Wake Me Up: Morning Positivity - New Year 7-Day Challenge: Day 5, Plan It

Episode Date: January 5, 2022

Today is day 5 of the 7-day challenge. We'll turn our priorities into actionable SMART goals. Enjoying Wake Me Up? Get ad-free access to the entire WMU catalog + bonus content by joining the WMU Premium Feed. Sign up and start your 7-day free trial at https://wakemeup.supercast.com/. Follow the show on Spotify - Apple Podcasts - Podchaser Say hi or request an episode at www.wakemeuppodcast.com/contact. And find the podcast on Instagram and TikTok. **Only partake in the physical movements suggested in Wake Me Up episodes if you are physically able and in safe surroundings. All movements are done at the individual's own risk. Be safe, and always consult a doctor if you have any questions or concerns.** Have a wonderful day 😃 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

If you'd like to enjoy Wake Me Up completely ad-free and get access to exclusive bonus content, check out the link in the show notes for the Wake Me Up premium feed. Good morning and welcome to Wake Me Up, the podcast where morning people are made. This is the fifth day of our seven-day challenge to start the new year. And I'm so glad to have you back. So far, we've come up with some priorities. things that we want to focus our energy and time on. Now we're going to plan around those priorities.

We're going to set some goals. Because without a plan, you're planning to fail. Our priorities mean nothing unless we begin to take action around them. If we don't take action in a clear, defined direction, we're likely to end up where we didn't intend to. Now, remember today that this is all a work in progress. You should commit to your goals for a while, perhaps a month or two, but you will need to adjust over time.

There's a balance you have to strike of stick-to-itiveness and adaptability. So give yourself the time and freedom to adjust if it's needed. The point is to keep working towards your priorities. And you can do that in a thousand different ways. But as long as you keep working and you keep moving forward, you will end up where you want. Now remember yesterday's episode. Believe in yourself.

You have everything you need to succeed. And you're fully capable of doing anything you put your mind to in life. So let's not waste another moment lying in bed. Take a big inhale and on your exhale, roll over and make your way to standing up. Now that we're all up, let's do a quick stretch. And we're going to keep this short today because we'll need more time to do our mindfulness exercise of goal setting. So take a big inhale and reach your hands toward the sky. Reach as far as you can and on your exhale, fold forward at your.

your waist. Relax everything towards the ground. You can sway side to side here, or bend one knee and then the other, do whatever feels right to you. Even if that's just sitting still, take a big breath in and exhale, and now slowly roll all the way back up to standing, vertebrae by vertebrae. And when you get there, roll your shoulders up and down. Great. So, if you want to do more stretches, then by all means, be my guest. You can press pause and come back and join us whenever you're ready. But now, it's time to get started on setting some goals. So find the paper you've been working with through this seven-day challenge.

The one where you did your brainstorming, and you set your priorities. Find that piece of paper. And maybe you want to get a fresh piece for today. That's perfectly fine. but you don't need to. And once you find that, go ahead and take a seat, somewhere where you can write and think for a few minutes. Today what we're going to do is we're going to make actual goals.

And the best way to create a goal is a smart goal, and that's an acronym, for specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-bound. Goals like this are so much more effective, and they'll really help guide you and encourage you to success. So we're going to take our three priorities and we'll turn them each into one smart goal. And I'll use myself as an example.

I've always been a musician, but I've never really played guitar much until lately. And this year, I want to hone my guitar skills. So my priority is to get better at guitar. and my smart goal is, I will learn a new song on guitar each week. And I phrased it the way I did, specifically to fit within the smart goal framework. I said I will learn a new song. That's specific.

It's not just play. It's not just have a guitar around. I have to learn a new song. And I can measure it. Did I learn the song or not? Can I play it or not? attainable means you can actually achieve it. It's realistic.

