PEARLS OF WISDOM
Leveling Up with Goal Charting A
s hard as it is to admit, we are more than halfway into the year. At the end of 2019, so many of us said we wanted 2020 to be magical and the next decade to be transformative. Little did we know that major events would put a damper on the collective mood. Because our mood affects the way we show up for ourselves and others, it's only natural for our goals to have fallen to the wayside as we default to survival mode. While it’s important to acknowledge where we are emotionally, it’s equally important to not lose sight of our brighter future. Goal charting can help you keep moving forward—no matter what life throws at you. Goal charting is different from goal setting. Goal setting is the act of identifying what you want, but it's often not specific enough. The with why we want it, how we’ll get it and what we’ll do if unforeseen circumstances arise needs to be established. Goal charting is a more graceful, comprehensive approach to leveling up. 1. Identify what you want by tuning into your feelings. If you say that you want to save $500 next month, ask yourself what you want to save it for. The more specific you are, the higher your chances of achieving your goal. When you tune into emotional reasoning, you’re more likely to behave in ways that align with your goal. Use a simple chart to track each goal. It will help you see how far you've come and visualize how far you've got left to go. EXAMPLE: I want to save $500 next month for my emergency fund. With $500 more in my emergency fund, I will feel more financially stable—which is something I did not feel growing up. 2. Create an action plan to frequently incorporate your goal into your life. When we goal set, we usually say something lofty without creating a plan on how to achieve it in incremental steps. This isn’t sustainable and leads to burn out. Consider what you can do daily, weekly and monthly to get closer to your goal little by little. Remember, effective change doesn’t happen overnight—making small but frequent progress will build your confidence and have a more long-lasting change on your behavior. EXAMPLE: I will save $500 next month for my emergency fund by making tweaks to my unnecessary spending during the week.
28 Alpha Gamma Delta Quarterly
« Listen & Connect Catch Cheyenne on the July 13 episode of the ® Gossip and Gratitude podcast as she discusses the 'Post Grad Scaries" and follow her on ® Instagram @amusing_millennial.
3. Revisit your action plan and ask yourself if each step are things you can commit to. When we fail to reach our goals, it's usually because we try to implement drastic change too fast and cause ourself to self sabotage. Goals should be challenging, but not so much that we set ourselves up to fail or forget to enjoy the journey toward the goal. It's important to only include things that you can/will realistically do every day/week in your action plan. EXAMPLE: I won’t punish myself by taking away my morning coffee. I will allocate $100 to my morning coffee trips instead of my usual $200. 4. Do the things! Another reason why our goals don’t happen is that we just don’t do them. Once you’ve identified what you want, why you want it and how you’ll get it...DO IT. Keep your promise to yourself. EXAMPLE: I’m in line for my morning coffee, there’s a new latte flavor and the price for the largest size is $7.87. I’m a little hungry and want a bagel with a yogurt parfait which is an additional $5. I know I’ve already spent $90 on coffee trips this month and I’ve allocated $200 for coffee trips. What do I do? I get the smallest size which is only $2.39 and get the bagel without the yogurt parfait because I know there’s probably yogurt and fruit in the break room at work. By doing this, I get what I want and still behave in alignment with my goals. Now that you have the tools, go crush some goals! By Cheyenne Baker, Pi–Coe College. Cheyenne is a performance coach with a penchant for expressing her thoughts through writing and Instagram story rants. Her signature program, ® The Graduate's School, is specifically geared toward recent college graduates trying to navigate the real world—or whatever you call what we are in at the moment. Cheyenne's eclectic style, heart of service and zen vibe help her fully embrace life. She is a proud resident of Nashville and proclaimer of all things "sophistiratchet."