[*Part 3 of My Goal Mastery Series: A System to Rule Them All]

I know how it goes. Every day you get up with the best of intentions, but then the day is over and you haven’t gotten around to doing the things that really matter to you: writing that book, learning that new language, creating that course, getting your finances in order, going to the gym…

In my case, sometimes it’s just getting this blog out every week. I’m doing more client sessions, which takes a lot of my energy (a wonderful problem to have, so I’m not complaining!) and, since I’m human, there are always personal challenges (right now my mother-in-law is in palliative care with end-stage cancer, and I love her to bits, and it’s breaking my heart watching her shrink and disintegrate before my eyes.).

But like you and everyone else on Planet Earth, I also have Resistance. This is the part of us that is afraid of change, afraid of success, afraid of taking consistent action toward our dreams in case—gulp—they actually come true! This part of us prefers to keep doing whatever it has always done, even if it’s miserable, because it feels “safe”. That’s why being a Trailblazer—someone who chooses to listen to their heart and follow it—is a ridiculously hard thing.

Because of Resistance, it can often feel like you’re in a war against yourself, and you’re losing. And busy-ness can become a “noble excuse” to NOT go after our dreams (Oh I don’t have time now; I have to be practical). As though going after our dreams isn’t practical! The reason we are here, on Earth, is to listen to our heart and follow through on what it is telling us. It’s not to just pay our bills and get an endless list of tasks completed.

If we’re going to have any hope of making it, we need dependable systems in place that we can lean on; they can help us set our most important goals and keep going on those days when we feel lost or fed up.

Meeting the goals other people set out for us is easy, because we’ve been trained to do that since childhood. Someone else tells us what to do and when to do it, and in return they give us money or gold stars or a good report card.

Learning how to set our own goals and meet them is a whole different level of being, which requires as much support as we can scrape together, because…Resistance. Having solid systems and daily routines is one pillar of this support. (I’ll write a post for you about the 5 Pillars when I’m finished the Goal Mastery Series.)

In my last post, we explored 4 Exercises to Set the Right Goals and Love Your Life. Doing those exercises helped me finally understand what makes me happy, so I can set goals around THAT.

In this post, I’m going to share my research into six different systems that very successful people have used to master their goals. By looking at what’s working for other people, you can begin to get a feel for what needs to happen for goals to be achieved (no, you can’t just sit around visualizing—though that is an important step!) and then mix and match their systems to create something that’s tailor-made for you.

Get Started

Do an Overview: at this point, the idea is to get familiar with different systems and see what speaks to you. Relax and have fun with it. Click through each link I’ve provided (there’s one for each system) and take notes about what feels useful for you right now.

6 Systems that Can Help You Master Your Goals

1. Get Things Done (GTD) This system is loved the world over by many entrepreneurs and other trailblazers, but it’s pretty hardcore. That said, just by reading about how it works, it helped me understand some elements I could incorporate into my own system that would work for me. So just read about it and see if anything jumps out that you might like to try. I love Leo Babauta’s FAQ.
2. Kan Ban (Visualize Work, Limit Work, Maximize Output) The brain processes visual information 60,000 times faster than text. Kanban helps you harness the power of visual information by using cards or sticky notes to create a “picture” of your work and progress. This was originally used by Toyota then software developers, but now everyone’s adopting it. I use it too. It gives me a sense of accomplishment every day. The categories I use are: Projects, To Do, Doing and Done. Read more and download a free ebook here.
3. 5 Goals/5 Milestones Per Year. This system was created by a fellow Canadian who continues to inspire me with all she has accomplished, and especially all the people she is helping with her work. Entrepreneur Natalie MacNeil of shetakesontheworld.com decides on just five core goals to achieve each year, then decides on 5 milestones for each of these goals, and writes them all down on a one-page grid she can look at every day. You can learn about it in her excellent book for rising entrepreneurs “The Conquer Kit” (which I own and adore). You can also learn about it for free here.
4. 10 Goals in 12 Months. If you’re ambitious and can’t narrow your goals down to just five, this project system is used by Marie Forleo to manage her own thriving business. If you don’t know who she is, you should check her out, because her free weekly videos have helped millions of people share their unique gifts with the world. I first learned about this system in her BSchool program (of which I’m a raving member). BUT after a bit of research I discovered you can get the free PDFs on her blog; just fill in her short survey. (Do it soon. It’s an old link.)
5. 3 Month Momentum Goals. If you feel overwhelmed by an annual plan, try out this 90-day Momentum Plan to move forward on just one goal that is really important to you.  (Create a new one every three months, and you’ll end up achieving four of your goals by the end of the year!) I’ve been playing around with this myself, and it has given me some decent results. Here’s a great blog post by Anthony Frasier summing up his own research on how to do this.
6. Joel’s Personal Organizing Log (POL) System is a basic but effective text-based system my partner created (he’s a computer programmer). In my opinion, he’s a systems genius—one of things I find sexy about him! I’ve been using his system for the past year and it has helped me immensely. Whatever systems I end up using, I will probably incorporate them into this Logbook System.
   1. How it works: You create a new document for each month of the year (I use Google Docs), which you archive at the end of the month. Every day you list key tasks, which are marked with an “x” when completed. At the top you’ll see a section called “Backburner”—this is where you would list your key projects (i.e. goals), with an itemized list of the steps you need to take to complete them. Level A is higher priority than Level B. Here’s what it looks like.

Remember, right now we’re still in the exploratory phase, giving ourselves permission to just learn, play around, take it in, and see how we feel. In my next post we’ll step up to the next level and look at the different elements your Goal Mastery System should include.

Here are all the posts I have planned for this series:

1. 3 Steps to Create a Goal Mastery System That Works for You (Finally!)
2. 4 Exercises to Set the Right Goals to Create a Life You’ll Love
3. 6 Systems That Will Help you Set & Meet Goals
4. What Your Goal Mastery System Should Include
5. Apps That Will Help you Set & Meet Goals

Rise up and shine as your True Self,

Shawn xo

P.S. I’d love to hear about your experiences with this in the comments section below or on my Facebook page. Let’s create community together! We are here to SHARE who we ARE and SUPPORT each other! ♡

If you need extra support breaking through whatever’s holding you back from your potential, drop me a line. I help trailblazers have breakthroughs around whatever’s in the way of them creating/doing the cool stuff they were born to do. Go here to learn the 4 things I do that lead to my clients’ breakthrough results & book a free 15-minute convo if it feels right.

Can a Vision Statement Motivate You to Take Massive Action?

Sign up to find out!

Get Access to my FREE "Do Big Things Faster: Focus + Motivation Vision Tool" now. It mines your deepest subconscious desires to craft a Vision Statement that lifts you up + pulls you forward.

• It taps you into your purpose + life's calling.
• This gives you focus + motivation + momentum.
• It comes with a video tutorial + mini-course.
• + 6 days of life-changing secrets on harnessing the power of your subconscious mind to do bigger things faster + happier.