Do you know that feeling of excitement when planning and setting goals for the upcoming month, quarter, or year, but when you actually have to sit down and get the work done, the excitement wears off super fast? Knowing how to set goals you actually want to accomplish isn’t something easy.

You find yourself feeling unmotivated, uninspired, and overwhelmed, which makes you procrastinate on these goals that once used to excite you so much…

Sounds relatable, right?

Often, the planning portion is the coolest part of a project. You’re in CEO mode, considering different opportunities and strategically planning projects. I mean, I get it, I absolutely love planning as well.

However, as a solopreneur, in addition to the “CEO mode”, there is also a big chunk of your time that you have to be in “employee mode”, which means that you have to actually show up and work on the goals and projects the “CEO you” has previously planned.

So, in this blog post, I will teach you tips on how to extend this initial excitement and how to set goals in such a way that you actually feel excited to do the work.

Related Reads:

• The Best Productivity App for Managing Your Life And Business
• 8 Mistakes You’re Probably Making That Are Holding You Back From A Streamlined and Simplified Business
• Why Goal Setting Is Outdated And What You Should Do Instead
• 12 mistakes you are probably making that are killing your productivity
• How To Stop Procrastination And Start Achieving Your Goals

#1. How to set goals & break it down into small chunks.

Don’t you agree that one of the most demotivating things when it comes to achieving your goals, is that feeling that you’re just not moving ahead even though you’re putting in the effort?

One of the biggest mistakes when it comes to how to set goals is setting way too large goals without breaking them down into mini-goals.

Say that your goal for the upcoming quarter is to launch a new digital course. That’s a big project that will probably take several months to accomplish, depending on how extensive the course is.

So, what I recommend you to do is to break the project down into a list of mini-goals. Try to make sure that every mini goal takes you a maximum of 2 hours to get done. If it will probably take you longer, try to break it down to even smaller goals.

Why? Because in this way you can check things off your list quite easily so that you feel like you are actually getting ahead and are moving the needle forward in your biz. This will help you a lot with keeping your motivation up.

#2. Don’t jump from one thing to another one

This is definitely a difficult one (also for me!) but try to not fall into the shiny object syndrome trap.

It’s completely normal that sometimes out-of-the-blue new opportunities arise that look super exciting.

Maybe you see someone else talking about certain business opportunities that interest you, maybe you see something on social media or maybe even a random dream or shower thought makes you fantasize about a certain biz idea.

And I mean, those moments are absolutely golden, so please go ahead take a (digital) notebook and write all of these ideas down in as much detail as you possibly can, and save them somewhere where you can easily get back to.

However, what we have to try not to do is let ourselves get blindsided by these shiny objects. Just because you have an amazing idea, doesn’t mean that you have to pursue it right now.

It doesn’t matter how amazing the idea is… try to not just pause everything you are currently working on and completely get distracted by this new shiny project.

First, not only will falling into the shiny object trap probably take the excitement away from the project you are currently working on, but also make you end up with lots of half-finished projects and delays in the goals you’re currently trying to accomplish.

Don’t judge yourself if you have done this in the past, believe me, I’ve been there too.

Just promise me that when you are in a similar situation next time, you take a sec to question whether it’s the right time to start this new project. And in most cases, it’s a much better idea to finish the project you are working on first and do it well before moving on to a new project.

#3. How to set goals that give you enough flexibility

What I recently started doing was giving myself much more space for spontaneity.

I used to over plan a lot, meaning that whole my day was planned out weeks in advance from the moment I woke up until the moment I went to sleep.

And even though I was indeed extremely productive on some days, on other days I just didn’t felt like following my super rigid plan. And then, I would just rebel and cancel my day completely not doing anything productive on purpose to kinda “restore the balance”, right?

I find that especially during summer, I just find myself in a more spontaneous and adventurous mood, which makes me crave more freedom in my day-to-day life and business.

So what I started to do recently, and I genuinely have enjoyed so far is ONLY having my quarterly goals and monthly to-do lists and that’s it.

I just have to make sure that of course all my deadlines are met and all the to-do’s of the month are accomplished so that I stay on track with my quarterly goals but all the rest, is completely up to me.

And that creates this freedom to spontaneously decide what I will be working on, on a certain day (of course it has to be mentioned on my monthly to-do list). But for example, on some days I just don’t feel like writing content, and I’m much more in a graphic design mood, and on other days I feel naturally inspired to sit down and write.

I’m also alternating between working from home, working from a cute coffee bar, working from outside to have this other view to work from.

And I’m also alternating a bit between working in the morning and finishing my workday earlier and sleeping in and working late in the evenings.

In conclusion, I have been enjoying all this spontaneity so much, it makes it so much more fun to get work done and has me helped me a lot with naturally feeling inspired and motivated.

#4. Give yourself a clean slate when you are feeling unmotivated

When you applied all 3 previous steps:

• So you are breaking your big goals down into small chunks with a maximum completing time of 2 hours
• You are not getting distracted by shiny objects
• You are infusing a sufficient dosis of spontaneity into your life and biz

… but you are still feeling unmotivated and uninspired, then try to create a new, fresh start, a clean slate.

There are so many things you can do to achieve this “clean slaty” feeling which never fails to make me feel fresh, motivated, and inspired again. A few examples:

• Decluttering your computer and re-organising your digital files
• Creating a new vision board and setting it as your desktop wallpaper
• Getting a new, cute notebook and brain dumping everything that is cluttering your mind
• Reorganizing your desk and workspace

5. Get an accountability partner

Getting an accountability partner won’t only help you with staying consistent in getting your to-do’s done, but it also makes you feel that you aren’t alone in this journey.

Mentioning the tasks that you got done in the last week and being able to chat about what is coming ahead the next week can be so motivating.

6. Don’t only work hard, but also play hard!

You won’t be able to keep up your motivation in the long term if you don’t take enough time to recharge and take some time off.

I mean, working hard so that you are staying on track with your quarterly goals is of course important, but make sure to actually celebrate your victories and plan in leisure time as well in your days.

After taking a day or two off, I feel always so refreshed, motivated, and inspired to get some work done.

Related Reads:

• The Best Productivity App for Managing Your Life And Business
• 8 Mistakes You’re Probably Making That Are Holding You Back From A Streamlined and Simplified Business
• Why Goal Setting Is Outdated And What You Should Do Instead
• 12 mistakes you are probably making that are killing your productivity
• How To Stop Procrastination And Start Achieving Your Goals

Let’s Chat!

What do you do to stay motivated to accomplish your goals?