We’re now officially a quarter of the way into the year!

Let’s be honest. Most of us gave up on our New Year’s goal in January (if we even set one in the first place). 

Now, as the winter blues are starting to fade and our energy levels are increasing, we’re wishing we would have stuck to our plan. 

“Ugh,” we think, “now I’m even further behind.”

Or we ask ourselves, “Why didn’t I just do what I said I was going to do?”

Give yourself some grace, friend.  Beating yourself up for what’s now in the past doesn’t ever help you get where you want to go.

So, let’s agree to let the past go.  Accept that you’re exactly where you’re supposed to be.  You don’t have to know why you’re here.  But, accepting that you’re here for a reason is one of the most amazing gifts you can give yourself.

I’ll repeat that in case you didn’t really let that sink in.

You are where you are for a reason. 

And being in this place right now is for you.

Now, instead of focusing your energy on changing the past, which is impossible, let’s talk about focusing your energy on creating your future.

The biggest difference between the person who meets her goals and the one who doesn’t is her thoughts.

You are one thought away from changing your life.

Really, one thought.

So, let’s talk about the simple steps for how to create a plan so you can finally get what you want.

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How to Create a Plan to Get What You Want

1. Get Clear About Where You Are Right Now

Your life can be broken into eight main categories. 

1. Career
2. Money
3. Mental and Emotional Health
4. Physical Health
5. Relationships with Family, Friends, and Kids
6. Contribution
7. Personal Growth
8. Fun, Play, Recreation

As you look at each category, you can ask yourself questions to really understand where you are right now in each area of your life.

Here are a couple questions you can ask yourself to help you get clear about how you’re doing right now in each area.

• What do I think about each category?
• If I were to tell my best friend or sister about this area of my life, what would I say? 
  • Here’s a career example: My job is just so stressful. I spend so much time working outside of my work day. I’m so busy doing things for my job that I don’t have enough time or energy for my family and everything that needs to be done at home. 
• How do I feel?
  • Here are a few examples that would fit the career example above. I’m exhausted.  I’m overwhelmed. I feel stressed.

Answering these questions for each category helps you to understand where you are right now.  Gaining this awareness is kind of like going on a road trip and knowing your starting point on the map. Without this information, it’s really hard to get where you want to go.

2. Choose What You Want to Focus on and Change

Looking into each category, think about what you like and dislike about each one.  If you have a category that you feel like you’re doing really well in, that’s great.  You can decide to leave that one as it is.  You can then focus on the other categories and decide which specific things you’d like to change.

1. As you go through each category, decide how you would rate each one on a scale of 1 – 10, with 10 being the highest rating. 
2. Then notice what you want to change in each area. For example, you may want to feel less anxious about the presentations you have to give for your job.
3. Then notice what you would like to stay the same in each category.  Focus on what you appreciate and love about each category.  For example, you might love that you make time everyday to move your body.

Taking time to work through this step will help you make a decision about what you really want to focus on and change.  After doing this, you’ll see where you want to go.

3. Create Your Game Plan for Change

Now that you know where you are and where you want to go, it’s time to create the steps that you will take in between.

I suggest starting with one area and focusing on that one area. Once you begin to make consistent progress with that, then you can add in another area.  The goal here is to make this simple and doable.

5 Steps to Create Your Game Plan

1. Identify the one area you want to work on.  
2. Write down where you are and where you want to go.
3. Brainstorm a list of all the things you’re willing to do now to move yourself closer to what you want.
4. Brainstorm the obstacles that will likely get in your way as you get started. For example, if you decided that you’re going to get up at 5:00 in the morning to workout, one obstacle might be that you’re going to be tired and not want to get up. 
5. For each obstacle, create a plan for how you’re going to overcome it. For example, maybe you put your alarm across the room so you are forced to get up in the mornings instead of hitting snooze.

I like to think about how I can make success easy for myself.  Remember that we often get excited about doing something new that we know is going to get us what we want. But in that excitement, we often create plans that are detailed and have a lot of complicated steps.

You want to make sure to set yourself up for success by simplifying this process as much as possible.

The goal here is to get started.  Once you begin to make consistent progress, you can fold in another layer.  But for now, keep things simple so your brain knows exactly what to do next.

4. Begin by Taking One Small Step Toward Your Goal

You want to start by taking the first simple step in your plan. The goal again is to move you a little bit further away from where you currently are.

Taking lots of complicated steps now to try to get there faster, will likely leave you feeling overwhelmed and burnt out.  When you feel like this, you’ll probably end up quitting on yourself.  But, you don’t have to do it this way.

Instead, take one small, simple step that helps you to keep showing up even when the motivation and excitement fades away. 

5. Keep Track of How You’re Doing

As you follow your plan, keep track of how you’re doing.  Be honest with yourself.  Getting really clear about what you’re doing, what’s working, and what isn’t working is really important throughout this journey.

When you notice what is working, you can keep taking that action.

When you notice what isn’t working, you can dig into what specifically isn’t working.  Then you can make simple changes to adjust your plan and make it work better for you.

We are not expecting perfection here.

You’re a human with a human brain and you’re trying something you’ve never done before!  It’s going to challenge you.  It’s not always going to go as planned. Let it be imperfect and somewhat messy.  Taking imperfect action, learning from it, and fine tuning your next steps is how you create your personalized plan to get what you want.

6. Stay Committed to Yourself and Your Plan

This is the step that my clients often tell me is the hardest.  Once your plan is created, you’re going to want to focus on this step over and over again.  Here are a few things that will help you to stay committed to yourself and your plan long term.

When you create a plan, make sure you’re creating time in your schedule to do what you said you wanted to do.  Put your action steps on your calendar and follow your calendar just as you would an appointment at work.

Set an alarm to go off for when you scheduled your action step.

Create a set time to check in with yourself and evaluate your progress.  I suggest doing this briefly at the end of every day.  But I suggest doing this at the end of the week too so you can evaluate your progress for the week as a whole.

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One Last Note!

Creating your own, personalized plan to get what you want is not only so much fun, but it will help you change your life.

And following these simple steps will help you improve any area of your life you’re wanting to improve.

If you want help with any of the steps I’ve shared here, I’d love to help you. Please go to my website at www.katrinaklooster.com and sign up for a free discovery call with me.