Wow, can you believe that 2017 is almost over? This means that it's the time of year when people start thinking about their 2018 goals. It's only normal, a new year offers the possibility for a new you, right?

However, only about 8% of people actually achieve their resolutions each year. And, only 75% of those who set goals follow through with them after the first week of the year.

It’s crazy that 25% of people stopped working towards their goals after just the first week!

So today, I'm going to help you find ways stick to your 2018 goals and become successful with them in the new year. Let's make your 2018 goal list a reality!

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And, before you throw out the idea of goal setting and New Year’s resolutions, or judge people who are doing so, please keep this quote from Statistic Brain in mind:

People who explicitly make resolutions are 10 times more likely to attain their goals than people who don’t explicitly make resolutions.

This is why I believe that setting goals for 2018 and making a plan to reach them is so important.

So, let’s make 2018 a great year. Let’s work on managing our money better, living our dream life, traveling more (here's how to take a 10 day trip to Hawaii for less than $25!), and succeed with setting goals for 2018 and actually reaching them!

Here are my tips and advice to help you reach your 2018 life and business goals. Plus, at the end of this article, I’ve included my 2017 goal progress as well as my goals for 2018.

How to make 2018 goals:

 

Review your 2017 goals and objectives.

Before you start thinking about 2018, you should think about how 2017 went for you. When we look back on the previous year, we can see areas we succeeded in and areas that need to be worked on in the new year.

Think about the goals you reached, the successes you had, the struggles you encountered, and more. Then, think about what you wish you could have done better and the areas you struggled with.

By completing this step, you'll be able to better figure out what you need to do in 2018 in order to have a successful year.

 

Make sure your 2018 goals are SMART.

You should always make sure that any goal you set for 2018 is SMART.

A SMART goal is:

• Specific – What is your goal? Is it specific enough or is it too broad? What needs to be done for you to achieve your goal? Why do you want to reach your goal?
• Measurable – How can you measure your progress? How will you know if you’re on track?
• Attainable – Can your goal actually be achieved?
• Realistic/relevant – Can you achieve your goal? Is the goal worth it?
• Time – What’s your time frame for reaching your goal?

This is extremely important when setting 2018 goals because by doing this, you are ensuring that your goals are realistic and attainable.

 

Write down your 2018 goals and objectives.

Writing down your business and personal goals for 2018 is a very important part goal setting.

Completing this step can help you remember your goal and why you want to achieve it. If I don’t write something down or have it in front of me on a regular basis, I tend to forget about it.

If you can’t remember your 2018 goals, it would be very hard to achieve them. I suggest that you think about:

• Creating a blog to detail your progress.
• Making a vision board.
• Putting post-its around your home that list your yearly goals.
• Placing reminders on your phone, calendar, or whatever else you use for your to-do list.

Related tip: If you're looking for a life planner or a 2018 goal planner, I highly recommend checking out Erin Condren and looking at their life planners and monthly planners. This can be a great way to stay motivated so that you can reach your goals!

 

Create a plan to reach your 2018 goals.

If you want to stay motivated with your goals, then one of the first things you should do is to create a plan on how you will reach your goals for 2018.

A plan can help you focus on the steps it will take to reach your goal, instead of feeling like you are all over the place.

Your plan should detail the steps you need in order to reach your goal, what will happen as you reach each step, when and how you will track your progress, and more. Being detailed with your plan will help you reach your goal and be successful.

Related reading: Be More Confident And Get What You Want In Life

 

Break your goal apart into smaller goals.

A year can feel like a long time to reach your goals, and you may forget about them or become overwhelmed with the work it will take to reach them.

One way to approach your 2018 goals is to think of 12 separate goals that relate to an overall goal, one for each month of the year. Basically, each month would be a step that gets you closer to your overall goal.

This can be a great way to stay motivated while seeing the progress you are making towards your overall goal, and you'll know exactly what you need to do in order to be successful.

For example. If your goal is to become a blogger in one year (this is just an easy example for purposes of this blog post), your monthly goals may be something such as:

• • January – Think of a blog idea and a name.
  • February – Start a blog and create a blogging plan.
  • March – Create an editorial calendar.
  • April – Find ways to monetize a blog.
  • May – Reach X amount of page views.
  • June – Attend a blogging conference.
  • July – Guest post on 10 websites.
  • August – Grow your email list to X subscribers.
  • September – Build an emergency fund for X months.
  • October – Reach X in blogging income.
  • November – Grow a social media account to X.
  • December – Become a blogger!

 

Keep track of your 2018 goal setting progress and make changes (if needed).

To stay motivated with your yearly goals and to become successful with them, you should review your progress every so often. You may want to check in daily, weekly, or monthly, depending on what type of goal you have and what works for you.

