How to Get Back on Track with Your Goals
Have you ever set a goal for yourself where, for a few weeks, you stick with it, you’re moving forward, you feel great, then suddenly, you realize you’ve gone so far off track that you can’t remember when you stopped?
I always feel that way about exercise! I’ll be plugging along each day on my Peloton, tracking each ride, feeling good about myself, then suddenly – it’s been a month since my last workout. What happened? Where did the time go?
It happens to the best of us.
When you’re on a journey to find and live your life purpose, it’s easy to get off track. Living in devotion to your purpose is not easy. You may not know all the steps you need to take. You won’t always see the path ahead of you.
And in those moments, it’s easy to let self-judgement or fear or self-doubt derail your progress.
The good news is that as easy as it is to get off track, it’s just as simple to recenter and get back in alignment with your goals.
Here’s how you can get back on track with your goals:
1. Remember your why
When you’re feeling off-base with your goals, it’s easy to forget why you started. There’s a reason you set the goals you did, especially when it comes to your life purpose.
In 2019, I felt really lost. I started a new job that wasn’t a great fit, and I somehow got the idea that becoming a health coach was more in alignment with my skills and strengths. After all, I had worked in the healthcare field my entire career, and I had the degrees to prove that I’m an expert.
I loved my health coaching program, and I learned so much from it. When I graduated, I felt excited to rebrand my website and begin offering health coaching services to my clients. I took all new photos and started writing articles about clean eating.
I started working with a few clients around my health coaching services and realized… I hated it. It felt so inauthentic. As much as I loved talking to friends about what I’d learned about nutrition in my program, it was really hard for me to give nutritional advice to my clients.
I knew I didn’t want to continue on that path, but I felt stuck. I just dropped $6,000 on a health coaching program, $800 on new photos, and countless hours rebranding and writing new articles. Was all that time and effort for nothing?
Finally, I remembered my mantra: there is only one path. I was exactly where I was supposed to be. As much as it felt like I wasted my time, energy, and money, I knew I needed to go through that process. Besides, any time you learn something new, it can’t be a waste.
I learned so much about myself, I learned how to nourish my body, mind, and spirit, and I reinforced my lesson that “clarity comes from execution.”
Had I not taken those steps to trying out health coaching, I wouldn’t have taken the step back I needed to remember my why: to close the global gender pay gap by helping women find and live their purpose.
I realized my why for health coaching was someone else’s why. It was what I thought I was supposed to do, given my background, skills and experience. But it wasn’t MY why.
I’m grateful for that year of growth and learning, because it allowed me to finally hone in on my niche of spiritual leadership. My why is stronger than ever, and I’ve never felt more aligned to my life purpose.
If this story resonates with you, know this: it wouldn’t be on your heart if it wasn’t important to your journey. There is only one path.
To get back on track with your goals, remember your why. Go back to your core values, your mission, who you want to serve. Write down your why if you haven’t already, or write it on a sticky note and place it somewhere you’ll see it every day.
You can also create a visual representation of your why with a vision board or collage. When you envision your why each day, you’ll be more likely to remember your goal and take more consistent action toward it.
If your why isn’t strong enough to motivate you to action, double click on that – is your why for someone else’s reason? Is it because you think that’s what you’re supposed to do? What everyone else is doing?
If so, is it also your why? Do you need a new why? Or do you need a new goal that’s just for you? If this is the case, make a fresh start. Think about your purpose in terms of what makes YOU happy, what’s fulfilling to you that also serves the world.
Related: How to Find Your Life Purpose in 4 Easy Steps
2. Reflect on what’s holding you back
Sometimes, even the strongest why isn’t enough to keep us moving toward our goals, especially when it comes to living your purpose.
Limiting beliefs, self-doubt, fear, or overwhelm can creep in to try to sway your motivations or prevent you from taking the action you need to achieve your goals.
You might also be judging yourself for where you are in your journey. You might feel like you’re behind, or that you should be farther along than you currently are.
I totally get that – that’s exactly where I was when I remembered my why. I felt clear on my niche, who I wanted to serve, and the core messages of my service, and it was exactly where I had started when I launched my business in 2016.
I felt like I had lost so much time in my health coaching escapade. If I had just continued with my message of helping women find their purpose, I’d be so much farther along. I’d have more followers or more services or more clients.
Sound familiar? That’s self-judgement. That’s your brain pulling you into stories about yourself that just aren’t true. That’s your brain keeping you in a scarcity mindset because it’s trying to keep you in your comfort zone, rather than keeping you moving forward.
Maybe you’re not feeling judgmental toward yourself or your progress. Maybe you’re feeling overwhelmed at everything you need to do to launch a business or change careers or go back to school. Maybe you’re having limiting beliefs telling you you’re not smart enough or you don’t know enough or you don’t have enough experience to do what you really want to do.
Remember that your brain speaks fear, and your heart speaks love.
Pay attention to the voices and nudges you hear about your purpose. Are they fear-based or love-based? Are they moving you forward or holding you back?
Start by reframing the judgements or limiting beliefs that keep you stuck. Can you see them from a different perspective? Can you shift your mindset to consider a different possibility?
