How To Get Things Done Like A Billion Dollar Company

This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure for more info.

When it comes to our day jobs it seems like we can deliver any report, PowerPoint or insert random solution here on time and high quality....

BUT when it comes to our goals in life (money, side hustle, weight loss, etc.) we will sometimes let our goals fall flat and due dates come and go without moving one step in the right direction? 

Maybe it's because at work we have a team that's depending on us. 

Or there's a project manager setting clear due dates and check points. 

Or you really, really, REALLY want that promotion - so you know you have no choice but to get this work done. 

Creating a life you want through earning more money, creating a thriving side hustle, becoming healthier or spending more time with family and friends is like giving your entire life a promotion. You know you can benefit from them in the same way... so it's time to start taking them just as seriously as you do your day job. 

Here's the deal, you can give yourself a good ol' life promotion using the same project management tactics you do at your 9-to-5. 

Here are the steps I use to totally crush every goal I set (and I stole them right from my project manager - she's a certified goal-crushing boss) ... 

Side note:This strategy will not turn you into a goal-focused robot (because real bosses leave time to be spontaneous wallflowers or hit up a bottomless mimosa brunch at a moments notice). Instead, it'll help you master the goals that matter - the ones you want to keep BY ANY MEANS NECESSARY.

Have someone to hold YOU accountable.

At my 9-to-5, our project manager will call us, email us, and send us instant messages on the day something is due and make sure that we deliver.

Now I'm going to be very clear - I aint got that kinda money to do this in my side hustle. BUT I do have a Facebook group that holds me accountable and makes sure I get my life together and commit to my projects. We regroup every Sunday to talk about our goals for the week and we even will kick each other in the pants if we need a bit of tough love. 

When I was creating The Vision Board Planner, I was hesitant to post it and wanted to do yet another additional round of edits or one additional design change before releasing it on my site. That's when one of the members said "PUT IT OUT ALREADY!" and reminded me that I'd put hard work and effort into it to make it great. At this point I'm just afraid to put it out there - and there was nothing stopping me from re-editing and re-designing it later. End result? I hit my goal. 

Make sure you have someone - anyone - to hold you accountable. And if you friends are a bunch of party animals that spend more time thinking about the next club than their next goal, join a Facebook group.

Set a concrete due date for your end goal.

You know in your day job, your boss always says "Can I have this by (insert date here)" when giving you a new project. 

This is where goal setting in life gets tricky. You can give yourself a due date all day long, but there is no one you have to "deliver" it to except your future self. It's also much easier to sit on the couch watching Netflix and convince yourself that you can always do it later. #TheStruggleIsReal

If you want to get results like a boss, you're going to have to set goals like them, too. Set an end date for your goal - one that doesn't give you too much time or too little - and then communicate that to your accountability partner (or your Facebook group).

Setting your end date will also help you with planning out your steps and making sure you're ready on time. 

Brainstorm every step you'll need to take to get from where you are to where you're going.

At your 9-to-5, you'll make sure that you spell out every step of your project before you get started and get clarity from co-workers, mentors and bosses. 

In life, it's tempting to just wing it. That's one way to get it done, but you're more likely to complete your goals if you take the same brainstorming approach before you even get started. 

Breaking your goals down into small steps is an important part of the goal setting process because within each goal are small projects that must be completed. For example, if you're going to lose weight, you'll need to get your eating habits in order. You may have to research different diets and choose one. You might have to find a gym that you like and create workout routine.

Keeping all of those steps in your head and overloading your brain will probably give you a major headache (and even keep you from ever getting started). Instead, think about every tiny step that needs to be done and then write them down.

Your goal becomes less daunting and much more approachable once you can see the small steps outlined in one list. 

Estimate how many days it will take to complete each task.

Now let's get to the important part in planning out your goal.

You'll need to put all of the steps you'll need to complete your goal in order. Then, write down how long it will take you to complete all of your small projects if you do them WELL. (That means you're giving yourself enough time to deep dive into the project, research it, complete it and then check it to make sure it's right.)

In other words don't think about how much time will it take to complete your goal if everything goes perfectly right and you don't hit any road blocks.

Let's get one thing straight...

Real Life = Random Things Happen = Plan For It!

Once you have your plan laid out it's much easier to see the journey you have to take from start to finish.

Add in your vacation + self care days.

