#achieving your goals

[agirlwithglam]

S.M.A.R.T goals:

How to set and achieve your goals

What does SMART stand for?

S - specific. don't just set vague goals like "i wanna get fit" or "i wanna get abs". how are you gonna know when/ where to start? if you want to get fit: your goal could be "go to the gym for 30 mins everyday" or "i want to run 5k in under 30 mins". whatever works for you. some other examples: -> if your big goal is to get high marks on your next test: your "mini" goals/ steps should be to study everyday for at least 30-60mins. -> if your big goal is to get money/ become rich: your steps/ mini goals should be to save $___ daily first. and also figure out a way you can make a mini business/ get a job.

M - measurable. make sure that your goals are measurable- meaning that you should be able to track them. some examples: -> if your goal is to read more: then create or find a habit tracker or something so everyday when you read, you can mark it down for that day. ! recommended resource: James Clear's habit tracker journal- you can find it on amazon.

A - Achievable keep your goals realistic and attainable. if you know you dont have the time/ energy to read a whole book in 1 week, dont do it- otherwise you'll get easily discouraged. the goldilocks principle: don't make it too easy, where it doesn't give you a challenge, but don't make it too hard either, otherwise you'll get easily discouraged.

R - Relevant basically a WHY. why do you want/ need to accomplish this goal? have a motivation which drives you. make sure your goal is relevant to you in some sort of way. example: -> if you want to learn a language such as spanish, why do you wanna learn it? because you want to travel to Spain one day? to be able to communicate with someone? even if the purpose is as simple as "wanting to be bilingual cus it makes me feel cool and impressive" - if that motivates you, then go ahead!

T - time bound your goals need to have some sort of deadline or urgency attached to it- otherwise you could take all the time you want to start and procrastinate as much as you want. having a deadline for the goal will motivate you to take action sooner, than later.

how to use SMART goals effectively:

decide on the goal. (something that you actually need/ want to accomplish.)

break it down into smaller steps. (very small. so small that you can start working on whatever it is NOW.) you want to get high marks on your test? lets break it down. study 30 mins everyday -> walk to desk -> get material out -> identify what you need to study -> find your weaker topics & write it out -> create a planner or smth -> start studying. // need help? find videos online, go thru material again, find study tips, etc.

write them down. (helps you stay accountable. also people who write their goals down are 42% more likely to achieve them than people who don't write it down.)

create an action plan. (relates to the 2nd point. outline the necessary steps to take, identify resources, set milestones, plan for potential obstacles.)

monitor and evaluate progress. (regularly review your goals, mistakes, and progress. what could you do better to be more efficient and quicker? how can you learn from your mistakes?)

stay committed and flexible. (you really need to be committed to achieve the goals, you shouldn't just start off super excited, doing great in the first week then slacking off. you've made a commitment to YOURSELF. respect yourself enough to stick to it! but also be flexible with your goals. if you're reeeallyy not able to do it one day, plan to do a bit more the next day. stay focussed and don't get discouraged by setbacks.)

celebrate achievements. (recognise when you've hit a major milestone, and celebrate it! this helps you maintain motivation and a sense of accomplishment. and reward yourself!!)

random additional tips:

visualisation. (such a strong form of manifestation. everyday visualise yourself with your goals, feeling all the emotions and thoughts that come with it! visualisation can also really boost your motivation and drive to achieve it.)

PRIORITIES. (remember that also, all goals aren't equally important. prioritise the ones that really matter. this doesn't mean that you can't focus on the other goals, just make sure the ones that need more attention, get more attention.)

positive language. (use kind and encouraging words towards yourself. know and understand that you are that girl who can achieve ANYTHING she sets her mind to.)

seek support. (ask friends and family or a mentor for help. if you want, be careful tho, share your goals with them to help you stay accountable. and if you know a person who's achieved your goals, GET ADVICE FROM THEM! where better to get advice from than someone who's been through what you're going through?)

stay organised. (self explanatory. just stay organised. messy space = messy mind. clean space = clean mind.)

maintain balance. (of course your goals are important, but so is the age you're currently at. especially if you're a teenage, DONT WASTE THESE YEARS!! get out of the house! make friends! go to parties! LIVE LIFE TO ITS FULLEST. also make sure that you get the adequate rest needed!)

write about your journey. (write about the struggles, the obstacles, how you overcame them, insights you got on this journey, etc. trust me, it'll be so interesting and helpful to read when you're older.)

