“My 2019 resolutions are to stop seeking approval from people that I do not need the approval from, to grow more in my community, and to be more authentic on social media.”
I kicked off the year 2019 with those resolutions, and I’m happy to have followed through with each and every single one of them. The year 2019 was a year of growth, self discovery and connection building – and of course, I plan on doing even more of that in 2020.
Goal setting is all well and good, and I’d most certainly encourage you to continue. But the real question is – how do I follow through with these goals? How can I prevent my ADHD tendency to start something and not finish?
In this article, I want to share with you 3 of my favorite tips in staying true to your goals and what’s helped me achieve more success this year.
#1.) Start small.
Having ADHD, we can really really start to feel bad about ourselves when we set our standards incredibly high and then fall short right after. What I want to make loud and clear in this community is that we can start small and take no shame in doing so.
Goal setting is all well and good, and I’d most certainly encourage you to continue. But the real question is – how do I follow through with these goals? How can I prevent my ADHD tendency to start something and not finish?
For example, if your goal is to be more physically active and you frequent the couch, your goal probably shouldn’t be to be an Iron Man triathlete by the end of the year. Rather, it should be something small such as “In 2020, I will go for a walk every day.” This way, you have a goal that’s incredibly approachable and you will be able to feel good about yourself having achieved it, which is key for us ADHD folks staying consistent!
#2.) Get visual.
One of the things that I love to do with my clients when it comes to goal setting is to place a visual reminder of the end result of having achieved this goal somewhere it can be seen on a daily basis, because when you have an ADHD brain, “if it can’t be seen, it doesn’t exist” is 100% true.
An example here would be my coaching business. I’ll often set the goal to be to get some new clients and I’ll have something written up on my wall saying “My goal is to get __ new clients so that I can feel more myself and do work I love.”
It may also work for you to have an image of some sort like a place that you’d like to travel to or someone doing a job you’d like to do.
#.3) Accountability matters.
A large part in me growing my own personal business is due to the fact that I had a business coach. Having regular check ins, making me feel great when things were going right and provide guidance when needed was incredibly helpful for me.
I truly believe (clearly biased here) that every person with ADHD should have a coach of their own. Coaches can be great for non judging accountability, motivation, goal setting and action steps, all the things that benefit our lives tremendously and that we do not have to take up on our own.
This year, and every other year, what I really want you to know that just like anyone without ADHD, we can not only achieve our goals, but we can learn to thrive as well. We have every single right to feel great about ourselves, and it is my hope that the year 2020 does just that for you.
