Staying Motivated and Achieving Your Goals

You may have found yourself in the position where you've set a goal and experienced a huge burst of motivation as you've taken your first steps to achieve it. But, as time passes, your motivation diminishes. Maybe because you realise achieving your goal will take more effort than anticipated, or the path to success is more challenging than you'd hoped. Perhaps your patience to see results begins to fade as time rolls on.

As I shared in my latest Instagram?coaching video , there is an evidenced-based goal-achievement technique called mental contrasting will help you stay motivated and committed to achieving your goals, even when it feels tough.

Here are five simple steps to help you maintain motivation to reach your goals.

1. Visualise your life when you achieve your goals.?

Take a moment to think about what your life will look like when you reach your goal. Imagine how you'll spend your time every day, who you will spend your time with, and how you feel. This should be enjoyable, so don't rush this process; allow your imagination to run wild.?

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2. Reflect on the contrast between where you are and where you want to be.?

Reflect on what you want to change about your life by achieving your goals. Ask yourself what is the difference between your future life when you reach your goal and where you are in life right now.

This technique of contrasting between now and the future helps you stay motivated to reach your goal and move away from your current situation. This process can also help you develop resilience as you commit to moving forward, even when you know you'll face challenges along the way.?

3. Consider what could get in the way of you achieving your goals.

Pause and take a moment to consider the obstacles that could get in the way of you creating the future you want.?

You may struggle to dedicate the time required to reach your goal. You may know you're the type of person to lose focus over time or become easily distracted. Achieving goals requires dedicated action, and you struggle to create consistency in your life to create healthy habits.

The whole point of this step is to consider potential setbacks you could encounter before they arise.

4. Plan how to navigate setbacks.?

Plan how to overcome the obstacles you identified, should they arise. The setbacks you consider will be entirely personal to you, your situation, and what you want to achieve.?

You could build accountability into your action plan, where you share progress with someone supportive. You could dedicate time each week to reflect on what you're working on when it comes to making progress, what you've learnt about yourself, and what immediate actions you need to take to move towards your goals.?

5. Repeat the process.?

Repeat this process - especially the contrasting step - whenever you feel your commitment and motivation could be improved.

Your goal achievement tips

I'd love to hear about your experiences in the comments and ways in which you've boosted your resilience to adversity whilst working towards your goals.

For more insights, tips and tricks on mindset, resilience and wellbeing:

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