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I’ve been writing my blog for a long time now.. Five years, in fact.. That either takes a lot of motivation to keep writing, or I’m just a crazy person who loves to tell strangers about her life. I also manage to complete almost every goal I set for myself. Maybe not right away, or in the way I expect it done, but I get it done!

Here are a few things I do that make a big difference in accomplishing my goals!

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#1. Make a Vision Board!

By surrounding yourself with the things you want, you are more likely to achieve your goals. Now of course, you don’t have to create an actual vision bored with pictures, scissors, and glue on a chunk of your wall. You can also take a picture of what you want and put that as the background of your phone, computer, tablet, etc.!
You want a new house? Find a picture of your dream house and put that as your background!
You want a new car? A new job? You want to travel? Find pictures that express that and put that as the background to your devices! Or if you really want to, slap pictures of those bad boys on your wall and have a traditional vision board like I do!

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☑️#2 Have a Check List.

Having something there that you can physically check off is always helpful, especially for us visual people (like me) who like to see progress. What is it you want? To lose weight? To save up money for something? To visit places you’ve never been before? Slap that on a list and check things off as you get it done! Not only is it satisfying to see the progress you’ve made, but it’s a good daily reminder of what you’re working towards.

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#3 Find an App That Helps You!

Whether it’s short-term goals or long-term goals, there’s an app for that! Personally, I like to use Habitica. It helps me with more short-term goals, and it turns it into a fun game!
There are loads of apps and websites out there ready to help you with your goals! All you have to do is find the right one for you!

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#4. Surround Yourself with Likeminded People!

Is your goal to start a homestead? Watch people on YouTube who are homesteading. Find people around you who homestead and makes friends with them. Find a good blog to read about someone who is homesteading.
Is your goal to buy a house? There are tons of vlogs on YouTube about buying houses, and even more educational videos about buying houses! Is your friend buying a house? Perhaps you can ask them a bunch of questions and live vicariously through them!
Is your goal to go to college? Find other people who are going to your dream college and make friends with them! Search YouTube for videos about that college and see what it’s like to go there! Are any of your friends going to college? Sit with them and work together on this goal! The more the merrier!
The whole point of this is to immerse yourself in the goals that you want. Make it something you think of every day. Surround yourself with people who can help you achieve your dreams, and who have the same goals as you! You aren’t the only one with this goal, so find people who want to accomplish it too and band together!

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#5 Give Yourself a Deadline!

A dream is just a dream, until you give it a deadline. By giving yourself a deadline, you can work backwards to make a plan for yourself. For example:
Do you want to get a new house or car? Let’s say we give ourselves a deadline of one year. Now we have an ending point and a starting point! But in order to get a house, you have to start looking for a house. And before you can do that, you have to get approved for a loan. And before that, you have to have good credit scores and some money saved up for a down payment. And before that, you have to start looking into what is out there that you even want!
By giving yourself a deadline, you can now put all of these middle pieces into a plan, and it’ll look something like this:

#6 Give yourself a gameplan!

Let’s continue the scenario that you’re buying a house.. You need a gameplan, right? A way to put everything on paper and see what needs done to accomplish your goals! Below is an example of what this gameplan might look like. Keep in mind that this can be sped up or slowed down for whatever suits your needs and deadline. In this example, you have a deadline for a year, and every little thing can be added easily throughout the year according to when the end goal is. (I am also assuming in this gameplan that finding the perfect house is going to take a few months. It could be longer or shorter in real life, but don’t worry! The deadline isn’t set in stone, it’s just incentive to get your butt moving!) Keep in mind that the things on the ‘to-do’ list for that month are just things that ‘should’ be done by the end of that month. Realistically, you’ll probably be all over the place, overachieving in some months and behind in others. And that’s okay! As long as you get it done!

• January
  • Save up $500
  • Start improving your credit score
• February
  • Have $1,000 saved
  • Start looking around at houses
• March
  • Have $1,500 saved
  • Start getting rid of stuff you don’t need
  • Start talking to loan companies
  • Apply for a loan
• April
  • Have $2,000 saved
  • Get pre-approved for a loan
  • Start seriously looking at houses
• May
  • Have 2,500 saved
  • Start visiting houses
• June
  • Have $3,000 saved
  • Keep looking at houses
  • Start collecting boxes for moving
• July
  • Have $3,500 saved
  • Get rid of anything you don’t need for the new house
• August
  • Have $4,000 saved
  • Start narrowing down what house you want to buy
  • Orginize your house for easier packing
• September
  • Have $4,500 saved
  • Put in an offer for a house
  • Start packing up belongings you don’t use often
• October
  • Have $5,000 saved
  • Get accepted for a house
  • Get approved for your loan
• November
  • Save up for moving expenses
  • Get through all the paperwork for your new house
• December
  • Move into new house!

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Adding all of these steps together lets you surround yourself with what you want, gives you the tools to help you out, and gives you a plan and a deadline to achieve it. My list looked similar to the one above for getting this apartment. Right now, I’m working on my own list of life goals for next year that involve getting married and looking for our dream property. I’ll be honest, I pretty much have the same timeline as above for my life next year as we start getting more serious about finding our future homestead and settling down in one place.

COMMENT BELOW! What goals are you looking to accomplish? By saying them out loud, you are already starting the journey to completing them! What is your process for achieving your goals? Does it look like the things shown in this blog post, or is it different? Do you have a deadline for your goals? I would love to hear how other people stay motivated and on track for their goals!

Speaking of motivation, check out my other post here about staying motivated!

6 Ways to Stay Motivated in the New Year

As always, smile, have an amazing day, and follow your dreams!