To piggy back on my rant, a good project plan also adds in your vacation days and your self care days. While it may seem tempting to "hustle hard" or join the #TeamNoSleep movement, I wouldn't plan it into your work schedule.

Imagine if you planned to pull an all-nighter to write your book AND YOU ACCIDENTALLY FALL ASLEEP (blasphemy!). That would immediately put you off track and inhibit you from reaching your goals. To have a good plan, be realistic about your habits and your me time. Build in Christmas, Easter, birthdays and whatever else is important to you into your schedule. 

I'll be really honest about my life... I don't work on Friday nights or Saturdays. It's actually pretty difficult sometimes to NOT work (because I'm really excited about my work and want to work in my free time) but building in that time to spend with family and friends is important for my sanity. It also allows me to approach my work the next week with a fresh mind and super excited about tacking the week LIKE A BOSS. 

Take note of the holidays, weekends and the days you spend with your family. Your plan should work for you - not the other way around so build that time into your plan!

Put it all together into one view.

Now that you have a plan on each step you need to accomplish your goal AND how long it'll take you to do each one, it's time to plan out exactly how you'll get from where you are to where you're going by task and by date (including your self care days).

Planning out your goals with this system will make sure that you stick to your goals all the way through AND have the right checkpoints in place to accomplish your goals the right way and on time - just like you do at your 9-to-5.  #winning

Want To Start Planning Your Vision Board Party? 

1. Download the FREE vision board party planning checklist.

2. Craft your inspiring vision board workshop talk with our FREE High Impact Storytelling Journal Prompts. 

3. Plan, promote & host your first (or next) professional & profitable vision board workshop with our signature course, Sold Out Vision Board Parties.

---

About the author

Cyrene is a fun and accomplished workshop facilitator, learning and development guru and Human Resources professional. Being at the helm of Thrive Lounge has been a long-time dream. Through vision board workshops she plans to accomplish two-way learning. Sharing her vast years of knowledge to motivate and encourage others; while simultaneously getting the reward of great energy, ideas and questions to ponder back from each group. A super win-win. Please join our Thrive Lounge community so you too can benefit!

The EASIEST Goal Planning Strategy To Make Your Dreams A Reality In Exactly One Year

This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure for more info.

At the beginning of each year, I become the old grandma that you want to avoid at Thanksgiving dinner. You know, the one that’s constantly asking you "how's school going" (when you spent way too much time drinking and may have to drop a class or two) and the unavoidable “what’s next for you” question you’ve been ducking by quickly stuffing some turkey in your mouth.

My favorite question to ask by far is not the typical “What are your new year’s resolution?” No, it catches people much more off guard than that.

I have the audacity to ask people something they have not thought about at all…

What’s your plan to do that?

You see, I’ve learned one thing about New Year’s Resolutions (and goals in general). People LOVE setting goals at the beginning of the year but they don’t create their plan at the beginning of the year.

However, if you add this one, simple step to your goal setting process, you’ll be able to better determine what you need to do to accomplish your goal.

Thinking about your goal in terms of the goals you have to accomplish on  a quarterly basis and then breaking that down further into the smaller goals you must accomplish monthly does a few things for your brain:

• It let’s you know that your big goal IS POSSIBLE.

• It helps you understand EXACTLY WHAT IT WILL TAKE TO GET THERE

• It puts you in a mindset that your goal will be accomplished OVER THE COURSE OF A YEAR

That third point is the most important because it transforms your mindset from having a goal – to having a long term goal that you are not prepared to dedicate yourself to.

Now let’s get to the fun part… How do you break down your large goal into quarterly goals and then monthly goals?

Before you get started breaking down your goal, you need to have one LARGE goal to work with. If you're still nailing down your big goal (or still searching for some mental clarity in your vision, check out How To Create Your 5-Year Vision (even if you don’t know where to start). 

Once you have your big goal, it's time to break it down into the tiny steps you'll make over the next year to make this your best year ever.

CREATE YOUR QUARTERLY GOALS

As a child, I was a serious gamer. (I actually had an entire birthday party where I asked my friends to show up with their Gameboys to play Pokemon together.) I would get super excited when I hit a checkpoint and now I could do no wrong in the game. No matter what I did, I was not going back to square one.

Think about your quarterly goals like a checkpoint in a video game. Once you've crossed one of these large hurdles, you're well on your way to completing your goal. 

