4 Essential Ingredients to Achieving Your Goals
Success works like a recipe. There are essential ingredients you need to make your dream “rise,” and if you’re missing even one, it falls flat.
To help ensure you’ve got everything you need to win, these are the 4 Essential Ingredients to Achieving Your Goals and making your dream rise.
The reality is that for most people, goal setting is much better than actually taking consistent action to achieve them. It’s easy to think about all those things you’d like to do someday, or even to make a list of all the things you’d like to do by the end of the year or this month.
But how do you make sure that those distant dreams and far-off goals become a reality? You need a plan.
Setting goals is essential for personal and professional growth. However, merely setting goals isn’t enough. To turn your aspirations into reality, you need an effective plan and the determination to follow through.
Let’s explore the 4 Essential Ingredients to Achieving Your Goals that will pave the way to success. They will empower you to make significant progress towards your goals.
The Essential Ingredients of a Great Marathon
I love the atmosphere of a good marathon. I love the community, victory, and mental toughness that a marathon brings. There are so many life lessons running marathons has taught me.
A marathon weeds out the weakness of the mind. A marathon seeks out greatness. There are a few essential ingredients that make for a great marathon.
A great marathon needs volunteers and staff. They are the backbone of the entire experience. They are the physical support. They run the expo the day before handing out race bibs and swag.
They provide water stops and are the medical staff. These individuals guide the runners on the race course, providing direction. The runners’ experience is defined by the behind-the-scenes.
A great marathon needs cheerleaders. It needs encouragers on the sidelines willing to get up early, brave the weather, and cheer at the top of their lungs. The music is blaring, the cheering is deafening, and you hear total strangers cheering you on by name or bib number.
They bring fun and creative signs to display like:
- “Chuck Norris never ran a marathon.”
- “That’s a lot of work for a free banana.”
- “Run fast, I just farted.”
What’s your favorite race sign you’ve seen? Share below, I’d love to know!
A great marathon needs runners to get in the race. Without the runners, there is no sport. The runners create athleticism on race day, which is why others get inspired.
A great marathon needs time for preparation. The race doesn’t come together overnight. It takes much time to plan and organize. It takes months of hard training, discipline, and sacrifice.
Race day is the fabrication of months of passionate preparation. How a runner finishes is determined by how he trained. Preparation is one of the most important things for a race.
I love the atmosphere of a good marathon. I love the community and the victory and the mental toughness that a marathon brings. A marathon weeds out the weak of mind. A marathon seeks out greatness. There are a few essential ingredients that make for a great marathon.
The 4 Essential Ingredients to Achieving Your Goals
The makings of a great marathon aren’t much different than in the game of life, are they? When you’re in pursuit of a goal or dream, you need 4 Essential Ingredients to reach the finish line.
A great goal needs a Dreamer
You can’t have a great marathon without the runners, and you can’t have a great goal without the dreamers. These are people who’ve chosen to move out of their comfort zone and achieve a larger goal. They’re the first ingredient in the process.
A goal is just a wish unless there’s action and a plan behind it. You have to be willing to be decided and get in the fight. Make sure you’re chasing your own dreams and not what someone else wants you to do.
You need to write down what you want to accomplish in your life and a great way to do that is through a vision board. Be clear on what your core values are as that will need to align with your purpose and vision.
The single most important thing is to be committed to your goal. If you don’t take action, your dreams will remain in your head. This goes back to understanding why you set certain goals. Being committed even when disruptions and setbacks come your way grows your resilience. It keeps you going even when things are tough.
Overcome procrastination and keep going no matter what. When you make a consistent effort every single day to prioritize the specific goals you have for your life, you will win. Create the habits and routines that will ensure you succeed.
Avoid the comparison trap and focus on your own dreams and goals. There will always be someone who’s smarter, faster, and better but let them inspire you to be your best self.
Take continuous and consistent action, and you’re guaranteed to make progress towards your goals and dreams. When you’re committed to seeing your goals through and working on them even when you don’t feel like it, you’ll win.
Even taking small steps will add up and lead to success in the long haul. There will be plenty of times where you’ll want to give up especially when you face roadblocks and hard times. In those times remember these wise words: Quitters don’t win and winners don’t quit. So stick to your goals no matter what.
The amazing thing about achieving your own goals is the person you get to become in the process beyond just the big results. Moreover, when you achieve goals in one area of your life, it inspires you to achieve goals in other areas too.
While hard work is important and crucial to success, runners also need to take a break. Sometimes you’ll get sick and feel guilty about not working on your goal.
But this downtime and self-care is important to let your body recover and come back stronger. It also helps to prevent burnout which is quite common as you chase your goals.
Preparation is one of the Key Ingredients to Achieving Your Goals
To realize an important goal you need passionate preparation. Success and achieving your goals don’t just happen overnight. A goal takes time to manifest. It takes mental strategy, physical planning, and hard work. The middle, the preparation, is what determines the outcome.
You can pick a goal and have good intentions, but until you’re willing to take the necessary action, it will remain just a thought — a goal unfinished.
If a runner isn’t willing to put in the mental and physical training months in advance, race day will not equal a finish of excellence. Preparation is pertinent in pursuing a goal and finishing the course.
