Four Surefire Ways to Reach Your Goals in 2017

I waved goodbye to 2016 by celebrating my accomplishments so I could embrace 2017 with more abundance coming my way. Yes, 2016 was filled with surprising news about my health, but I refuse to use that as a negative in my life because even a change such as breast cancer taught me more about myself!

I looked back at my 90- day goals for the year (which I call my 3-lane highway) that I had created for 2016 and I can say that I accomplished 80% of my goals. The only thing I couldn't get to was recording my audio book.

Does that mean I failed? Not at all. On the contrary, I did my best and I'm willing to look at the 80% I accomplished rather than the 20% I didn't. By focusing on the 80%, I can re-ignite my engine and tell myself that if I could do this in 2016, then I can do it again in 2017.

You must be wondering, okay it's 2017. What's my year looking like? Behavioural Science has shown that you want take the strategies that worked the year before and build on it so the next year works out even better.

Here are four surefire ways to reach your goals in 2017:

Plan Ahead

Have you planned your first 90-days yet?

The reason you want to work in 90-day cycles is because the brain can only take information in small chunks and psychologically a 90-day goal seems attainable rather than 6 months.

One of my mentors, Tim Hallbom, once said, "A goal is like a target, if you can't see it, you will shoot randomly and could end up with nothing."

I'd like to share my targets for 2017:

Planning ahead prepares and motivates you to complete the goal, but It also helps decipher any obstacles you might face. This is where you're ahead of the game! If you can foresee any obstacles that may occur, you can work on navigating them so you can get back on track and complete your goal.

Focus

One of my big goals in 2016 was to create an online course for my resilience program. I had a few requests from individuals who had read my book and wanted to practice more resilience techniques.

I took a course on how to create online courses and came up with a pilot course which was very hands on and consisted of homework and a weekly webinar for 4 weeks. After I offered the course and reflected back at what worked and what didn't, I decided, with the help of my coach, to pivot this model and work on a different model. This wasn't a failure, it was a great learning lesson. I realized that my audience was not yet ready for such a heavy course because they needed to understand the basics first. I created a smaller 3-week self-paced course and offered it as a pilot again. This has proven to work better and I'll be launching it officially in 2017.

What is your one big goal you want to focus on in 2017? In 2017, it's my third book - my journey going through breast cancer.

Build a Team

If I didn't have a team, I'd never get all this done. Goals are one thing, but breaking them down into tasks and adding routine work to your daily schedule does add up and can get overwhelming.

I've created a team that takes on tasks I don't like to do, don't know how to do, or is a waste of my time. The tasks that I delegate are:

• Graphic Design
• Laying out of PDF documents or worksheets
• Video or photo editing
• Facebook Ads
• Sending out requests for Proposals for speaking engagements
• Setting up webinars
• Bookkeeping
• House cleaning
• Website updates

Get HELP and start creating your team so you can bounce forward in 2017 and achieve your goals. I've never met my team in person, they are all over the world! Where do I find them? Go to www.upwork.com or www.fiverr.com

Consistency

Consistency creates momentum and results. In 2015, when I was writing my second book, The Resilience Reflex - 8 Keys to Transforming Barriers into Success in Life and Business, I'd write every Sunday morning between 5 and 11 in the morning because that's when I felt most alert and creative. I completed my book within five months.

In our house, Sundays are meal-planning days where my husband and I cook meals together. We've created this consistent habit because it keeps us healthy and we avoid blowing our budget on restaurant food.

Once you're consistent with a task it turns into a habit. Consistency eliminates the extra energy one has to take to make a decision, because you're already doing it and its part of your lifestyle.

President Obama told Vanity Fair:

"You'll see I wear only gray or blue suits," [Obama] said. "I'm trying to pare down decisions. I don't want to make decisions about what I'm eating or wearing. Because I have too many other decisions to make."

Can you be consistent with eating a healthy breakfast at home before you start work?  Can you be consistent with a dally activity that keeps you healthy and strong? Can you be consistent with a daily gratitude exercise that makes you wiser and resilient?

What are you going to be consistent at doing in 2017? It doesn't have to be for the whole year, it can be for 90-days only. But start somewhere.