What four huge milestones do you have to hit to be able to accomplish your goals at the end of the year?

For Example, if you want to write a book you may want to:

• Quarter 1: Create the book outline and the characters.

• Quarter 2: Write the first draft of the book.

• Quarter 3: Get feedback.

• Quarter 4: Write the final version of the book.

(Side note: Before you legit writer’s start judging, please know that this is my loose – very loose – interpretation of what it would take to write a book. I understand everyone’s process is different.)

Now that you know exactly what you want to do for each quarter of the year, you have already achieved one massive benefit: You don’t have to focus on everything all at once. That means that while you’re creating your outline, you don’t have to concern yourself with writing the book. In fact, you can clear your mind of the next steps entirely because you know exactly what you will do – and when you’re going to do them.

BREAK DOWN THE GOALS INTO THE MONTHLY GOALS.

With three months in each quarter, we’re going to take the quarterly goals and break them down further into three bite-sized goals.

Let’s take the Quarter 1 Goal from the first example.

Quarter goal: Create the book outline and develop characters

• January: Create the outline for the book

• February: Develop the plot, conflict and scene

• March: Describe the characters look and personalities

By breaking your goals down in this way you can celebrate your small wins each month, while still having a legitimate plan to get to the rest of your goals. You can also work on one goal without the pressure of feeling like you have to do "it all" right now.

With that mental weight off your shoulders you can fully immerse yourself into what you're working on right now. You can slowly think through exactly how you want your book to flow (or start your weight loss journey with eating one less piece of fresh-baked sugar cookies or reclaim your time by NOT letting Netflix force you into an additional episode of Stranger Things) knowing that you'll get to the next step of the process shortly. #GoodLuckWithThat

Taking some time to develop your largest goal into an annual plan will help you map out your goals and ensure that you complete them by the end of the year.

Happy Goal-Crushing!

xoxo

Want To Start Planning Your Vision Board Party? 

1. Download the FREE vision board party planning checklist.

2. Craft your inspiring vision board workshop talk with our FREE High Impact Storytelling Journal Prompts. 

3. Plan, promote & host your first (or next) professional & profitable vision board workshop with our signature course, Sold Out Vision Board Parties.

---

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Cyrene is a fun and accomplished workshop facilitator, learning and development guru and Human Resources professional. Being at the helm of Thrive Lounge has been a long-time dream. Through vision board workshops she plans to accomplish two-way learning. Sharing her vast years of knowledge to motivate and encourage others; while simultaneously getting the reward of great energy, ideas and questions to ponder back from each group. A super win-win. Please join our Thrive Lounge community so you too can benefit!

The High-Achiever's 7-Step Guide to Setting Crystal Clear Goals

This new year my family did something we never have done before. In an effort to spend more time with their adult children who have gone from smiling children to stressed out college students with on-and-off relationships and the occasional all-nighter, my parents planned a trip to the Poconos for the holidays. (As a family who is deathly afraid of the cold and own zero snow gear we gave a hard side-eye to the snow-infused activities and spent most of the time in the house playing Uno. #TravelFail)

2 hours before the ball in Times Square dropped signifying yet another year my mother had a trick up her sleeve. She wanted to spend one hour talking about what we did in 2017 that we were proud of... and another hour talking about what we're going to do in the new year. 

But there was a twist. 

Rather than allowing people to simply call out their New Year's resolutions, the family was given an opportunity to ask questions about each person's goals.

Through that process, we encouraged each other to think deeper about the pie in the sky goals we were setting and confidently walk into the new year with a crystal clear vision.

You don't really need a whole committee pelting you with questions to get clarity on your goals (though my family did take joy in interrogating each other). Instead, you can take your use these seven tips to think through your largest goals.

Step 1: Know Your Why

Your goals become more powerful the second you attach a significant meaning to them. Your "why" is the reason you want to accomplish a goal.

Anyone can set a goal to lose weight, pay off debt or make more money, but what does that change mean for you in your life? If you can take a step back from the actual goal and think about how your life will be impacted by this action, you'll be able create more powerful goals. 

For example: 

Your Goal: I want to pay off my student loan debt.
Better Goal: I want to pay off my student loan debt because: 

1. I will have more disposable income.

2. I can save more for retirement.

3. I can be a better role model for my daughter.

4. I can focus on investing and creating a better financial portfolio.

Having a goal is great, but understanding why you want to accomplish that goal is even better. If you can pinpoint a few good reasons or great side effects of accomplishing this goal, then these reasons will help you continue to commit to the goal when times get rough. 

