How to Stick to Your Plan Until You Succeed
Ready to Make a Plan & Stick to it?
Making plans can feel energising, exciting and fun, but actually achieving your goals doesn't always feel the same as your enthusiasm and motivation begins to dip.
If you're struggling to work out how to stick to your plan, take a peek at some of these ideas. Not all will suit you or your way of working, but finding that one thing that clicks is magical!
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Table of Contents
Understand Your Goals
Setting goals will help you to get where you want to be. Without them, these ideas or thoughts remain dreams. Once you make a plan, you're much more likely (42% more likely) to move forward with it and achieve the goal.
But it's not just about having goals. You need to understand what and why you want to achieve it so that you can stay focused and motivated when it's hard to see any tangible progress made.
A clearly defined plan with objectives and steps mapped out, is like having a roadmap or a guide that's taking you from where you are right not, through to your end goal.
Set Clear & Measurable Goals
If you're working towards something that's a bit vague, it's a bit like trying to find your way in a place that you've never been to, without any signs or directions to follow.
There's much more uncertainty, and therefore more of a chance that you'll waste time and energy simply trying to work out how to get there! It's these kind of things that can lead to you abandoning your plans completely, and turning back around!
This is the same thing when you don't have specific goals or a clear plan. To make your goals more specific and achievable, you need to know what it is you're aiming for. This removes any uncertainty and vagueness.
For example, instead of saying “my goals is to grow my business with passive income” say, “I will set up an online store so that I can create and sell digital products.” This is much clearer and you have a goal to work towards.
SMART Goals:
SMART goals are often used, and although I don't use them in everything that I do, they make sense and work for a lot of people.
- Specific: Clearly define what you want to achieve.
- Measurable: Ability to track your progress.
- Achievable: Dream big – but set realistic goals.
- Relevant: Make sure the goals fully align with what you want.
- Time-bound: A deadline helps you to stay on track.
PACT Goals:
I align more with PACT goals as it fits with how I work and process things, but I think it depends on the context of your goals, and your own preferences and needs.
- Purposeful: Meaningful to you and your long-term objectives in life.
- Actionable: Focused on what you can do now, staying focused on the present.
- Continuous: Simple and repeatable actions. Flexible and able to adapt as you move forward.
- Trackable: This isn't about stats on growth, but can you answer “Yes” or “No” to “Have I done a,b,c yet?” This makes it easy to track your progress and feels more real than numbers on a complicated graph!
Stay Motivated with Longer-Term Objectives
Staying motivated isn't always easy, especially if it feels like the end goal is a million miles away. Linking your goals with longer-term objectives can help you stay motivated and focused on the day to day repetitive action that's needed.
Think about why you want to achieve these goals, and keep these reasons close by. Add them onto your screensaver, or print them and have it visible as you're sat working at your desk.
Think about what difference achieving this goal will make to you and your life. What impact will it have? How will things be better if you hit the goal?
When you have emotion attached to your goals, it can be much easier to stay focused during the more challenging times.
Break Big Goals Down
Big goals can be pretty intimidating. Breaking them down into smaller, and more manageable tasks can help to make them less overwhelming and feel more attainable.
For example, if your goal is to write and publish a book, create a plan where you begin with writing an outline, then a chapter, and so on. As you complete each step / chapter, you feel that sense of achievement rather than dread at what else you have left to do.
As you achieve each step, the momentum builds which increases your confidence as well as your motivation.
I took this approach with my MA dissertation, and it made the world of difference as I was absolutely dreading it. When I broke it down into chapters and repeated this for each section, I was able to forget the end goal and slowly but surely chip away until I had completed the entire thing!
Use Tools / Tech to Track Progress
This is personal preference, but if you're a tech lover and you find apps useful for planning and monitoring your work, there are many tools available to help you track progress.
Apps like Trello can be great for visual workers, with easy drag and drop features so that you can easily move things around once completed. This type of app can help you keep track of both your tasks and milestone achievements, which can be incredibly motivating.
Some other apps:
Create a Detailed Action Plan
A plan doesn't have to be boring or make you roll your eyes at the mention of it… An effective action plan should be your best friend as you're working towards your goal.
It's like the brain of your whole process, something that evolves, and is by your side throughout. A plan needs to be a working document. It needs to also be a journal where you catch ideas, reflect and realign with your big goal. Most importantly, it needs to be used!
