Today’s post is about how to organize your goals to get better and faster results.
When I first started my attempts to set goals, I had a ton of goals. And I kept flitting back and forth because I wanted them all to succeed.
But much like trying to make our brains multi-task (pro tip: it does not work), I got less than what I was aiming for. Sigh.
Today we are going to learn how to get organized for goal setting success. Let’s dive in.
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Organizing When You Have Too Many Goals
For many people, myself included, setting goals can be tricky. When I first started trying goal setting, I had tons of goals.
Tons.
So what happens when you have so many goals you do not know what to work on first?
I mean besides confusion, which is common among new goal setters.
The good news is that I have a bunch of solid and practical tips to help you figure out what you should be doing with all those goals.
And we start by organizing them in a meaningful way.
Set one goal for each life category
The categories are:
- Finance – use this category to set money goals you want to achieve
- Health & fitness – use this for weight loss goals or increasing physical activity
- Relationships – Family, friends, co-workers…how do you want to improve these relationships?
- Personal growth – use this category to set goals for self-care, self-help or doing more charity work
- Career – use this category to decide if it is time to quit your job or to go after that better position
These are really basic categories, and there are more, but this is a good place to get started.
If you set too many goals, it takes longer to get results. So write out all the goals you have for each category.
Then, to start organizing your goals, assign them according to priority within that category.
Look for overlaps
Sometimes there is a natural and logical relationship between goals and categories, which makes them easier to organize.
Suppose you want to get healthier and to do self-care activities more often.
- Set a goal to give yourself a pedicure after a week of eating healthy with no cheats.
Sometimes two goals seem to be in direct opposition to each other, like wanting to travel and having more time at home.
- Write out both goals and next to each of them write out why you want to do each of them.
You might find that what you want is to be away from work.
- Your real goal might be to change careers.
Or, you might discover that you can satisfy your desire for travel with a short vacation or a long drive with the family.
Get to the essence of the goal, and it will be easier to figure out.
Make the time
We tell ourselves there are “only so many hours in a day,” and that we’re “too busy” to take on anything else right now.
Your time is precisely that – yours.
Instead of saying “I don’t have time to learn a language,” try saying, “I’m not making time to learn a new language.”
Once you make a decision, you do not have to decide about that again unless your priorities about it change.
This frees up mental space in your brain to focus on what actually matters to you.
We always find the time for the things that matter.
Be flexible
It’s a good thing to put a timeline together and have definite dates and time-sensitive goals.
But remember that life happens, and often it even gets in the way.
There is an ancient Greek saying that goes: “If you want to make the gods laugh, tell them your plans.”
Having milestones and plotting points along the timeline is good, but don’t hold yourself to it so rigidly that you cannot adapt to the occasional curveball.
If it feels to you like you have too many goals or if the ones you do have are fighting each other, then find the essence of each one.
That will help you determine what’s most important to you right now.
Then work on one goal at a time.
By concentrating on which one means the most to you right now, you’ll put those goals into perspective, until they don’t seem like so much anymore.
You may find that once you progress with a goal, you need to refocus other secondary goalsClick To TweetMind Mapping Tools to Help You Organize Your Thoughts
Mind mapping is a brainstorming technique where visual diagrams are used to show how thoughts or ideas are connected.
The process is commonly used in project planning and presentations.
Mindmaps also work well for discovering a clear path forward if you are confused about what to do next.
In today’s digitally-focused world, it’s easier to create and share mind maps than ever before.
Here are a few cloud-based applications that let you “brain dump” all your thoughts so you can pick through and organize them.
Sometimes just looking at our thoughts on paper gives us clarity on how to proceed.
Click the blue link to visit the website and see if the app can work for your needs.
Canva
If you use Canva to create graphics for your website, you may be surprised to know that they have a ton of templates for mind-mapping.
Here is a snip from the mind map templates section of Canva, just to show you how nice they look.
If you are interested in creating mindmaps this way, here is my affiliate link for Canva. Alternatively, click the above image to go to the website.
FreeMind
I use FreeMind and it is pretty simple and straightforward to use.
FreeMind is free software written in Java.
I downloaded it onto my pc and have an icon in the taskbar so I can mindmap whenever I feel like it.
I like to do “brain dumps” into FreeMind, so I can get an idea of what I should finish up and what I need to plan for .
Bubbl.us
Bubbl.us is a free tool that allows you to create online “trees” in order to brainstorm and map ideas.
Start with a central topic, then add new topics either at the same level or one level lower.
Bubbl.us will format these bubbles into a tree automatically, though you can also move the bubbles around to suit your needs.
You can also change the color and size of your bubbles to bring style to your brainstorming session. Bubbl.us is free, but an account is required in order to create or edit a tree.