Step 2: Quantify it

Quantifying your goals means to attach a number to it. This means breaking down how much weight you want to lose, how much debt you have to pay off or how many times you want to get deep tissue massages. (Just me?)

For example:

Your Goal: I want to pay off my student loan debt. 
Better Goal: I am going to pay off $32K in student loan debt. 

The benefit of quantifying your goals is that you can clearly and easily articulate exactly how much you have to go on your goals. 

Step 3: Add in a due date

Do you remember being in high school and the teacher tells you you have a paper due at the end of the month, but you'll wait until three days before it's due to start studying? Due dates add a sense of urgency. It can give you the kick in the pants that you need to get moving on the goal. 

Your Goal: I am going to pay off $32K in student loan debt.
Better Goal: I am going to pay off 32K in student loan debt by December 31st. 

Always set a concrete date for when you want that goal to be completed. Otherwise, you might be reaching towards the same goal every single year because you did not give yourself a definitive date to get it done. Your goal for the year becomes a "someday" goal.

Step 4: Add in the how

Your "how" is your action plan. Breaking your big goals into the simpler goals it'll take to accomplish the goal, you make the goal more tangible. You give yourself an opportunity to mentally break down what it will take to get there. 

Your Goal: I am going to pay off $32K in student loan debt.
Better Goal: I am going to pay off $32K in student loan debt by December 31st by lowering my living expenses by half, sticking to a strict "fun money" budget and creating online products.

This step is one of my favorites because it forces you start talking in terms of action. 

 

Step 5: Think about the frequency

Every week on Sunday, I head down to a coffee shop and get to work. I can sit there anywhere from 4-6 hours (like a legit 9-to-5) and that is the day that I'm most productive. When I first started doing this, I would pull myself out of bed, shower and have breakfast then (after a half hour of convincing myself that this was good for me) I'd head to the coffee shop. After weeks of doing this every Sunday, no matter where I am or how I feel that day, my body pulls me into a coffee shop to work. 

Adding in the frequency that you will perform an action that helps you reach your goals (whether it's daily, weekly or monthly) will help you develop a habit over time. 

For example:

Your Goal: I'm going to work out more. 
Better Goal: I'm going to work out three days a week. 
Best Goal: I'm going to work out on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. 

Getting super clear on your on when you will work on your goals - and sticking to it over time - will increase your ability to accomplish your goals because over time you'll develop habits.

Step 6: Make Your Goal Present On Your Schedule

Chris Hart once said

"Show me your calendar and I'll show you your priorities."

It basically means that we all make time for the things that we want to do and the things that we value in our lives. If you want to be a high achiever, you simply have to make your goal one of these priorities. 

That starts with giving your goals a definitive time on your calendar. 

For example:  

Goal: I'm going to work out on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. 
Better Goal: I'm going to work out on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays after work.

When you have time slotted for your goal and nothing else can take that time, you become unstoppable.  

Step 7: Speak as if it's already done

Your brain, while incredibly complex, is also pretty easy to trick. That's why we do vision boards annually and look at them daily - the more your brain sees something, the more it believe's it's already done. The same thing goes for what you say. 

Changing your goals from something you will do in the future to something you're currently doing not tells your brain that you are committed to doing this NOW - it's not something you're putting off to a later date. 

For example:

Your Goal: I'm going to work out on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays after work. 
Better goal: I work out every Monday, Wednesday and Friday after work.

Bonus: FOCUS on one goal at a time

My last piece of advice is to focus on one large goal at a time. If you're trying to do five things at once, you're putting 20% of your energy into 5 different things. While you might be incredibly busy, you may have nothing to show for it at the end of the day. Choose one goal that will make a huge difference in your life - and once that goal is completed - move on to the next one. 

Happy Goal-Crushing!

xoxo

Want To Start Planning Your Vision Board Party? 

1. Download the FREE vision board party planning checklist.

2. Craft your inspiring vision board workshop talk with our FREE High Impact Storytelling Journal Prompts. 

3. Plan, promote & host your first (or next) professional & profitable vision board workshop with our signature course, Sold Out Vision Board Parties.

 This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure for more info.

