Do you know that feeling when you get so hypermotivated with an idea that you can even visualize it? It might be pursuing your dream career, or moving to another country or even just losing weight! You know, that kind of goal we typically set ourselves for New Year or after the Summer holidays – and forget about a couple of weeks later.

And you know why we don’t stick to the plan? Well, you may not even have a plan for starters! You just have that great BIG idea. And that’s exactly the problem – your idea is probably too big. Don’t take me wrong though – Big ideas are fantastic! The higher you aim, the better.

The problem comes when we retake our daily routines and start forgetting about those goals we set. Our dreams. They seem so unreachable that we soon feel completely overwhelmed and leave them for later (next holidays, maybe?) without even trying to take action.

So how can you stick to the plan and pursue your dreams?

First of all, to stick to any kind of plan… You need a plan!! So this is what you’re going to do now, set a plan which you can actually stick to according to your work or life schedule. Do you only have spare time on the weekends? Then don’t plan 40 hours a week to work for your new business – if that’s what you’re dreaming of – because we all know that you’re not gonna make it! So go ahead and block in your calendar all those time slots you can dedicate to your new project.

So once you have your time blocked, you’ll need a realistic goal, and with “realistic” I mean that you see yourself capable of managing all necessary tasks to achieve it. So write down everything that needs to be done to get your plan going. Do not leave anything behind, write down every single detail that you need to accomplish.

Next, assign each of those tasks to each of the time slots you previously blocked in your planner. Don’t overdo it. Give yourself more time than you think you’ll need to finish the task. If you’re faster than you’d planned, feel free to continue with the next task – or to have a break. You’ve deserved it!

And last, but not least, get it done! Remember, the easier and smaller each of your tasks is, the better. You won’t feel overwhelmed so easily, and your motivation won’t stop already during the first week.

What may seem too simple to work is actually the key to turn your low levels of motivation into a habit. And once something is a habit, the hard thing is to do is not doing it. So let’s create a new habit: sitting down and planning your next day with specific time slots for each task.

Spanx Founder Sara Blakely firmly believes that every person has had a million-dollar idea in their life. But you’d better take action if you want that idea to come true. And if someone who’s become a billionaire just with $5k in savings believes it… There must be some truth in it, right?

Alicia

PS. Are you born to freelance?

Follow your dreams