Next, remember overwhelm is a choice. You can choose to stay in the overwhelm mindset, or you can choose to take one small step, one tiny action to break the cycle. You could make a to-do list to organize your tasks. You could schedule an appointment with a coach or accountant or virtual assistant to help you get back on track.
You can also journal about your feelings or thoughts, what’s coming up for you that’s holding you back. What lessons can you learn from your experience so far? What would it take to move forward? How can you grow from here?
There’s no such thing as being behind when it comes to your life purpose. You’re exactly where you’re meant to be in this moment in time.
Related: 60 Abundance Affirmations to Transform Your Mindset
3. Recalibrate your goal
Now that you’ve remembered your why and reflected on the limiting beliefs that hold you back, you may need to adjust your goal.
When I got back to my why, I knew I needed a new goal to motivate me. I needed something in alignment with my path as a spiritual leadership coach. So, instead of having a goal to work with a certain number of health coaching clients, I thought about what would feel better.
Eventually, I set a goal of helping one million women find their purpose (over my lifetime), which is in alignment with my why of closing the global gender pay gap.
From there, it was easy to set smaller goals or aligned actions that would help me make progress toward my goal. For example, I set a goal of having 5,000 ideal clients on my email list, and I set another goal to create an online course that would reach more women than I would have time to coach 1:1. I’m close to achieving both of those things at the writing of this article, and even though I’m not there yet, I’m still motivated to take action each day.
Consider whether your goal is in alignment with your why. Is it too ambitious? Too big? Too small? Is it realistic? How will you know when you’ve achieved it?
If you’re not sure, start with SMART goals:
Specific: Narrow your focus to a single topic
Measurable: Define how you’ll know if you’ve made progress
Attainable: Choose a goal that’s realistic for your timeline and situation
Relevant: Align your goal with your purpose or mission
Time-Bound: Set a deadline or end-date when you will accomplish your goal
A few examples of SMART goals are:
I will have 5,000 email subscribers by December 31, 2020.
I will apply to 3 open Product Manager positions by the end of this week.
I will launch my website by January 15, 2021.
It also helps to think about how your goals make you feel. Does your goal feel good? Does it feel reasonable? How will you feel once you’ve achieved this goal?
Journaling about how you’ll feel once you’ve accomplished something is a great way to boost your motivation, build excitement, and put your intentions out to the Universe.
4. Recenter and take action
Speaking of your intentions, once you’ve reclaimed your why, reframed your thoughts, and redefined your goals, it’s time to set an intention for your new goal.
When you’re working toward something new, it’s easy to get caught up in the excitement of the moment. You also need something to help you sustain that momentum.
I live by my morning ritual. It’s a time I set aside, just for me, where I can center myself and prepare for my day ahead. When I’m consistent with my morning ritual, I notice a difference in my mood, energy level, motivation, and productivity.
You can also recenter by taking a deep breath and dropping in with yourself. This is simply a moment where you can check in with your body, your emotions, or your thoughts. It doesn’t have to be a full meditation; you can simply take one deep breath, put your hand on your heart, and sit in still silence for a minute or two.
You might also take a moment to check in with your guides, Sprit, God, or the Universe. You can say a prayer, state your intention out loud, or listen for guidance or messages of encouragement to come through.
Once you recenter yourself, you can start thinking about your powerful, aligned action. Start with your SMART goal. What one step could you take this month to work toward that goal? What could you do in one week? In one day?
I love recommending three lists to keep updated. You can update these as part of your morning ritual, or you could incorporate them into your evening ritual to close out one day and prepare for the next. You can also choose to review them once a week. They’re your To-Do, To-Be, and Ta-Da Lists.
Your to-do list is exactly what it sounds like. Make a list of the actions you need to complete each day (or week) to get you closer to your goal. Cross things off as you complete them. Your to-be list is a list of words or phrases that describe how you want to feel that day (or week). These feelings help to clue you in when you’re starting to get off track or feeling doubtful or judgmental about your progress. Finally, your ta-da list. This is a list of accomplishments you’re proud of from that day or week. It’s important to keep in mind all of the great things you’ve achieved along your path to purpose. It can be a challenge journey, so you’ll need these reminders to encourage you to keep going.
With these powerful actions, backed by an aligned goal and a centered why, you’ll be back on track to living your purpose in no time!
The Takeaway
It’s normal to feel lost or off track with your goals, especially when it comes to living your purpose. You can get back on track by remembering why you started, reframing limiting beliefs, and readjusting to a new goal that’s more in alignment with your purpose.
Take action now: Start with your why. Why did you start? Who do you want to serve? Consider if your goal is really for you and your life purpose. From there, follow the steps to reflect on what’s been holding you back (or what got you off course), recalibrate your goal, and recenter to take powerful action. And don’t forget your three sacred lists!
Then, let me know in the comments: What’s one goal you’re working on right now?
If your main goal is to find your life purpose, I have the perfect gift for you: my free 30-Day Life Purpose Challenge. Over 30 days, you’ll work through daily journal prompts to help you get clear on your passions, core values, strengths, and potential career paths. At the end, you’ll have the clarity you need to find your purpose. Sign up for free here!