Coggle
Coggle is a free and easy mind mapping application that you can sign in to via your Google account.
When creating a mind map with their software, Coggle will automatically randomize the color of each branch. You may change it to whatever color you wish by clicking on the branch you want to change.
When you have completed your mind map, you can download and share it with your friends or co-workers.
Not only that, but you may allow the people that you share your mind map with to edit the content too.
It also gives you the option to look at what your mind map looked like before you allowed other people to make changes on it.
ClickUp
Yet another way to envision a workflow, Clickup not only does mind mapping but it also has other diagram and chart options, such as Kanban.
When I first looked at ClickUp, I thought it would be like Trello, but it is more like a project management system with the ability to plan marketing promotions and organize goals.
SpiderScribe
SpiderScribe is an online-based brainstorming and mind mapping tool that allows you to easily share your mind map with others.
You can use SpiderScribe to connect files, notes and even calendar events on maps you can design how you want.
Your maps are stored in the cloud, which means that you and the people you choose to share the map with can access and edit it at any time.
SpiderScribe offers a free personal account and offer upgraded “pro” and “business” options for a small fee.
Popplet
Popplet is a versatile mind mapping tool that allows multiple users to work on the same project.
Popplet allows users to add media such as images or video to their maps.
Maps can also have tags or categories applied to them, which makes them easy to sort through later.
Popplet can be used both on PC and iOS compatible devices, though no Android version is currently available.
GroupMap
GroupMap is all about making team-based activities easier.
You can create or select a map, then invite a team to comment, collaborate and even vote on the best ideas.
Everyone gets to add their views to the brainstorming session and GroupMap collects these ideas and displays them all in a group view for comment and for voting.
GroupMap is easy to use, offers a free account option, and gives every member of the team a voice when it comes to collaborating.
These are just a few of the mind mapping tools available online. There are many other services available offering mind mapping resources and other useful brainstorming tools.
It’s up to you to decide which is best to help you and your team organize your ideas.
Resources to Help With Your Business Goals
There are plenty of business owners who have made their businesses successful through the effective use of goals.
The better they become at implementing those goals, the more successful the businesses seem to become.
And it is something that people get better with practice. Why not use these successful experiences to help with your business?
Learn More About Business Goals
The first resource is yourself.
Resources found online can be a tremendous help when trying to learn about setting goals.
Check YouTube.com for videos on the subject.
Be aware that not every video will contain good information.
And not every video creator has expertise to offer.
Take each video with a grain of salt.
Udemy is a good resource for training on business goals.
Udemy is an online education platform that offers courses at different price points. You may find several courses on the same subject, with some discounted and others at full price.
Users rate the trainers, which you can use as a basis for your decision.
Read Profiles of Successful Business Leaders
Many successful business leaders share how they became successful, such as Tony Robbins and Jack Canfield.
You will find a common theme among these leaders in the area of setting goals. They may go about different ways to do this, so this is a valuable resource.
If you can find profiles of people within the same industry as you, that is a bonus.
But, it is not completely necessary if you can’t.
Industry or Trade Groups
While you’ll see a lot of your competitors on these groups, most are willing to share stories of techniques they have used in their businesses.
The information they give is usually relevant to your business as you typically join groups within your industry.
LinkedIn.com is becoming a trade group of sorts with the groups that are contained within. Be sure to check this out.
Forums and Blogs
People look to forums and blogs for answers to their questions. I always recommend Reddit and Quora for current topics and opinions.
Check them both out for information that is within your industry or niche.
You can ask for tips about the goals or your business on these forums.
Keep in mind that you will get much better results when you are active on the forum.
And some groups require you to have been active on the site for some time before postingin specific groups.
For example, the blogging-type groups (i.e. email or affiliate marketing) on Reddit require a level of “karma” to be able to post in the group.
Karma are the points you get for posting anywhere on the Reddit forum.
So you can join groups related to sports or TV shows, build up karma points and then you can post in groups that require x number of karma.
Outside Groups
Resources such as Meetup.com could be used to help with formulating your business goals.
Find meetups with business owners in your area who are willing to share information on the topic.
Conclusion
I hope that you have enjoyed this post and found it helpful. Goal setting had me so confused for the longest time and that was because I was not using a system that worked for my brain.
But once I got a proper plan set up, it became much simpler and I was able to get results in a shorter amount of time. win-win!
If you would like to learn more about online marketing, be sure to sign up for my 5 Minute Guide to Internet Marketing Success guide. It is full of helpful information on what Internet Marketing is all about.
Please share with others…sharing is caring! Let me know in the comments how these tips work for you! Until next time, happy blogging and follow me on Pinterest!
-Irma 🙂