---

About the author

Cyrene is a fun and accomplished workshop facilitator, learning and development guru and Human Resources professional. Being at the helm of Thrive Lounge has been a long-time dream. Through vision board workshops she plans to accomplish two-way learning. Sharing her vast years of knowledge to motivate and encourage others; while simultaneously getting the reward of great energy, ideas and questions to ponder back from each group. A super win-win. Please join our Thrive Lounge community so you too can benefit!

How To Turn Your LARGE Goal Into A Super Legit Action Plan

Are you one of those people that starts looking around in December wondering wtf you're going to do next year? In your head you know that you want this year to be different than the last, you want to break from your shell, do something EPIC... but you don't really now where to start. 

My first year doing a vision board was something like that...

I didn't know what I wanted to accomplish. Heck, I didn't even know what I was capable of. (At that time, I had only successfully accomplished a worthless degree, years of waitressing jobs and overall failing at adulting.) 

However, that was the year I was determined to turn my little sinking ship of life around and (even though I had no idea what I was going to do) I created an action plan that would ultimately help me figure it out. 

START WITH A PIE-IN-THE-SKY GOAL. 

Your pie in the sky goal (I also like to call this your dream goal) is a goal that is very large if you look at it from where you currently are. This is a goal that you'll need to step out of yoru comfort zone to reach. You might have to learn a new skill or leverage the help of a team to do something that you've never done before. This is a goal that, over the course of a year will stretch you. 

In my life the goal was simply to stop failing and figure out what I wanted. I planned on pursuing this to the fullest extent of my abilities and with all of my time.

When you've been doing the same thing over and over again for years, it can be hard to find a different version of yourself that is actually succeeding. However, if you take some time to believe that you can achieve more than you currently have, you'll get there. 

BREAK DOWN YOUR PIE IN THE SKY GOAL INTO MINI GOALS.

You can't eat your great-grandma's sweet potato pie in one bite... and you wouldn't try to conquer a large goal all at once either. (I know, I'm so corny, but it's true!) Reaching this large goal can seem very daunting, but to make it more manageable (and easier to navigate) you'll want to break that goal down into small pieces. These mini-goals are smaller goals that serve as checkpoints on the way to achieving your overall goal. 

In my example where I wanted to figure out what I wanted to do with my life, my mini goals would be to: 

1. Take classes in different areas to decide what professions interested me.

2. Join meetup groups to start networking in different industries.

3. Choose a graduate program to continue my education.

BREAK DOWN YOUR MINI-GOALS INTO ACTIONABLE ITEMS. 

You'll notice that each of these "mini-goals" are relatively large in itself. That's a good thing! Your mini goals can be broken down even further to the daily action items you'll need to make in order to move forward on the goals. 

In my example, to take classes in the different areas to see what professions interest me, I would have to: 

1. Research free and paid courses that would expose me to new areas.

2. Register for a new class and put effort into taking the classes and practicing the exercises and doing the homework.

3. Re-evaluating how I felt about the program and the field as a whole.

4. Determing whether I wanted to continue taking more of these classes or try out a different professional program.

Not only is the work of learning about different programs tedious, it would require me to continuously walk down paths, conquering challenges and learning new things with no idea whether it would be a worthwhile journey. However, these are necessary steps to follow if I wanted to figure out what I was good at. 

Breaking your mini goals down into smaller action items will help you see the smaller, daily actions you can to take to make your dreams a reality. That way you can start implementing them in your life asap!

The new year is a great time to re-evaluate where you are in your life and where you want to go. Starting your year off with a large goal will put you in a great position to crush your year!

xoxo

Want To Start Planning Your Vision Board Party? 

1. Download the FREE vision board party planning checklist.

2. Craft your inspiring vision board workshop talk with our FREE High Impact Storytelling Journal Prompts. 

3. Plan, promote & host your first (or next) professional & profitable vision board workshop with our signature course, Sold Out Vision Board Parties.

 This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure for more info.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Cyrene is a fun and accomplished workshop facilitator, learning and development guru and Human Resources professional. Being at the helm of Thrive Lounge has been a long-time dream. Through vision board workshops she plans to accomplish two-way learning. Sharing her vast years of knowledge to motivate and encourage others; while simultaneously getting the reward of great energy, ideas and questions to ponder back from each group. A super win-win. Please join our Thrive Lounge community so you too can benefit!