Having a desire to succeed is a great first step toward achieving your goals. But desire is only the first step. Desire alone isn’t going to make your goals come to fruition.  After you’ve determined what your goal is, you then have to implement systems to achieve it. We’ve all heard the saying that failing to plan is planning to fail. I know from experience this is true. Implementing systems helps ensure success. Different systems work for different people. What works for some doesn’t work for others. What works best for you comes down to trial and error. Try consistently implementing some of the systems below and see what works. Remember, just because something is hard doesn’t mean the system doesn’t work. Working towards goals can be hard. Doing things you haven’t done before can be hard. Just because something is hard doesn’t mean you should quit. You won’t always be motivated or inspired to put in the work. When motivation and inspiration allude you, discipline and the systems you’ve implemented come into play. You have to make the choice that you want something and then be willing to put in the work to achieve it. Below are 9 systems that work for me. Try them out and see if they work for you! Some of these ideas come  from the book Atomic Habits by James Clear, I highly recommend giving it a read!

1. Identify with the goal. If you want to get up earlier, start calling yourself a morning person. If you want to be fit, start calling yourself fit. Take small steps that align with your goal. Take the stairs instead of the elevator. The more small steps you take that align with your goal, the easier it will be to identify with your goal.
2. Get specific. A general goal is a good starting point, but it’s hard to hold yourself accountable when you only have a generalized idea of what you want. Instead of saying I want to be fit, say I want to run a 10 minute mile (not that running a 10 minute mile constitutes the definition of fit). Instead of saying I want to save more money, say I want to save $2,000.00 in the next two months ??. You’re more likely to hold yourself accountable when you have a clear idea of what you want to accomplish.
3. Make the habits getting you closer to your goals obvious and the habits making it harder to reach your goals invisible. We are creatures of convenience. We like to do things that are easy. Leave your gym clothes out for you to change into. Don’t buy cookies or put them in back of the pantry. Leave the apples out in the center of the kitchen. Set up a savings account where money is automatically taken out of your paycheck every month.
4. Make the habits getting in the way of your goals hard and the habits bringing you closer to your goals easy. If you want to take a break from playing video games, unplug the gaming console and tuck it away somewhere. You will be far less likely to play if you have to go to the trouble of setting it up every time you have the urge to play a game.
5. Set timeframes. While you don’t want to get too caught up in timeframes, having an idea of when you want to accomplish something by can help hold you accountable.
6. Break your goal up into manageable phases. When looking at a new goal, it can seem daunting. If your goal is to graduate from a Masters program, looking at the two years of hard work it will take to graduate can seem like a never ending uphill battle. Break that program up into more manageable goals. For example, just think about making it successfully to Christmas or spring break. Then you have a week to recover. When asked how she doesn’t quit, author Glennon Doyle said she quits every day. Every day she stops and rests and then picks it back up the next day when her energy is restored. Taking breaks is vital. Take breaks but don’t give up. Reward yourself when you reach smaller goals. Make sure your reward isn’t counterproductive to your goal. For example, if you worked out for 5 days straight reward yourself with something like a massage not eating an entire pizza. If you didn’t smoke for a week, don’t reward yourself with a cigarette.
7. Before doing something ask yourself if this action will help you become the type of person you want to be. If the answer if no, acknowledge that out loud. If your goal is to pass a class but instead of studying for your test tomorrow, you’re going to go out with your friends, say to yourself “I’m going out with my friends tonight instead of studying for my test tomorrow. I want to do well in this class and I know this decision will prevent me from studying and doing my best on my test.” Stating the consequences of your decisions out loud makes them more real.
8. Examine your environment and see if you need to change it. It’s a lot harder to stick to habits in a negative environment. It’s important to be able to work towards achieving your goals even when the world isn’t clapping for you, and try to surround yourself with people who believe in you and are rooting for you.
9. It’s easier to avoid a tempting situation altogether then to put yourself in a situation full of temptation. If you want to stop going on social media, delete the apps from your phone. Don’t put yourself in situations where you know you will be tempted, avoid the situation all together.