Five Tips for Accomplishing Goals and Balance

In this episode:

How do you achieve balance in life while also reaching your big goals? Sometimes it takes an intense sprint and a lot of hustle. But with a solid action plan, focused efforts, and a commitment to stay charged, you’ll be ready to go the distance.  


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Inspired Life

I’m in a season. Maybe you can relate. It involves long hours and little time left for relaxation or recreation. Sometimes we look for a balanced life. But I also know that a lot of sacrifice goes into accomplishing goals, so that means we need to know what our priorities are.  

There was a time when I had a notebook with a master list of tasks grouped by urgent, coming soon, long-rangewishful thinking, etc. I’d copy my lists over each day but add five more things for every three I crossed off.  

Can you relate? 

Too much on the list. 
So many tasks that all seem important.
Interruptions lead to incompletion.
Forgetting something important.
A feeling like there is no time to relax.  

The problem with this system was the feeling of overwhelm and looking at that list every day. I was using something similar to a bullet journal, but it was so overwhelming. And each morning, I’d have to look through the list to figure out what was important that day.  

Sometimes I was paralyzed by not knowing where to start. Often, that meant scrapping the list and starting some sort of organizing project or something creative. But that’s about as satisfying as eating a pan of brownies when you want to lose weight. It adds a lot of guilt and no progress. 

Over time, I’ve assimilated a variety of methods into what works for me. I’ll share some tips with you here and you can sort through and decide what works for you.

Life, Repurposed

I’ve learned these five things along the way that have kept me both productive and fulfilled in what I set out to do. 

  1. Know your target outcome. 
  2. Eliminate everything that isn’t necessary. 
  3. Identify the one thing I will accomplish each day, and two small items that I’d be tempted to procrastinate.  
  4. Make room for creativity.  
  5. Celebrate wins 

You don’t have to start something on a calendar quarter. You can start 90 days of goals on any day, so why not now? 

 

Recommended Resources

1-2-3 Ideas and Progress Journal: For Achievers & List Lovers (A 3-month journal for people who don't love journaling)

 

This 90-day journal was made for achievers who love to check boxes yet need to think outside of the box. It’s set up for creating one big goal and two smaller ones Monday through Friday and a separate weekend plan.  

The 1–2–3 method includes one main goal, two smaller goals, and three things that bring you joy. Reverse the process on the weekends and choose three goals, celebrate two wins, and note one creative solution from the week. 

See some sample pages and learn more about the journal designs.  

 

 

 

Need a little more inspiration? 

Another helpful resource is Michael Hyatt on Lead to Win podcastResetting After a Busy Season. He talked about having seasons where things are out of balance because we’re launching something or managing a big project. But he has intentional down-time after that to recharge.


 


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(Please note: books posted here on my blog are purely because I want to share them. Sometimes I receive free copies for review, and other times I purchase the books. Some I get from the library. Either way, any endorsement I offer here on the blog is simply because I want to talk about the book. )

Michelle Rayburn is the author of The Repurposed and Upcycled Life: When God Turns Trash to Treasure, as well as a small group Bible study to accompany the book. Learn more about these and her other books here. A sample chapter of the book and Bible study are available for free download.

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