7 Tips to Plan Ahead & Reach Your Goals

It's so easy to begin every week excited and ready to stick to your goals, but if you don't have a plan, most likely you have fallen off  by day two. Success rarely comes without some sort of plan in place to make it happen. Hard work, determination and a plan to get you to your goals help with success. But how do you go about making a plan that will work?

How to Plan Ahead & Reach Your Goals

Plan a week ahead. If you don't plan your workouts and healthy eating ahead of time you won't succeed. You don't have to plan your whole year out, instead, plan out a week at a time. Look at your schedule and plan what days you will work out, your meals and how you will spend your time during the week. Then stick to it!

Write it down. Planning ahead is one thing. If you don't write down your plan you are likely to forget about it. Always put your goals down in writing. Keep a journal or if journaling is too much. Write your goals on a post-it note. You can even keep them in a note section on your phone. Wherever you write them down, just make sure it is easy to look back at them frequently.

Make a vision board. I remember making these in high school and even college. They work. You can make a vision board from anything. Clip photos and inspirational quotes from magazines, a photo of you from the past you aspire to and anything that holds meaning. Put the vision board somewhere where you will see it on a regular basis and be reminded to stick to your goals. I keep mine in my office. You may want it in your living room or car. Wherever you will see it on a regular basis is where it should be.

Tell a friend. Accountability is huge. With both small and large goals, when you tell someone about it you are truly making it real and having someone to be accountable too. Ask a trusted friend to check in on you weekly to make sure you are making progress towards your goal.

Educate yourself. If you truly want to be great at something and succeed, learn from experts. Study up on your goal or take a class from an expert in the area you wish to improve. Knowledge is power. Learn it and then apply it.

Set reminders. Pretty much everyone has a cell phone. Put reminders or motivational quotes in your phone to periodically go off. A little "You got this!" message can do wonders when you are struggling to motivate on an off day.

Have fun! I think this is the most overlooked part of goal setting. Honestly, find a way to have fun while achieving your goals. If it's a running goal, decide first if you actually enjoy running - if the answer is yes, go for it! If the answer is no, I love bicycling, why are you running? Goals should be fun so it will be easier to find motivation on those hard days when you just would prefer to stay in bed than do anything else.