Keeping track of your 2018 goals is a good idea because it can tell you what you need to do in order to reach your goal, whether or not you are behind, or if you need to make a change.

Related: I highly recommend that you check out Personal Capital (a free service) if you are interested in gaining control of your financial situation. Personal Capital is similar to Mint.com, but 100 times better as it allows you to gain control of your investment and retirement accounts.

 

Find small ways to stick to your goals.

Many will fall off track when it comes to their 2018 goals because sometimes the steps it takes to achieve them just feel too big. This may cause a person to ignore their goal because they are feeling lazy (we’ve all felt this!), tired, and so on. This can lead to spiraling out of control and completely falling off track.

Forgetting about your goal, for even just a short period of time, may also contribute to you falling off track.

If you are feeling like your goals are too big to approach, find a way to take small steps towards achieving them. These can be little things you do on a daily basis that help change your routine into one that helps you attain your goals. And, remember, even small steps in the right direction can lead you to achieving your goals.

We all have days when we feel “off” or forget about our goals, and breaking them down can make these types of days much easier to deal with.

Several examples so that you can learn how to get back on track include:

• If you are trying to eat in more, do a batch freezer cooking session to stay on top of preparing meals. This way, you will have a meal to turn to on the days when you don’t feel like cooking.
• If you’re not feeling like working out, then do something small instead. Try to fit in some squats, lunges, or jumping jacks while you are doing something like cooking a meal, watching TV, or getting ready.
• If you are trying to reach financial goals but are feeling overwhelmed, you may want to start automating as much as you can, and so on. This can make reaching your financial goals a little easier.

Related reading: Living Life To The Fullest Is Something Everyone Should Start Doing

 

Find ways to motivate yourself when setting 2018 goals.

Motivation is what keeps you going so that you do not quit, and this will help you to reach your goals for 2018. If you find your motivation, it will help you continue to work towards your goal, even when it seems impossible. However, finding motivation can be a hard task for anyone.  

If you are having a hard time finding motivation, here are a few things you can do to get back on track so you don’t give up on your goals:

• Create a vision board and keep it somewhere that you will see on a daily basis.
• Make it a friendly competition (read more below).
• Find ways to reward yourself as you get closer to your goal.

Related reading: How To Stay Motivated And Become Successful

 

Make reaching your 2018 personal goals a friendly competition.

One great way to stay on track with your goals for 2018 is to turn your goal setting into a competition between you and someone else.

Finding an accountability partner can make reaching your goals more fun and potentially easier.

This works because you won’t be going at it alone, you’ll have someone to talk to who is going through a similar process as you, you’ll have someone else pushing you to succeed, and more.

There are many ways to find an accountability partner. This can be someone you know, such as a friend, family member, coworker, and so on. They can even be a stranger, such as someone you met online with a similar goal.

 

Update on my 2017 goals:

• FAIL. Get at least three months ahead on Making Sense of Cents posts. I was doing well with this goal until the last few months. I am currently only around one month ahead in content. I do plan on catching back up and being around 2-3 months ahead in content soon, though.
• FAIL. Grow Making Sense of Cents to 1,000,000 monthly page views. My traffic did not increase as much as I would have liked, but I have since realized that this number is superficial. Instead, everything else increased (social media accounts, email list, emails from readers, etc.), so that is what truly matters!
• PASS. Start doing more live interviews, such as podcasts and webinars. I am saying yes to 99% of the interviews that are offered to me, and it's been a lot of fun. I am not nervous whatsoever for live interviews anymore, so that is a great positive of me saying yes to everything in the past year – I have grown a lot in this area!
• PASS. Create one more product to sell. In 2016, I created Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing, and that has completely changed my life and my business. While I haven't launched this second product yet, it is being worked on, and I have LOTS of other product ideas as well.

 

My 2018 goals:

• Get at least three months ahead on Making Sense of Cents posts. Being ahead in blog posts makes life much more enjoyable because I can focus on other things knowing that the majority of my writing work is already done.
• Grow to 150,000 email subscribers. I would love to help more readers, see even more engagement, have higher traffic, and so on. I love my blog, and I would love to see it grow! I'm hoping to see at least 150,000 email subscribers by the end of 2018.
• Create two more products to sell. In 2016, I created Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing, and that has completely changed my life and my business. I want to think about and create another product to sell in 2018 so that I can continue to diversify my income.
• Work less than 40 hours per week. For the most part, I am working less than 40 hours per week. However, there are some weeks when I spend all day and night on the laptop, not even sure where the day went. Due to that, I would like to continue to work on a better work/life balance.
• Have fun. Okay, so this isn't really a goal that is quantifiable or something that I'll track, haha, but I am really looking forward to 2018!

What are your 2018 goals? What goal setting tips do you have to share?

The post How To Reach Your 2018 Goals appeared first on Making Sense Of Cents.

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