Perseverance is Key! by Sharele Hatfield

Perseverance is Key

We hear a lot about perseverance when someone has set a goal. But how does someone persevere? It's not just something magical that happens. You need a plan, accountability and a reward for yourself when you reach your goal. Let's take a look at how to plan to persevere.

Set a Goal

In order to reach a goal, you first have to set a goal. Setting a goal is actually a science. You want your goal to be SMART. SMART stands for specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and time-bound. Instead of saying something like “I want to lose weight”, you would state “I want to lose 20 pounds by losing 2 poundss per week for 10 weeks, beginning on April 1st, 2020, and ending on June 10th, 2020.  I will achieve this by using a food tracker to keep track of my food intake, drinking eight glasses of water per day, and exercising for 30 minutes per day, four days per week.”

This goal is specific because it gives a set amount of weight that you want to lose, and the steps that you will take to lose it. It is measurable because weight loss is able to be measured on a scale. It is achievable because a 2 pound per week weight loss is what doctors recommend for someone following a diet. It is realistic, because you are not wanting to lose 20 lb in 2 weeks. You are giving yourself enough time and enough realistic tools in order to accomplish it. Finally, it is time bound because there are specific dates within your goal. 

Have Accountability 

Now that you have set your goal, your next step to persevering is to have an accountability partner. Your accountability partner is someone to help you persevere to meet your goal. This can work anyway that you and your accountability partner want it to, but the most common way is to have your partner check in with you once or twice a day to make sure that you are following the steps to meet your goal. Most people cannot persevere all on their own. It takes having a partner or friend encouraging them in order for them to stay on track.

Work It

 Now that you have your steps to persevere, and your accountability partner, you need to put in the work to reach your goal. One thing that can help you persevere is to break your goal down into smaller, baby steps. This will keep your motivation up because it will not seem so overwhelming. Plan out what you intend to do to meet your goal each day, persevere through those tasks, and check in with your accountability partner.

Celebrate Your Achievement 

 Meeting your goal is quite an accomplishment, and if you decide on a reward for yourself at each stage of your goal setting, it can help you to persevere through hard times. Let's take the weight loss goal above. A reward or celebration for losing 5lbs could be going to get your nails done. A reward or celebration for losing 15 pounds could be a new pair of shoes. Decide on small rewards to give yourself along the way to keep your perseverance up!

 Perseverance is key to meeting our goals, but we all need a little help along the way. Having a clear plan, choosing an accountability partner, breaking our goal down into smaller steps, and rewarding ourselves along the way will help us maintain a persevering spirit!

Join the conversation.  Comment below.

Subscribe above
Find me on IG at https://www.instagram.com/p2live/
Find me on FB at https://www.facebook.com/stuckerhatfield


Find me on Twitter @4lifeofpurpose