative business planner. I am the person who sees the bigger picture and ties together professional threads but when it comes to my own creative professional endeavors, I’m in the eye of the storm. I’m too close to my own ideas to fully see the bigger picture, to see the game plan and strategy in play. Cue goal setting.

This year I had to work more intentionally to scale my business. I am a full-time freelance social media manager and everything for The B Word. Basically I work with myself, for myself, so self discipline is the name of the game. This year I took my goal setting to another level by creating an accountability group. We meet monthly to discuss goals and to keep each other accountable, also to discuss ideas and use each other as resources. It was an incredible experience, lesson learner and overall has been incredibly beneficial for me.

I have been very successful this year and I really think it’s due to setting goals, keeping myself accountable and prioritizing. Today I wanted to share what I learned in 2019, sometime the hard way, about crushing you goals and setting myself up for success!

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1. Write it Down

I wholeheartedly believe in the power of manifesting, we love The Secret! Your thoughts become things, period. For me, I have SO many ideas (cue Tornado), that I have always had to write lists. Call me Type A, but I have to get things out of my brain. I have to write a to-do list, I have to have a written calendar, I have to physically WRITE it down. This is the same with my goals. I like to make a list every year of big, yearly goals. This is where you can dream BIG and get specific. Dont write down, “I want to travel the world”, write “I want to travel to Bali and stay in a house over the water. I want to enjoy with my partner and eat, drink and swim everyday”. Getting specific, on paper, is where the magic happens. You had the thought, you got excited writing it, now continue moving in that direction. I also make a monthly goal list, this was something I tried in 2019. I was really good in the beginning of the year making a long list, hanging it on my mirror every month so I could see it and I sort of fell off of that, starting to keep 3 monthly goals that supported my overall goals for the year. For example, you’re writing a book, that is the big yearly goal. A strong monthly goal would be, I’m writing 30 pages by the 30th. Write it down and get SPECIFIC

2. Get Specific

Get clear on your goals. This is not “dumb down” your goals for what is “realistic” because I don’t believe in “realistic”. Throw “realistic” out the door, with the idea that you are limited by anything. You have everything inside of you to make your dreams happen and it is up to you, to design a life you love. Get specific in what you want that life to look like. “I want to be happy”, okay what does that look like. What does your day to day look like, do you work in an office? Are you making six figures? Are you traveling? Are you being creative?? Do you live in a townhouse? This is your personal game of MASH (do you remember that?!), get specific. For example, you want to have money saved by the end of the year. Get specific like, “I want $10,000 extra dollars saved by Jan 1, 2021. I will use that money to fund my family cruise to Alaska. I’m going to treat my mom and grandma”. I think of it like the holidays, if you don’t put exactly what you want on your Christmas list, people are going to be guessing and they will get you something they think you’ll want rather than EXACTLY what you want. Get specific!

3. Hold Yourself Accountable

Okay, this is some big sister talk. The only person who can want it for you..is you. You must want success over distraction. You MUST be self disciplined. What helps me really is making lists. I also know when I’m bullshitting myself. I know when I just didn’t want to do something, etc. I give myself deadlines. I give myself schedules to follow. YOU must motivate yourself. If working 30 mins a day on your goals is doable, DO that. If writing lists and you must cross one thing off the list a day, DO that. What can do to be consistent and to make sure you’re doing it. If you find yourself setting goals and never doing it..look inward. Where is the lack of accountability coming from? Do you fear success. It’s honestly a lot easier to not do anything, complain and stay within your patterns but that gets you no where near your goals and dreams.

4. Come Back to Your “WHY”

I get asked all the time, “how do you be a plus size model?” “how do you become an influencer?”and I always think these people don’t want it enough. If you have to ask, you haven’t done the research, you haven’t looked into resources, you haven’t done the work. When I feel like I’m not on task with my goals, I have to come back to why I started in the beginning. DO not start any long term goal just to make money, you will give up. You must find other reasons, to help people, you love to create, you need to share your story, you want to support your family, etc. Your “why” is the fuel to your vehicle, it will keep you going.

5. Be Flexible

Okay..I know I said be specific earlier but you must also be flexible. Life is meant to be lived and can’t exist only on a list. You have to put the goals in practice. You have to open yourself up to where you might be lead. Blogging was NEVER my end goal. I didn’t even start to make money but this career path has given me the financial capital to produce my art on a larger scale all while empowering plus people, ALL while paying my bills. I am so grateful but this came from me following my passions, being flexible and seeing a bigger picture.

I am honestly so excited for 2020! I am continuing to set my goals and intentions. I am going to continue to dream bigger and I invite you to pursue your passions as well! What helps you keep yourself accountable when setting goals?