Creating Time Frames + Being flexible in Goal Setting

To tha Tick Tock You Don’t Stop.
Yes, that was a Color Me Bad reference. Stop hating.

Two weeks ago we talked about S.M.A.R.T goal planning; Specific, Measurable, Action-Oriented (or Achievable), Realistic, and Timely. The last is probably the most important. Your goals need a time frame because without one, you can easily spin your wheels and never reach them. A time frame adds a sense of urgency to your goals and that’s just what they need.

How to Set Deadlines

Creating a time frame is based on setting deadlines. Deadlines can be scary for  bliss chasing- zen-types, but I promise they will help you reach your career + abundance goals.  Just like a deadline for work or school, this is the day when you’ll reach that goal. The first step in creating deadlines is to define the overall timeframe. Will this goal take a few years, months, weeks, or days to reach? Choose a day in the future that you think is realistic and don’t worry, you can go back and change it later. We’re yoginis, we got that flexibility shit down, right?

Once you’ve got your deadline, break your goal into small action steps that will get you closer to it. These should all be tasks that can be finished and clearly defined. In other words, you know exactly when they’re done. You’ll take these sub-goals and affix deadlines to them as well. These deadlines will gradually get you to your big one. I know I am repeating myself, but mastery in goal setting takes practice aka repetition!

Example – Grow Your Facebook Following

For example, your goal might be to grow your Facebook following. You’d first decide exactly what ‘grow your following means’ means – more fans, more shares, more fan contribution/engagement, etc. Quantify that shit!  To do this, take your overall goal and break it into these smaller and more specific sub-goals.

You might choose to make one change per month, a la scheduling posts and engaging with other pages. By the end of the month, your Facebook posts should be consistent. By the next month, you’ll be consistently engaging with other Fanpages and recruiting them to like yours. You’ve now got an action plan and a solid time frame for it.

How to Make Your Deadlines More Efficient

There are several ways to make your deadlines more efficient. First of all, the key to success is to be realistic. Look at each of your sub-goals and ask yourself if you can really reach it in that time? How do you know if it’s realistic? At first, you don’t. But a safe way of guessing is to pad all of your deadlines. Give each an extra day in case things don’t work out as planned (and they rarely ever do).

You can also monitor along the way. Check your progress periodically and see if you’re still on target for reaching that goal. For example, if your goal is to boost your Fanpage, you should have a set amount and a deadline. Every week, check your count to see if it’s going up the way it should be. If it’s not, regroup, figure out why and trying pushing your deadline back accordingly.

Hey Yogini, Keep it Bendy! Stay Flexible

AKA, keep it flexible. Do you see a common theme here? Those that don’t bend, break. Deadlines help you get things done and your time frame gives it all a sense of urgency. But you don’t want to put yourself in a perpetual state of panic. Flexibility means that you’re willing to change course and adjust if needed, but not stray from your overall dream. Life happens sometimes, so let it; but don’t let it stop you from reaching your goals.

Need to play a little catch up?

Learning to Love Metrics
The Dirty Details.
Lets Go, Smarty Pants.
Ready Set Goal!
Resolutions Suck, Goal Setting is Awesome!
Keep it Real: Goal Planning and Taking Action
Dream + Hustle