Making Sure You Accomplish All Your Summer Goals
I recently wrapped up my junior year of college. This is exciting because I look forward to spending time with my friends and family this summer. At the same time, though, I must prepare for my senior year of college—my last year. Scary. Because of this, I have many summer goals I need to accomplish.
I’m the kind of person who cannot be idle for days on end. I want to be working towards something constantly. Even though I am very goal-oriented, sometimes it’s challenging to check all of my summer goals off my list. There are many things I want to achieve over the next three months, and for once, I want to say that I did it all.
If you’re like me and don’t want to waste these summer months, here are some guidelines for accomplishing your goals!
Think About What’s Important to You
One way to ensure you won’t accomplish everything you want is if you take on too much. Before making an official list of goals, consider what is important to you. Do you need to save up money for a car? Do you want to learn a new language? Do you want to make money with your blog?
Figuring out what is necessary and valuable to you will help cut out some extraneous tasks that keep you from checking everything off your list. A bonus from this step is that if you set summer goals that are truly important to you, it’s more likely you will be motivated to get them done!
Write Down a List of Your Summer Goals
This step is vital to your success. How will you complete them if you haven’t outlined your summer goals? It would be best if you clarified precisely what you want to accomplish. Who knows, you might surprise yourself while refining your goals.
Here is my list of summer goals. As you can see, it includes small tasks (such as “clean off desk”) and big ones (such as “research future jobs”). It’s good to have some variation so that you can finish these small tasks along the way and boost your confidence to help you tackle the loftier goals.
I like to make my list on paper because it is a physical reminder of what I must do. You might prefer to create a vision board, use an app on your phone, or keep a file on your computer. Whatever will work well for you, then go for it.
Talk About Your Summer Goals
Tell your friends and family what you hope to accomplish. They will love hearing about it, trust me. Making others know your goals will keep you accountable because they will likely ask you about your progress throughout the summer. If you want to be able to brag, you’ll need to accomplish something by then!
Talking about your goals also makes them concrete instead of just an idea. Writing them down is the first step, but talking about them makes them even more real. When factual, you are more likely to take them seriously and get them done.
Figure Out the Process
For those bigger goals, please make a separate list with the steps you need to take to achieve them. If you figure out the process that will lead to your success, you’ve now broken down a big goal into several smaller tasks. Doing this will make your lofty goals more manageable. Therefore, you’ll be more likely to get them done.
Set Your Deadlines
This step is a very important one. They will probably never get done if you don’t set a timeline to accomplish your summer goals. That’s because, without a deadline, there is no sense of urgency! You will end up procrastinating and avoid making those improvements in your life. Setting a deadline will make your goal a priority.
I like setting a deadline for those big goals for each step. Remember how you broke your significant goals into smaller ones? Set a deadline for each part, as well as the big goal. That way, you will have a better strategy to succeed.
I like to write everything down in my planner. I use an Erin Condren planner, and I love it! I have space to write my schedule daily, and there’s always extra room for notes and lists. Get your Erin Condren planner here!
Utilize The Best Resources
The Beatles said it best when they wrote the song “I Get By With A Little Help From My Friends.” None of us can accomplish everything on our own! That’s why it’s essential to utilize the best resources out there.
For example, invest in Rosetta Stone if one of your summer goals is to learn another language. If you want to make money with your blog, sign up for Blogging Money Update. If you’re going to clean out your home, sign up for an account on Decluttr. There are so many great resources out there that will help you reach your goals.
Structure Your Days
Though it may sound contradictory, managing your time is easier if you have less. That’s because you will focus better when you have less time to finish something.
Say you give yourself three hours to write a blog post. Knowing that you must research, write the first draft, and edit in this amount of time, you are less likely to waste time on Facebook or texting while working.
Cross Things Off Your List
I feel so accomplished whenever I cross something off my to-do list. Showing that something has been completed motivates me to move on to the next thing. It is proof that I am making progress, and that’s exciting. When you have achieved a goal, big or small, check it off your list and celebrate a bit!
Look Back On Your Progress
Taking things day by day might obscure the fantastic progress you’re making. Look back every two weeks to see how your goals are progressing. You might find you’re further along than you thought or discover you must pick up the pace. Either way, checking in on yourself will ensure you stay on the right track.
If you set your summer goals, make deadlines, and keep tabs on your progress, you are sure to have success. No more wasting your summer days away! Here’s to a successful summer of personal growth and work to make a better future.
Resources
