Often, when we are trying to accomplish goals, our motivation is stalled, and our goals are left unmet. This repeated pattern can be disappointing and discouraging. Two tips that are helpful in maintaining momentum and accomplishing goals are creating a “why” statement and breaking down goals and deadline into smaller steps. These tips can be used across goals big and small. Breaking down goals into steps helps to make each task more manageable and obtainable. Creating a “why statement” is helpful because it connects the goal to our morals and values. Here are examples of large goals that can be achieved through using a “why statement” and breaking down goals and deadlines into steps.

When discussing motivation, someone may say they are motivated to buy a house because they want to have a nice home for themselves. Creating a why statement digs into our core values, morals, and belief. A “why statement” for buying a house may be something such as “I want to buy a house so that I can provide stability and create generational wealth for my future children”. The why statement dips into our morals and beliefs creating more stakes in the goal. When are natural motivation stalls, replaying the “Why Statement” out loud or in our heads, connects us to the importance of the goal helping us maintain the momentum.

The next tip is to break down the goal and deadline into steps. A big goal such as buying a house or applying for a job or college can be daunting and overwhelming. Breaking down the steps allows us to complete smaller steps one at a time, building up the larger goal. For this step, we can use the goal of applying to college. Whether the applicant is 18 or 35 these steps can be helpful. The first step in this process is to first have an understanding of your high school credentials and achievement. Once that is complete, the applicant should narrow down where they want to go. At this time two steps are already completed, and we are two steps closer to applying to college. The next step would be to understand what types of the program the person is looking for and then the applicant will look at schools in their decided area that have their desired program. After narrowing down the different schools, the applicant will look at the different requirements for each school. Without explaining each step of applying to college, one can see how breaking down the goal of applying to college into smaller steps can be helpful in completing the larger goal. And while this goal is a huge step in many people’s lives, we may want to add a “why statement” to help build momentum and keep us going. I hope these two tips on motivation and obtaining goals can be helpful in maintaining your goals in the future.

Written by Cassandra Jimmink, MAC