Finding Success in Achieving Our Goals

As many of us set goals for the 2023, the biggest struggle is finding success in achieving those goals. This post explores some tips to help you have better success at getting what you want this year.

Here we are, embarking on a new year. Today is an opportunity to start things fresh. Yes, we arbitrarily select days that fall into alignment with a calendar and decide that we can have a fresh start and create new goals. Days like Mondays, birthdays, the beginning of the month, and New Year’s Day represent this new beginning. This is an important practice. We are resetting our minds and our energies. It only becomes a problem when we judge ourselves for not following through.

January 1st, I led my annual New Year’s Day Retreat (available here). One of the questions that came up was “how do you make achieving a goal easier?” How do we make that goal, whatever it is, something that we can obtain? To quote a favorite movie of mine, What About Bob?, baby steps. Take your goals and break them down into simple and easy steps.

Let’s say that I have a goal of better health.

  1. What does better health mean and what does it look like? In other words, how will I know that I have achieved better health? There are likely multiple measurements such as how I feel, energy levels, endurance, sleep, food intake, weight (I know this is a touchy subject, but let’s be honest, some of us still use this as a metric and I will be the last person to shame someone for it). etc. I need to be detailed in this goal.
  2. Break the goal down into 12 parts. Where should I be after 30 days? What actions do I need to take each week to see progress at the end of a month?
  3. Break the monthly goal down into 4 parts. Where should I be at the end of a week? What actions do I need to take daily to get to better health. For example, if eating better food is part of better health, then one of my daily activities is eating something green. Perhaps it is no snacking between meals.
  4. Now that the actionable items are in play, it is time to put that somewhere I can see them. I could use my phone calendar to pop up a reminder. A success tracker is also a good idea. I can meet my goal of being more creative by using a bullet journal to create my own success tracker.
  5. Accountability is a big part of success. I need someone to ask me about how I am doing, or someone that is willing to go for a walk with me a couple of times a week. Involve someone who is willing to help and push. My husband is great at this. As soon as I tell him my goal is eating something green every day, he will ask me about it every day.
  6. Make it fun. Achieving a goal is supposed to feel good. I might reward my success with a massage, or a new pair of pants, etc. And I want it to be fun along the way. Some gyms now have cardio cinema, a room where they play movies while you do cardio! Sure, it’s missing the popcorn, but I think I will live.
  7. Consider a penalty clause. Whoa, that sounds hardcore, but fear is a great motivator. What are the consequences if I do not stick with my goal? My day trip to the beach in June might get cancelled. I don’t want to be mean to myself and at the same time personal accountability is an important lesson in life.
  8. Involve friends. Going for a walk by myself is nice. Going for a walk with a friend is better. If I had a four-legged best friend, they would make me go for a walk twice a day.
  9. Add an emergency clause. What will I do if something comes up and I cannot meet my daily obligation? This is the compassion part of the practice. Making allowances for failure is important. Sometimes failure is a reminder of why I started down this path in the first place. If I shame myself for failing, instead of using it as motivation, I have done myself a deep disservice.

Personal and spiritual growth is not easy, but it is necessary for our lives to flow with ease. Without this expansion, we remain stuck in the past and our suffering. Just as the seed must be destroyed for the tree to grow, this process is not without struggle and difficulty. Looking back, we find that the journey was worth it.

“Until one is committed, there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back, always ineffectiveness… The moment one commits oneself, then Providence moves too.”

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

About the Author

Rose Kress

Rose Kress ERYT-500, C-IAYT, YACEP, Owner/Director of the LifeForce Yoga Healing Institute, and author of Awakening Your Inner Radiance with LifeForce Yoga. She directs retreats and training programs on using LifeForce Yoga to manage your mood.

One thought on “Finding Success in Achieving Our Goals”

  1. Barbara J Farrell says:

    Great info, Rose. Have studied it before in different forms but so enjoy hearing it again and again.

Leave a comment.

