Regardless of how long I’ve been out of school, I still get that “back to school buzz” every fall when my kids return to class. If you feel the same way, I say, “Go with it!” and use this change of season to your advantage!
I often have my clients come up with seasonal goals and check in on yearly objectives four times a year (once per season). Together, we develop health, wealth, and wisdom goals each autumn and watch them progress as winter approaches.
I encourage everyone with goals to give this system a try. Ask yourself what would feel wonderful to have accomplished by the end of the year. Try to choose something that you will really enjoy working on and watch yourself effortlessly move toward success.
To help forward your fall goals or your yearly (or lifetime!) objectives, try out these two tips that have been helpful both for myself and my coaching clients.
Tip 1: Schedule Systems That Align With Your Values
For me, it’s a lot more fun to sign up for tennis than to make myself go to the gym every morning. And I much more joyfully plan for business success by scheduling meetings with my podcast co-host, Wendy, than just focusing on achieving success in and of itself. Thus, I suggest letting go of some of your “should goals.” Instead of saying to yourself, “I should lose weight,” “I should make more money,” or “I should keep in better touch with my family” replace that “should” with a fun weekly action step!
For example, as an action step towards making more money, you could commit to attending one networking event every two weeks. Networking will help you increase your professional connections while socializing and having a drink or some apps at the same time!
If you’re reading this blog, you’re already a motivated individual who is actively working toward better health and more wealth, so incorporating fun little support systems into your life is often pretty easy. Think about something that you actually find enjoyable that supports your goals and design a schedule around it. Then, simply take your time to do those fun things and watch as you effortlessly move closer to your goal.
Tip 2: Feel Empowered Through Daily Meal Planning
Regardless of your fall goals, planning your meals each day can help you become more productive. This isn’t a diet tip, it’s really more about productivity. If you take just 5 minutes in the morning to think about what you’ll eat for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, you’ll have a better feel for your day and where you will spend your time.
When meal planning, you aren’t going to write down, “race through the fast food drive thru”—instead, you will take a few minutes to really consider what you need in order to prepare a meal for you and your family. Meal planning will naturally lead to planning ahead in other areas of your life—like making time for exercise and working—and put you in the drivers’ seat as you move forward that day, that week, and that entire season.
What Are You Waiting For?!
Try these suggestions for a week and let me know if you find them helpful or have any tips to tack on to them.
Once you start creating systems that support your goals and your ideas of fun, such as weekly meetings with a friend or meal planning, you can slowly add in other systems that help you progress. The key is to make sure that everything you are committing to is something you enjoy or value.
For example, I don’t necessarily enjoy cooking but I do value my children eating nutritious food. I don’t necessarily love the tedium of podcast planning with my co-host but I do value sharing military spouse tips with the broader military spouse community. And I don’t always love getting ready to work out but I do value my health.
Put some action steps on your calendar that align with your values and you will effortlessly chase after success one day at a time.