​If you’re anything like me, my guess is that your knee jerk reaction to a discussion about goals involves a certain amount of anticipated feelings of guilt or inadequacy. Don’t worry! Part of the goal of this blog will be to learn how to make your goals work for you rather than you work for your goals. The first step is to establish some flexibility with yourself. Remember that if you do poorly in following through with your goals, or don’t follow through at all, it’s okay! The beauty of the goals being yours is that no one will be evaluating you at the end of the day/week/month with a clipboard and form with your name at the top and two boxes labeled “success” and “failure”.

Practice viewing your goals more as not judgmental friends who are cheering for your success. Your used to hearing about SMART goals but for the purpose of this blog, I’m going to suggest making your goals SRW (Specific, Realistic, and Workable). Not as catchy as SMART but hopefully it will make your goals simpler and less intimidating. Pay attention to the conditions of working toward your goal and any barriers that prevent progress. It may also be helpful to adjust your steps when possible to make progress more realistic and workable for your specific situation. Last of all, don’t forget to get creative. Any small step in the right direction can be counted as progress!