Filling in a monthly or weekly plan is totally pointless if you only look at it the following week or month. Daily planning and reflecting on progress, as well as documenting those micro-steps helps you to stay focused and clear on where you are.
Before you start to do any work, get your plan written. Start by breaking down the bigger goals, and use these steps to create your timeline / tracker.
An action plan that's used every day will help you stay focused because you'll know exactly what you need to do, adapting and realigning as you go along.
How to Organise Your Action Plan
How you organise your plan will depend on whether you use a digital planner or a paper one. It will also depend on the functionality of the app / tool, as well as how you plan to use it.
But, in essence, your action plan needs to include all of your daily and weekly tasks that will help you progress towards align your larger goal. Having a detailed plan like this, will help to ensure that you can build a routine that works for you, and help you to maintain consistency.
I couldn't work with a ‘cold' planner. By this I mean one that's neat and tidy like a spreadsheet, and looks and feels complicated or overly professional. I need it to be a bit messier. I tend to use a mix of digital tools and pen and paper, so I account for this when I plan.
My planner is a very used, with notes stuck to it, ideas, vision boards, mind maps, as well as objective trackers and mini goals… It's my business / goal brain!
Because of the way that I work with my planner, I use one where you can easily add / remove pages so that it's easy to continue using even when things change – which they often do!
Daily & Weekly Planning
Organise your daily and weekly tasks in line with the bigger goal. Clarity on what you focus will be will save you time and energy and lessen the risk of procrastination when you sit down to work.
1. Prioritise Tasks:
Identify your most urgent and high value tasks. Choose the tasks will bring you closer to your goal, prioritise them first. Be mindful however that there will be some urgent tasks that need immediate attention, but not all of them are equally important.
To manage this, aim to focus on what absolutely has to get done. The Eisenhower Matrix is a great resource to help you with this.
2. Use a Planner or Digital Tool:
Whether you prefer to use a physical planner or a digital tool, a planning / project management tool will make a huge difference. Writing down your tasks each day and week, will help you stay focused and on track.
3. Time Blocking:
Time blocking is a great productivity and time management method, particularly for those who struggle to stay focused and on task. There are different ways you can do this. For example, you would use your calendar and block out chunks of time that are dedicated to a specific task. During that time you only do that thing.
If you work better in the morning, block this time for highly focused work. You can also incorporate task batching, where you focus only on a certain task for 30/60/90 minutes.
Breaking time each day into clear sections is also great for getting rid of morning dread when you look at everything you need to get done. Read more about time blocking here.
4. Build a Daily Routine:
Consistency is key. Create a daily routine that includes time for work, rest, and recharging your batteries. A simple routine helps you to get into work mode more easily each morning.
When you introduce a routine, it becomes like a habit, helping your brain recognise cues each day. This makes it easier to shift into work mode, and there will be much less resistance. For example, I walking on the treadmill every morning and I use this time to write my blogs.
It's now so ingrained after doing this for over 4 months that it's an automatic thing to go to my drafts and start writing!
As with any habit, the more you do it, the easier it gets, and when it feels easier; it's more likely that you'll stick to your plan!
5. Review and Adjust:
Review your progress each week, reflecting on what went well, your progress, challenges and any changes you had to make. This helps you stay on top of what you're doing, ensuring that it's aligned with the big goal.
Don't be afraid to pivot or readjust things. This is perfectly normal when working towards any goal. Life is unpredictable, and adapting to things is an essential part of being resilient.
Regularly reviewing things, including checking in with your big goals will help you in those moments. It will save you time and energy in the long run as you will be able to implement changes in the moment, rather than 3 months down the road.
How to Maintain Motivation
Motivation is a fickle thing, and it's important that you don't rely on this to keep you on track and focused. At the beginning it feels much easier because it's still exciting, and you're seeing some wins quite quickly. The dip in motivation happens after working towards your goal for a while, but not really seeing big or tangible changes.
The emotional link to motivation is key, so there are a few things you can do to maintain your motivation along the way:
Track Progress
When you keep track of your achievements, it helps your motivation stay high as you can clearly see what you have achieved in relation to your goal.
Celebrate your wins – big and small. Each step needs to be acknowledged because it's those tiny, small daily steps that are moving you forward.
When you set yourself challenging, but realistic goals each day, you maintain consistency and also build your confidence and self belief along the way. So it's important to acknowledge these things.