[justjanusthings]

[dre4mzandvisi0nz]

Sometimes we’re stuck with the view to our (big) goals that we don’t see all the babysteps that lead to that goal.

So take a deep breath and relax and go lil-step by lil-step torwards your goal.

It’ll come soon enough

[caermorrighan]

Plans vs (Realistic) Planning

The inspiration for this came, from all places, from a World of Warcraft stream, talking about some of the challenges the game has faced over the past few years. But I think it has a pretty wide application. Essentially, the thesis was that there is a difference between making plans and planning.

And that rings very true. We see it every year, every half year, every quarter when we make plans in the form of goals and resolutions. Sometimes those are just a vague idea, which barely counts as a plan. Sometimes they are fully fleshed out plans. You could even go as far as working out all the steps, undertaking the first few of them. And then still fail. One reason for that might be the difference between plans and planning.

Goals are not planning, they are plans

Our goals are not going to magically achieve themselves. We need to make them happen. A part of that is setting the right goals, but another part is working out the detail of how to implement them. What steps do you need to go through to meet your goal? How will you know when you've succeed? I normally start with a backlog.

Backlogs are not planning, they are plans

I normally create a backlog for something I want to achieve. There are a lot of benefits to this - it removes decision fatigue and confusion. It lets me assess the real scale of what I am making a plan for. But, you still just have a list. The list helps, but if its just a big long list then, to be honest, its probably a bit overwhelming.

The next step is planning.

I've taken the name for backlogs from agile methodology, particularly scrum. What you do, in scrum, is take a plan and turn it into planning.

How I do planning from my backlogs?

First of all, I ensure my backlogs are prioritised. I need to know what is most important to me. Otherwise you end up wandering around in the corner getting something done that doesn't really align with your overall goals. For example, if I have a backlog to read a book for work, and a backlog to read a book for personal development, I need to decide which book takes priority. All things are never equal.

Then, once I have things in an order, I start by scheduling some of them. How many depends on how big they are vs how much time you have. So the second thing you want to do with backlogs is understand the scale of each item. Say one of your books has 5 chapters and another 20 chapters. Are those equal? If a chapter in book one takes 20 minutes to read, you have 100 minutes of reading. If the chapters in the other book take 5 minutes to read, you still have 100 minutes of reading. If you have 10 minutes to read a day, you can get through either book in 10 days. But how you schedule that work will look a little different.

In scrum, you don't actually size your work items by minutes taken. Because you don't know how long they will take up front. But you can probably compare them. If reading one chapter in the 5 chapter book is a large task, then reading one chapter in the 20 chapter book is a small task. An approach I think suits personal planning here is t-shirt sizes. Mark items on your backlog as XS, S, M, L, XL. If you want to do numbers instead, a common scale used is a modified Fibonnaci sequence - 0.5, 1, 3, 5, 8, 13. You can keep going but at some point estimating above a certain number in the scale just means your task is too big and you should break it up.

Now you can move on to the final step of planning - figuring out how much you can do in a day or week - however you prefer to plan. Scrum generally works in 'sprints' which are generally two weeks. But I tend to plan monthly and weekly in personal terms.

This will take some trial and error but eventually you'll get an idea of how much you can do. I suggest, while you work it out, that you keep the number of tasks low. You can always pick up the next thing on the list if you complete everything.

Now you have both a plan and planning, and a much better chance of success, right? Assuming your plan survives contact with the enemy. Which is never. The enemy here being life. Being the unexpected things that crop up. Being the day you lose to a migraine. Being the news that sweeps in and leaves you unable to focus. Being the new obsession you develop.

So lets add a few modifiers.

