Refocus in 3 easy steps.

The first step is to spend some time dreaming.  You have to have a vision for where you want to go.  Take time to sit alone, perhaps in nature, without any distractions and put your dreams down on paper.  Writing words is good or drawing pictures, either way, put on paper how you want life to look.

Be sure you have included all areas of your life: family, career, health, spiritual, financial

Once you have a vision, you can then go about the process of breaking this down into SMART goals.  SMART is an acronym that helps to make sure goals are good and more likely to succeed.

S– Specific.  Goals need to be clear.  “I want to lose weight” is not specific enough.  “I want to lose 20 pounds” is a specific goal.

M-Measurable 20 pounds is measurable.  Stating, “I want to be healthier” is difficult to measure.

A-Action-oriented While the goal of losing 20 pounds is a better goal than merely stating that you want to lose weight, it still needs an action-plan.  This might look like “I want to lose 20 pounds by exercising for 30 minutes three times a week.”

R– Realistic Goals can be too lofty at times. Make sure goals can be achieved in the manner predicted.

T– Time bound.  Set a timeframe on when goals are to be achieved.  Make sure that they line up with the realistic criteria.

So an example of a SMART goal related to weight loss might look like the following:

“I will lose 20 pounds in 3 months by walking for 30 minutes 3 times a week and by cutting my sugar intake in half.”

Once you have written out your goals, the final step is to post your vision and your goals in plan sight.  This will help you to be reminded of why you are doing these things.  There will come a day when motivation to achieve goals will be lacking.  Reminding yourself of your why can up boost your motivation.