People very often ask me how I stay motivated, how I figure out what I want and how I go out there and get it. Let me tell you, it’s not by chance or by fate that the dreams I have come to fruition and it’s not without hard work. I truly believe the key to moving towards my dreams with such a force is in the frequent goal setting I’m committed to. Maybe after journalling and reflecting on last year, you’ve decided that goal setting should be one of your 2021 New Year’s resolutions. If you’re looking to set goals for 2021 and be more productive this year, this is the post for you.

You don’t stumble upon a successful career by accident. And even if you do get a little lucky along the way, you certainly don’t maintain a successful career by accident. Just like happiness, learning to be in tune with your goals is not something you just wake up and have. Being in tune with your dreams takes inner work, it takes commitment to yourself and it takes time to really figure out what you want. You need to get organised, make promises to yourself, and really commit to the projects you want to become a reality.

How do you know if you’ve stumbled across a dream? You’ll feel the fire in your tummy.

4 or 5 years ago I stumbled on these two photos (below) on Pinterest and a fire was lit inside of me.

Goal setting: How to get to where you want to be | Where's Mollie?

One day I wanted to build my own camper van. Now, here I am having just finished my bespoke VW conversion, one that I had drawn out on paper, and my once dream is stood before me.

Watch my van conversion series on YouTube here.

Goal setting: How to acknowledge and follow your dreams

Goal setting: How to bring your dreams to life

The first question I have for you is…

What are your dreams?

The biggest problem a lot of people face with goal setting and dream chasing is not knowing what their dream actually is. If you don’t know what you are actually focusing on, you’re stumping yourself before you’ve even started. We all tend to know the things we love doing, generally speaking, but with goal setting and dream pursuing you need to start getting more specific.

By getting specific I mean, writing it down and noting the details. That’s not to say that the goal you write down has to be finite. Goals can absolutely change along the way as you evolve, so don’t think that what you write down now has to be forever. Just start somewhere…

A general goal would be: I would like to road trip more and have my own van.

A more specific goal would be: I would love to convert my own VW camper van this year, and by next summer I would like to spend 4 weeks in the French Alps.

So first up, grab a pen and paper.

Step one: Clear your head and realise your dreams

To reach a dream, you must first have one, right? Step one requires you to start being really honest with yourself and about what you want. If you can’t think of anything, well that’s exactly why it’s amazing to do this exercisde. Let not knowing be the motivation that starts the dreaming process…

Try answering some of these…

If you could live anywhere where would you be?
If you could have any job what would it be?
Let’s say you could learn a new skill or activity, what would it be?
What does your dream life look like?
Who’s around you in your dream?
How do you spend your mornings?

If you’re on your mobile right now, why not save these Instagram story templates below and write out your dreams on Instagram stories. Make a promise to yourself and get those dreams underway…

Goal setting: How to bring your dreams to life

So hopefully by now you have an idea of the kind of goal you’d like to set for yourself. It might be a small one that doesn’t feel too far-fetched, or you might have set one that’s a couple of years in advance. Whatever you chose in your freedom to dream, it’s now time to get even more specific.

Step two: How to achieve your goals…

Goal Setting: how to bring your dreams to life

QUESTIONS…	SHORT TERM GOAL 1 (E.G. TODAY)	SHORT TERM GOAL 2 (E.G. THIS WEEK)	LONGER TERM GOAL (E.G. THIS YEAR)
What is the goal? What do you want to achieve or accomplish?
Which steps do you need to take to get there? Do you need to learn a new skill? How will you bring it to life?
What obstacles might you come across? What support or tools will you need to overcome them?

Once you have started to visualise what that goal looks like for you, you’re honestly half way there.

It may seem silly and you may be thinking, ‘What on earth is thinking about it going to do?’ but trust me. Once you start hearing, feeling, seeing and believing in that goal becoming a reality, you will naturally start drawing in opportunities, people and circumstances that will align with and bring you closer to the goal.

Like attracts like. Tell yourself what you want. Tell yourself you’re on your way to getting it and start talking about it. Own it. You never know where opening up a conversation about it will lead you. You never know what contacts people have.

Get your dreams written down, start believing in them and start opening all the doors to let it become a reality.

Step three: Repeat this process as often as you feel lost

Sitting down and acknowledging what you want, no matter how many times that changes is the best way to stay aligned with a life you love.

As humans we are constantly evolving, growing and learning. As we do so, our goals and dreams can change significantly. One of the biggest disservices we can do to ourselves is to stay in a place, a dream or a career that we have outgrown.

Promise me one thing will you? Never stop dreaming…

If you’re new to goal setting and want to get to know yourself a little better before you commit to specific projects, find out what you want from life with my beginner’s guide to journalling.