There are a few factors you need to take into account here:
1) Set Goals that are SMART
The first step in crushing your goals is setting goals. It’s crucial to set clear and specific objectives. Vague or ambiguous goals make it difficult to measure progress and create actionable steps.
That’s why you need to set SMART goals. These are specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART). By clearly articulating what you want to achieve, you create a roadmap that provides focus and direction, increasing the likelihood of success.
2) Break Goals Down into Actionable Steps
The second step is to plan how you will achieve those big goals or small goals. This includes breaking them down into an action plan with manageable steps and daily goals.
Big dreams and goals can be overwhelming, but breaking them into smaller tasks is the easiest way to make them less daunting and more achievable.
Create a timeline or action plan that outlines the key milestones and tasks necessary to reach your goal. Each completed step brings you closer to your ultimate objective, providing a sense of progress and momentum.
3) Learn to Focus and manage your time
There are so many distractions to our daily lives that it can be difficult to focus on your goals. That’s why it’s important to equip yourself with time management skills so that you prioritize the important tasks you need to complete.
Turn your phone on silent, and don’t check Facebook ‘really quick’. There are so many opportunities for our focus to shift to something else. Suddenly you may notice housework that needs to get done and unimportant tasks may suddenly feel important.
Crushing goals is hard work. Focusing on the task at hand takes effort and practice.
Part of managing your time includes developing successful daily habits and routines. I invest in a habit tracker or daily planner. This will help you have the right systems. It’s also important to have a consistent sleep routine so that you’re ready to tackle the day ahead.
“The will to win is not nearly as important as the will to prepare to win. Everyone wants to win, but not everyone wants to prepare to win. Preparing to win is where the determination that you will win, is made. Once the game test or project is underway, it is too late to prepare to win.”
Bobby Knight
“I believe that people make their own luck by great preparation and good strategy.”
Jack Canfield
You need tools and resources to reach your end goal
You need tools and resources to gain an edge and achieve your big goals. This could be life-changing books, leadership conferences, coaches, mentors, podcasts, or online resources and tools that equip you for personal growth.
These key elements are like the volunteers on marathon day. They are there to help the race run smoothly and go off without a hiccup. They are a runner’s guide or road map to a successful race. The tools and resources are your guide or roadmap in your race toward your dream.
You need to be willing to spend a great amount of time learning new skills to help you in the future. This could be learning to lead a team, how to grow your personal brand, becoming confident, or time management skills.
Being open to continuous learning is a good idea and it will help you with your professional and personal development.
Accountability is a key ingredient in crushing your goals
A great goal needs cheerleaders. You can accomplish a goal by yourself, but it’s harder and lonelier. Cheerleaders can come in many forms such as a trusted friend, colleague, or family member who is supportive and encouraging as you pursue your dreams.
You can get accountability when you’re part of a community or coaching program like the Red Accountability Club as well. Anyone can get into the fight. All it takes is a whole lot of training and a willingness to not be normal.
An accountability partner holds you responsible for whether you reach your goals or not. This person is the secret ingredient to reaching your final goal.
They need to be invested in your well-being and personal development. That person should also be able to give you tough love when you are not making significant progress on your goals.
When you go through challenges and face life’s roadblocks along the way to your goals and dreams, others will naturally come out of the woodwork to watch you burn. You will in turn be an encouragement back to them because you’re now an inspiration not willing to stay where you’re at but rather striving for more.
Everyone needs affirmation in some form or fashion. Affirmation that says you matter, and you are worthy. The beautiful thing is cheerleaders do that for you. They can make the biggest impact on the journey to your goals.
While you don’t need to meet your accountability partner on a daily basis you’d still need to have regular meetings with them. It’s a great thing to have someone as part of the journey who is committed to encouraging you to achieve your goals.
You can seek guidance from them and celebrate when you realize both small and big results. Remember, on the path to success, your circle matters.
Whether you’re training for a marathon or pursuing another dream, don’t forget these 4 Essential Ingredients to Achieving Your Goals that will pave the way to success. These include the dreamer or runner, the preparation, the volunteers or resources, and the cheerleaders or accountability partners.
Thank the volunteers as you pass them, and latch onto the appropriate resources and tools to create your roadmap. Ensure you have cheerleaders in your life-affirming your training and ambitions. Be willing to get into the fight rather than just wishing you could.
Prepare, prepare, prepare. Do the hard work behind the scenes so you can flourish on race day and finish strong.
People tell me all the time they could never run a marathon, and my response back to them is that they sure could! All it takes is a whole lot of training and a little bit of crazy. It’s no different from your dream. Anyone can get into the fight. All it takes is a whole lot of training and a willingness to not be normal.
Red Hot Accountability Club
You have your goals in front of you! You may even have a good strategic plan to follow to achieve them! But you’re feeling a little lonely in the online space and sick of the hustle culture telling you to do more.
If so, then the Red Hot Accountability Club might be just what you need!
A safe space. A faith space. A friendly space. A forward momentum space.
Find community and coaching support inside the group coaching membership so you can lean on others and be inspired to continue working on your goals in the season you’re in with the capacity you have – ditching the stress and hustle altogether! (and ditching social media for business if you want to!)
You CAN work your goals into your lifestyle without sacrificing everything to achieve them.
If you are looking for a positive online community and group coaching experience, come hang out with us in the Red Hot Accountability Club!