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Sign up for our Research Newsletter

Cart

What People Say

“I gained perspective of who I am in the world and this will change my life significantly.” — Mary Ford, artist, Southport, CT
“I have found the pranayama (breathing practices) especially easy to introduce in a clinical setting. Some people have benefited quickly in unexpected and transformative ways.” — Liz Brenner, LICSW, LFYP, Watertown, MA
“I began a fantasy during the meditation exercise... almost as if I’d been there. It’s now an on-going work of fiction.” — Serian Strauss, Tanzania
“I gained tools for working with my own depression and with my clients’ depressions.” — Robert Sgona, LCSW, RYT, psychotherapist, Yoga teacher, Camden, ME.
“I integrate strategies like mantra tones and pranayama, but above all I invite myself and those I teach to cultivate svadhyaya, to practice self-observation without judgment.” — Barbara Sherman, RYT 200, LFYP, Tucson, AZ
“This program changed my life in a significant way. It helped me connect with the spirit which is something you can’t get from psychotherapy and medication.” – G. W., artist, Pittsburgh, PA
“Words do not do justice to all that I learned. This workshop changed my life!” — Jen Nolan, Teacher, Cortland, NY
“My life is already changed! I will use the tools I learned in my own practice and in my work. I feel safe and seen.” — Susan Andrea Weiner, MA, teacher/expressive arts facilitator, El Cerrito, CA.
“I have gained a softer heart, more receptive mind, and tools to enrich both personal and professional aspects of my life.” – Regina Trailweaver, LICSW, clinical social worker, Hancock, VT.
“I have been reminded that I am not on this path alone, that others are sharing the journey that sometimes seems so difficult. I have also been reminded of the importance of daily practice and I will do that. The whole program has been an incredible experience for me. Thank you!” — Lorraine Plauth, retired teacher, Voorheesville, NY
“I feel profoundly transformed, both physically and emotionally. The connection between mind, body and spirit was clearly evident to me, but revealed to me through this workshop as an integrally vital link to overall health.” — Nadine Richardson, program manager at rehab agency, Monroe, CT
“I utilize the LFY techniques in both a class room setting and one-on-one environment. The skills have infused my teachings with compassion, mindfulness, and awareness.” — Kat Larsen, CYT, LFYP
I absolutely love this stuff! I have been using it with my clients and I am just finding it to be so incredibly helpful. There seriously something for everything. Although I am not as skilled as I hope to be someday, even at my level of training I’m finding that I am beginning to figure out what to do. It just blows my mind! - Christine Brudnicki, MS, LPC
“A client who returned said, "When I came before, you helped me understand and get where I wanted to go. Now you show me yoga practices I use to help myself understand and get where I want to go.” — Sherry Rubin, LCSW, BCD, LFYP, Downingtown, PA
“This workshop has changed so much — my self-image and my life. My own heart’s desire is 100% clear. I gained tools to help myself and others to live life fully.” — Marcia Siegel, Yoga teacher, therapist, Carlsbad, CA.
“My personal practice will change, as well as my yoga classes. I have a better understanding of yoga!” — Andrea Gattuso, RYT, Yoga Teacher, Hackettstown, N.J.
“I came hoping to learn to move past some of the obstacles blocking my creativity. Over the course of this weekend, I feel I’ve gained a certain measure of faith in myself and in my ability to change. I also had some realizations that I believe will be very helpful to me. I feel encouraged. Both the content and presentation of this program were so well-thought out that I can’t think of any way to improve it.” — Andrea Gollin, writer & editor, Miami, FL
“Yoga Skills for Therapists is the ideal resource for those who want to bring yoga practices into psychotherapy or healthcare. Weintraub, a leader in the field of yoga therapy, offers evidence-based, easy-to-introduce strategies for managing anxiety, improving mood, and relieving suffering. Helpful clinical insights and case examples emphasize safety, trust, and skillful adaptation to the individual, making it easy to apply the wisdom of yoga effectively in the therapeutic context.” — Kelly McGonigal, PhD, author, Yoga for Pain Relief, Editor-in-Chief, International Journal of Yoga Therapy
“Giving my clients a strategy and permission to quiet their minds and rebalance the sympathetic nervous system has been very beneficial to them and in our work together.” — Sue Dilsworth, PhD, RYT 200, LFYP, Allendale, MI
“My patients can now have the same effects as many medications without having to actually take medication!” — Deborah Lubetkin, PSY.D, LFYP, West Caldwell, NJ
“This workshop helped me rededicate my energies and begin to work through some of the blocks I’ve felt creatively.” — Steve Mark, college professor, New Haven, CT
“I have found the LFYP training to be incredibly useful in giving people specific tools to use in maintaining physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual balance, and further opening their intuitive abilities.” — Nancy Windheart, RYT-200, LFYP, Reiki Master, Animal communication teacher, Prescott, AZ
“I learned lots of ways to reduce the anxiety and depression of my patients and myself.” – Aviva Sinvany-Nubel, PhD, APN, CNSC, RN, psychotherapist, Bridgewater, N.J.
“I have gained an incredible opening and clearing of old obstructions. I hope to return to my life and fill this opening with things I love to do and that give me joy!” — Lisa Shine, administrative assistant, Ballston Lake, NY
Scroll to Top