I like to do a check in at the end of the day. I spend a few moments thinking about what I have achieved so that I'm not just hung up on everything else I need to do.
I also recommend doing a weekly and more in-depth monthly review so that you can gain a bird's-eye view of where you are, how far you've already come, and what you need to do to keep moving forwards.
This consistent reminder of your progress and achievements to date, helps to keep your motivation high.
Accountability
Another great way to stick to your plan until you achieve your goal is accountability. There are different ways you can get accountability, including:
- Work with a coach. As an accountability coach and mentor for students, I know that working with someone can be amazing. I had a mentor when I completed my MA, and that relationship helped me stay focused and on task. Knowing that there was someone I could talk to about my work helped enormously. I don't offer many 1-1 spots now, but you can email to check my availability here.
- Find an accountability buddy. Connecting with others who are also working on the same or similar things is another great way to stay motivated. There's something amazing about connecting with others who get where your head's at, that's both reassuring and motivating.
- Join an accountability group. As per the above, accountability groups is a great way to connect with others who are also working towards their goals. But be mindful that it doesn't become distracting!
Mindset Focus
Working towards goals can feel scary! You're walking into the unknown where uncertainty is a big part of it, and the uncertainty tends to be where the fear or worry grows.
If you doubt yourself or your ability to deal with challenges that arise, it's a good idea to focus on your mindset as well as your goal.
Become comfortable with the fact that as you work towards your goal, you will face obstacles. These can feel discouraging, and possibly rock your confidence. But these experiences are also opportunities for you to grow and learn.
It's about not giving up, and instead looking for practical solutions. Embracing a solution-focused mindset will help you build resilience and the confidence to keep moving forward.
Tools, Resources & Support
Each post I add my favourite tools and resources, so here are some more just for you!
Anti-Procrastination Worksheets – Visit the Etsy store for this top value anti-procrastination bundle!
Quietly Conquering Membership – Accountability Membership Waitlist. This accountability membership is coming soon! It's focused on less distraction & is something fellow introverts may love! With no community group, you will receive accountability support via email along with monthly coworking opportunities and tools / resources designed to save you time and energy! Sign up to be a BETA member here.
The Counselling Coach – My counselling website. Visit for more information, or pop me an email [email protected] to find out about 1-1 services for both counselling & coaching).
Sunsama – A brilliant task management that is perfect for busy and neurodiverse minds who easily find themselves overwhelmed and distracted. grab a free 2 week trial and free month!
Thought-Shifting Mini Journal – CBT-Based Thought Shifting Activities + mini journal with prompts
Etsy – Are you ready to create your own online store? Etsy is a brilliant shopping platform that's used by millions. Setting up your store is simple, and when you sign up with this link we both get 40 free listings!
Worry Worksheets – Mindset & Wellbeing Worksheets for Children.
Final Thoughts
Understanding how to stick to your plan will help you stay the course and not give up when you're faced with obstacles or when your motivation begins to waiver.
There are many different things you can do to give yourself the best chance at achieving your goals, but it's about finding what works for you.
Your mindset will play a big part in this, because procrastination and motivation are linked to your emotions. Once you're aware of the things that can potentially impact your focus, you'll be able to put things in place to counter any doubts or dips in energy.
Having an effective plan, creating routines, developing a solution-focused mindset, and celebrating your achievements along the way, will help to keep your motivation high.
I'd love to hear about your own thoughts and experiences, please share in the comments below.
If this post helped or you enjoyed reading it, please share one of the images below as it really helps my blog – Thank You!
Meet Lynsey
Hey there! I'm Lynsey, a coach, counsellor, and mentor for low energy, introverted or low confident female coaches & small business owners. With over 5 years’ experience of running businesses, and over a decade as a tutor and trainer, I've learned the value of effective time management that energises you through working with your energy.
I've lived with chronic illness – ME/CFS since 2011 and since then I re-trained as a counsellor, and achieved a distinction for my MA in Counselling and Psychotherapy Practice; all while running 4 businesses! I want that for you as well & it is possible with the right support and pathway to success.
Improving your mindset, finding acceptance and developing a solution-focused approach to achieving your goals is my passion. Blending mental health support where needed, as well as a supportive space and methods to manage your work more effectively.
If you'd like to know more about working with me, you can email [email protected] or find me on socials (links in the menu)
Have you seen my online store Shop.QuietlyConquer? Find DFY templates, downloads & more!