Apply the principles of slow productivity. Do less. Even when you discover how much you can do in a month, put less things in. Spend time making sure the ones you do pick are done well. And if you get those done, you can go ahead and work on the next thing and 'get ahead'.

Schedule in your filling the well activities too. Make sure you have a backlog for this. Not in a 'here's an endless list of books I will never read' way. More in a 'here are a couple of books I am excited to read so I don't have to make a decision when I come to this' way. It's very easy to not do these things. I backlist just books, but the things I want to do in games, or podcast episodes. If you don't add it to the to do list, it will get buried. You can schedule specifics or just 'pick an activity' each day. I do a mix, depending on how I am feeling.

Make sure your plan is flexible. I picked three specific days of the week on which to post to Tumblr. And then realised that I needed to be more flexible because the rest of my life is flexible and there would be different days of the week on which I was more or less able to write. So now my goal is 'post three times in the week'.

Think about your planning horizons. I tend to set up my week in advance for regular tasks and then add others to a 'sometime this week list'. I have to keep reminding myself to do this because I love to plan in advance, but I know that if I do it, I'll end up 'failing' because life is complex.

Lastly, keep the why in mind. If all else fails, forget it all and go back to the reason you set this goal in the first place. Think again about how you are going to get there in a way that will actually work.

And this is the true way to move from plans to planning. What we often think of as 'planning' is only part of the story. Planning means making your plan happen. Realistically. Which means your plans have to reflect your reality and not some dream where you perfectly fill every spare hour with productive activity and never have to change plans. So by all means set goals, write lists, schedule activities, but don't forget to build in flexibility, relaxation and ways to make your plans achievable and sustainable.

[mycelestial001]

What’s Preventing You from Achieving Your Goal According to Your Zodiac Sign? Discover Here

[successalchemist]

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[blog-n-go]

.."But" Its...

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[monicascot]

How To Reach Your Goals | Podcast Full Episode

Welcome to our empowering podcast series, where we provide practical insights and strategies to help you achieve your goals and unlock your true potential. In this full episode, we dive deep into the topic of goals-setting and share valuable tips to help you turn your dreams into reality. Setting goals is essential for personal and professional growth, but it can sometimes feel overwhelming or challenging to know where to start. In this podcast episode, our expert hosts break down the goals-setting process into actionable steps that anyone can follow.

[sandeewithtwoe]

Ink, that’s spoilers!!!

Ink belongs to comyet/myebi

Dream belongs to Jokublog

Tracnsript:

Dream: Can you tell me everything is going to be alright?

Ink: Everything is gonna be alright, Dream

Dream: Now tell me there’s still a chance to save my brother

Ink: Y-you uh… you can-

Dream: Ok nevermind then

[heritageposts]

Podcast w/Rania Khalek and Nima Shirazi, link + transcript above ↑

[monstersanonymous]

i have so much respect for Kabru dropping in mid-season, fagging it up and manipulating everyone in a 12ft radius

[trappedinafantasy37]

One of the things that had my mind spinning for a while is that in the Shadowheart origin, if you reject Shar, Minthara will apologize. She will believe that she and the rest of the companions held Shadowheart back from achieving her destiny. She blames herself for Shadowheart making a choice completely on her own, thinking that Shadowheart's concern for herself and others held her back. Minthara feels it to be her fault that Shadowheart is not as powerful as she could be and she is to blame for Shadowheart walking away from her destiny. Minthara sees herself as having failed for Shadowheart making the choice that she did.

I know it is cut content and cannot really be considered canon, but she does something similar in the breakup. Where she's yelling at Durge and asking why they rejected Bhaal. And Durge can tell her it's cause they love her. When the breakup was slipped in, I was initially so angry because Minthara calls Durge stupid for choosing love over power (when Minthara herself chooses love over power). Especially since the breakup happens like 10 minutes after the alurlssrin confession where she says the two of you have an unbreakable bond. I used to be so confused on why she would be so upset that you actually loved her. Then I realized that she's not upset that you love her. She's upset cause she fears that your love for her held you back.

