Are you fantastic at setting personal growth goals but rarely achieve them? Are there always roadblocks that prevent you from growing into the person you want to be? What if I told you that the secret to achieving your goals is having the right personal growth strategy before you get started chasing those goals? There are five personal growth strategies that actually work.

1.    Define what you want and why.

Don’t you hate it when it constantly feels like people around you are growing and changing, and livin’ it up while you’re stuck in place? Whether it’s weight loss, job promotions, vacations, or something else, other people make achieving personal growth goals look so easy.

Stop and think about what you really want. Who is ideal you? What are your traits? When you deeply consider who want to be, you may find that your true aspirations are different than you thought and different from the people you’ve been envying.

Once you have clarity on what your personal growth aspirations are, then move onto the step that is most important but often the one people skip. For every personal growth goal you have, ask yourself why you want to achieve it. For example, let’s say you want to lose 50 pounds. Maybe you thought that you just want to lose weight to feel more attractive, but you may discover that the real reason is that you are afraid you’ll develop heart disease and die at an early age like so many of your family members did and you want to be around for your children and grandchildren. Your health is a more motivating reason than looking good!

Or maybe you want to be a better friend to your friends. At first, you may think that it’s simply the right thing to do but you may realize that you’re carrying around a ton of guilt for past things you did or did not do. Perhaps all that guilt makes you feel unworthy of good things happening to you, which is subconsciously keeping you stuck.

Once you’re down the but-why trail, you’ll discover many fascinating things about yourself. Expose the true reasons you want to grow like you do, and you’ll create achievable goals.  

2.    Set goals in writing and visually, and don’t be afraid to start small. 

Ever set giant goals that feel achievable in the moment but end up totally out of reach? With your well-defined personal growth wants in hand, create goals that will help you achieve what you want. Small goals can have huge results that lead to achieving bigger goals so don’t be afraid to start small. Write them and create a vision board to reflect those goals and post it somewhere you’ll see it often. Something amazing happens to your brain when you have visual reminders about your goals and who you aspire to be. So, grab a magazine and cut out images that represent your goals or focus areas or hop on Google and get specific images. Vision boards do not need to be elaborate. The point is simply to keep you motivated. Currently, I have just three small images taped together and sitting on my bedroom dresser. It’s simple and effective because I see when I wake up in the morning and before I go to sleep. The reminders keep me on track!

3.    Create a habit system to achieve your goals and stick to it.

Creating the goals is the easiest part. Anyone can do it. The difference between being a goal creator and a goal achiever is commitment to a system. To achieve a goal, you must create a system of habits that lead to achieving the goal. Begin by figuring out how you can get from your beginning spot to the goal finish line. Map it out and define your required daily habits. Read James Clear’s Atomic Habits for the fascinating science behind habits and the life-changing results a system can bring you. It’s truly the tiny decisions you make every day that lead to the major results.

4.    Learn from setbacks and failures.

Think about a time in which you failed or experienced a disappointing setback. The memory may still sting. What did you learn from it? Probably a lot – and you probably pivoted and did it differently.

The journey to be a better person and live the life you want isn’t going to be smooth. You will fail, break habits and revert to your old ways. Recognize that tripping up or making a mistake is all part of the process. Be grateful for the opportunity to learn. Never give up. Learn and keep going.

5.     Stay committed.

Is there any worse feeling than regret? It nags at you because there’s nothing you can do to change what happened in the past. All you can do is focus on today and live in such a way that your regrets are minimal.

Most people never achieve their potential for a variety of reasons but mostly because they lack commitment to a well-crafted system. When it comes to your personal growth goals, you must put in the time and prioritize your goals. Life will bring abundant roadblocks. Thanks, life. Be committed and wholeheartedly believe that you will achieve your goals – and you will. The decisions you make today about your personal growth affects your future.  

There you go. Now you have my five sure-fire strategies to achieve your personal growth goals.