I know that I can learn a new song in a couple of hours if I focus. And if I'm busy one week, I can pick an easier song that will take less time. So yes, I know this goal is attainable for me. The next question is relevant. Is it relevant to your priority? Well, music is my priority, and I know that I want to get better at guitar. So yes, it's relevant for me to learn new songs. And lastly, it's timebound.

I have to learn a song this week. Otherwise, I haven't accomplished my goal. So now it's your turn to do exactly that with each of your three priorities. Let's start with the first one, and I'll guide you through this one a little bit more. So start by writing down that priority. And make sure it's broad enough to encompass a variety of different, goals because you may want to adjust at a later time. So it could be something like finding a job that's more fulfilling,

or getting in shape. Again, there's tons of ways to do each of those. So that's the broadness that you want in your priority. Brainstorm, come up with a couple different goals that pertain to this priority, like my one song a week goal for getting better at guitar. Now don't feel like you need to do it exactly. you need to do it exactly as I did.

You can make it a month-long or a year-long goal. I'd recommend shorter ones at the beginning, like a couple of weeks or a month, because it gives you a chance to assess early on. And make sure this goal is going to work for you, that it makes sense for you. It's your goal. So take some time here and think through different options. I'll give you about a minute, but press pause if you want more time. time to think. So hopefully now you have at least one goal written down. Is it specific? Is it clear

what the goal asks you to do? Is it measurable? Can you clearly measure whether or not you've accomplished this goal? Is it attainable? Is it realistic given the other constraints of your life right now? Is it relevant to your priority? Is it time bound? By when do you need to achieve this goal. If the answer is yes to all of these, then great, good job. If not, don't stress. You can always come back and adjust. In fact, I'd recommend you come back and review these later anyways to make sure they sit well with you. Again, this is a work in progress. So now, let's move to the second priority on your list. Write it down. And again, come up with a goal that pertains to this priority. Same thing as you just did, but with a new priority in mind. I'll give you a minute.

In the interest of time, let's go ahead and move to the third priority, and we'll review these last two together at the end. So write down your third priority, and again, come up with a goal that pertains to it. It's okay to have variations if you want to. You can always adjust later. So let's review those last two goals. Are they specific? Is the goal clearly defined? Are they measurable? Can you tell whether you've accomplished them or not?

Are they attainable? That is, are they realistic? Are they relevant to their respective priorities? And finally, are they time-bound? Is there a date by which you need to complete them? Fantastic. This episode by far has the most quote-unquote work that you have to do during this entire challenge.

So good job, putting your brain into action and getting those goals down. Now, during the rest of the day, marinate on these. Think through these over the course of the day and feel free to adjust these goals if you see fit. I'll reiterate it again. This is a work in progress.

Above all, you should feel excited about these goals. That's what will get you to the finish. line. My friend, you've laid out a path to a life that's more desirable for you. You've come up with some priorities that will bring more meaning, more fulfillment, more excitement to your life. And now you have a clear path forward with specific goals that you can take action on. You can even start today. Remember, the most important part is simply showing up. Some days, you'll have a bit more hustle than others.

Sometimes, you'll be hungrier for change. And that's okay, because again, the important part is that you show up. By showing up each day, you create momentum. Inertia is a very powerful force. The snowball effect is real. Once it starts rolling down the hill, it's hard to see. stop. And it's the exact same with your goals. Showing up and doing something towards your goal is far better than doing nothing. It keeps you moving in the right direction. Even if it's not

your best day, or you need a day of rest, you can still do something. And today, you've taken another giant leap forward by taking your priorities and turning them into actionable goals. I hope you're excited to start making these goals your reality. Now you have a plan. You have a path forward. And with a plan that's written down, you are exponentially more likely to succeed. Now it's time to start taking action. And that's what we'll do tomorrow. Thanks so much for joining me again. We're nearing the end of our seven-day challenge, and I hope you're excited.

I'll talk to you all tomorrow for day six. And until then, go out and have a fantastic day.