Even though she sees you as her equal, she keeps putting herself as less than you. Where your wants and desires are more important than her own, and your greatness should be put above any affection you have for her. She wants you to love her of course, but she does not want to be what holds you back from reaching for power. To Minthara, power is safety and she has never felt safe. She wants you to keep elevating yourself cause the stronger you are, the safer you will be and by extension, the safer she will be. So you picking her over power means you are less safe and by consequence, she is less safe. And as much as Minthara loves loves, she needs to be safe first. It's why it seems like she keeps making the same dumb mistakes over and over, getting herself into precarious situations. It isn't because she's necessarily blinded by love, but she feels her proximity to power should keep her safe.

I also had a discussion with someone on Reddit, talking where it almost seems like Minthara keeps putting herself in positions of servitude, despite having some pretty ambitious goals involving world domination. We are talking about someone who has been a servant of Lolth her entire life. She tells us she was raised to be a soldier in Lolth's army and that was all she was meant to be. For 200+ years she was a servant and has never been anything else and doesn't know how to be anything else, and I believe she is too afraid to try to be anything else.

As a paladin, she was responsible for keeping social order, follow the word of whatever Priestess was in charge and enacting Lolth's will, partake in surface raids, and kill any of Lolth's enemies. There was very little room for her to achieve what she wanted, because Lolth had to come first. And even if there were things she wanted for herself, they still ultimately had to please Lolth in the end. Her time in the Absolute is no different. She just swaps the Absolute for Lolth and keeps up with the same shit (although she is too brainwashed to tell). So of course she is stunned when Lolth abandons her and the Absolute attempts to kill her and throws her deep into a crisis of faith. 200+ years of service has always bought her safety, until it didn't. So when you come along, she just swaps you for the Absolute. Telling herself, "I just need to be better than I was for the Absolute, better than I was for Lolth, and I should be okay." And her little rant about the gods, Lolth, Bhaal, the Absolute. Minthara is not anti-god. Minthara is anti-gods who do not reward their followers for their service. Because to her, service should be rewarded with something (other than death). She plays both sides when it comes to Shar because although she does think Shar is a poison in Shadowheart's life and believes Shadowheart is better off without Shar, at least Shar did reward Shadowheart for her service by making her a Dark Justiciar and elevating her to Chosen.

You would think she'd learn, but she doesn't. Not because she's stupid, but because her basic need for safety isn't being met. And so be fair, her "mistakes" with Lolth and the Absolute were relatively recent. So she keeps pushing people down the path of ruin and never going down the path herself directly, thinking that if she helps you become powerful, she will be safe. Where if she stands beside as you walk down this path, you will reward her for her service. Where she does not believe you would betray her because she helped you get that power. Where she thinks her service to you should buy her safety. Because to her, the most important thing she can be to you is useful. And she is terrified of being useless. So she provides you with unbreakable loyalty, devotion, and servitude, (and perhaps love). Where she will help you achieve your ambitions, whether it be to become a Dark Justiciar, the Vampire Ascended, the Slayer, or a god. Her path to safety, and greatness, and true power is forever lost to her down in the Underdark. So all she can do is help you walk down yours.

She keeps doing the same stupid shit over and over, making the same mistakes with people over and over, cause her fundamental need to safety is never being satisfied. And her service to various gods and entities technically did buy her safety, but only for an unknown period of time. And when she loses that safety, she thinks that the problem is her. That she was punished because she was not a good enough servant. That if she was a truly good servant, she won't lose your safety and your protection. And she thinks love interferes with your perception of her as a servant. She wants you to see her as a loyal servant first, lover second, because the only things in her life to be truly rewarded was her service, whereas her love got punished.

[fistfuloflightning]

I’ll never get there, but if I put the work in, maybe I’ll get close enough that I can chase just behind perfection — and have a front-row seat as you achieve it.

Chapter 20, Cultivate by @neonghostcat

[realpokemon]

You must get a lot of asks, how do you decide which ones to answer?

‎

[phantomrose96]

Bro WHAT now