THIS WEEK is officially my 54^th Illustrated blog (not counting client work)… do you know what that means? I’ve kept my word and reached my goal of doing a new illustrated blog EVERY week for one year!!!! It feels SOo amazing to accomplish this and I am so excited!!!!  – And, I’m going to keep it going! I LOVE doing this blog every week – it is something I look forward to so much and it always makes me happy to hear back from you about how my blog was “exactly what you needed to hear” and if it helped you in anyway!  THANKS for the responses!  It means a lot!

But it wasn’t always this easy…

I have been a master goal maker my whole life but only now in the last few years have I really figured out how to get serious and make strategic plans to follow through. Although I’ve always had the best intentions and pure desire, sometimes that is not enough.  When I was younger I didn’t really know how to carry it out and what moves to make.  Not that I have all the answers now, but I’ve definitely picked up a few steps along the way.

I have BIG DREAMS, I mean HUGE, and I know it is my life’s purpose to fulfill these dreams – and inspire others along the way to live their dreams!!!

Sure it can get a little disheartening when you have a goal and seem to be making no visible progress after such a long time chipping away at it but my Mom always says “all overnight successes were 10 years in the making”. So hard to swallow when I first heard that (since I was on year 1 at the time) but so TRUE!

1. You really have to trust the Universe.  Quirky and abstract as it may seem, it really is so strengthening to believe in something greater than yourself that has a master plan.  When you don’t – and I’ve been there – you feel totally lost and alone. When you think about all the people who have come before you and will come after you, you have to realize that things can be done that you may not have any evidence of. These are things you can only know from trusting.  There are so many people routing for you whether you know it or not, whether you’ve met them or not and whether they are with you right now in physical form or not.

2. Figure out how you want to feel. Maybe you don’t know exactly what it is you want to DO, but you know how you want to feel.  List it out.  Is it happy, successful, healthy, strong, beautiful, loved, supported, etc.  Whatever it is, really think about it and then decide WHAT would make you feel that way.  For example: If you want to feel strong, start lifting weights. If you want to feel successful, decide what would make you feel that way. This is different for everyone so it’s important to decide what would make YOU feel this, not what society thinks it means.

3. Decide exactly what you want to do. Once you know how you want to feel, what is the big picture of whatever you want to accomplish?  What do you need to do to make this happen? Break it down into phases, tasks and mini steps.  This will help it seem less daunting and more likely for you to take the first step.

4. Choose something that you feel is SUPER FUN to do.  If it’s not, you won’t do it.  You should be excited to do this task every time you have allocated it in your calendar.  If it’s something like doing your taxes early (not fun) make it fun by realizing that you are becoming an expertise and will know so much more about your personal finance situation.

5. Plan it out.  Figure out when you want to have this goal done and then work backwards. Divide the days or months you have until your due date and assign the smaller chunks of your goals into deadlines.  Be specific. How many times a month or week will you need to do this to accomplish your goal? By having an exact time frame and day in mind you will be able to stay accountable for it.

6. Announce it to the world (or at least your friends and family). This will REALLY make you feel accountable.  There is no turning back at this point and you will feel SO good when you get the job done!

Ok now, it’s time to really step it up world!  You have to take a bite when the fruit is RIPE.  You wouldn’t keep saving those strawberries in the fridge for next week, you need to eat them now before the opportunity ceases (and they get moldy – gross).  Carpe the hell out of that Diem!

Now go get um!

Hope that inspires you!
xoxo
Emily