Tracking your Goals:
1. rewrite everything!
2. write in different colors/sizes
3. track with your phone, calendar, sticky notes, etc
4. don't be discouraged if you miss a personal deadline- just keep trying
5. write out a list of smaller steps- break the goal down into small tasks over time

Sometimes planning can seem...ineffective. Sometimes I find myself writing a goal in my planner, really motivated to complete that task, but I end up just letting it fall under my radar over time. This can be discouraging and it can make you question why you even try to plan, if all you do is write and never take action. This is normal. Simply taking the time to write your task may seem exciting, but completing it can require a bit more action. So here are some of my tips for keeping track of those goals that seem to just, slip away...

1. Rewrite everything!

If I write something just once, there's a good chance that it will be become buried underneath to-do lists, schedules, and other random thoughts. So for me, if I rewrite my goal a couple more times, it helps. Write it in the calendar, write it in your next week. Just make sure it pops up more than once, so it's harder to you to forget about it. This helps, especially if it's a bigger, long term goal.

2. Make your goal pop.

When I had application deadlines to meet, or a test date, I wrote these events in BOLD colors. I made sure it was very obnoxious. This might not work for everyone, but for me, seeing that it was visually URGENT, helped me both remember the task, and take more action, than if I had just written it in pencil.

3. Spread this goal everywhere!

Spread the news throughout your planning system, house, etc. You can set reminders in your phone, post sticky notes on your desk, or write it really big on a wall calendar. With big goals, I posted them on my fridge. That way, every time I opened the fridge, I would be reminded of that goal. Put your goal everywhere you think it would help you stay reminded. This is basically an extension of number 1.

4. Persistence
Sometimes you will plan, and you will miss your deadline. Sometimes you will plan, and it won't get done, despite your attempts. Sometimes, you will plan, and it will literally just slip your mind. This is okay. It happens to everyone. It's important to keep trying and keep planning that goal. Getting discouraged can lead to just plain giving up and letting time wash it away. If this happens to you, JUST KEEP PLANNING! and keep taking action!

5. Division

This could very well be the most important tip for managing your goal- splitting it up into small and doable tasks. When you have an intricate goal, it is really helpful to break it up into tasks you can do, because often times, if you look at a big goal head on, it's really easy to get overwhelmed. When you get overwhelmed, it gets easier to avoid that task. So, in order to avoid avoiding that task, make it manageable. Set expectations that you can do at that time, that are realistic. The more you accomplish, big or small, the more confident you feel, which leads to more action. So break up your work.