Learn how to set and achieve your goals in 2019!
In the last 5 years, I’ve built an amazing team, grown a community to more than 500,000 women across 135 countries, been featured in international media like Forbes, CNN and CNBC, generated hundreds of thousands of dollars through partnerships with global brands like Facebook, Samsung and Google, and was even invited to ring the Closing Bell at the New York Stock Exchange! One thing that has helped me to successfully do all of this is goal-setting. I love setting goals at the beginning of the year because it’s a wonderful opportunity to take a break, think about what you’ve accomplished so far and where you want to go in the future. Here are 5 ways you can set goals and achieve your goals in 2019: 1. Create a vision board Vision Boards are the bomb.com. At the beginning of the year, my friend Edibly and I sat down and thought about what we wanted to get accomplished this year. It was hard to narrow it down but it’s been great having my goals written down and staring me in the face every single day. 2. Find an accountability partner Find for an accountability partner or a group of like-minded people. Share your major goals for the year and what you’re looking to achieve every month. [bctt tweet=”Want to achieve your 2019 goals? She Leads Africa’s co-founder @helloafua shares her 5 tips on how to jumpstart 2019… Learn more” username=”SheLeadsAfrica”] 3. Focus! Last year I decided to focus only on projects that were solely aligned with my passion for travel, digital and entrepreneurship. That focus and strategic positioning helped me secure great opportunities that probably wouldn’t have been available if I hadn’t taken a more targeted approach. I had the opportunity to serve as the Host of the first ever Airbnb Africa Travel Summit in Cape Town, South Africa. 4. Plan your finance and Investments If I don’t have it, I don’t spend it. If I have it, I want to spend less of it. If you ask me to spend money, I won’t return your calls. See how easy it is. Seriously in 2019, you need to get serious about budgeting, investing and planning. In her book, the Smart Money Woman, Arese Ugwu breaks down financial concepts as simple lessons to help you achieve financial freedom in 2019. 5. Find a natural mentor I’ve always found it quite awkward to go and ask a complete stranger to fill such an important role as a mentor. It doesn’t mean you can’t learn from them by reading their articles, listening to their speeches or by attending a class, but a mentorship can be such a personal relationship and you want to make sure your values and personality types align. Look for people in your immediate circler who could serve as a source of inspiration to you. The SLA team has pulled together resources to help you set and achieve your goals in 2019. Visit SheLeadsAfrica.org/NewYearGoals or OkadaBooks.com to learn how to jumpstart your 2019. She Leads Africa is a social enterprise dedicated to supporting young African women and their journey towards professional success. The organization has been featured on CNN, CNBC Africa, Black Enterprise and Fox Business and has more than 600,000 community members across Africa and the diaspora.
6 ways to work towards your BIG dreams: DIANA MGENI
They call me a dreamer as I live in the world of fantasy, devoid of impossibilities. Several ideas that constantly run in my mind have not always matured to fruition, and for this reason, they have constantly reminded me to re-evaluate my view regarding the dreams and come back to what they consider as reality. They laugh at me and talk behind my back that one day I will get tired of dreaming and stick to the fact that I can never make it out. With all these hindrances trying to make me give up. I never stopped dreaming. So I decided to do something about it. Here is my strategy… List down my dreams I will come up with a table that will contain my dreams, how I intend to work towards accomplishing them, the benefits and the challenges that I would face and how am going to overcome them. I stand to derive from doing them, complete with the targeted start and end time for each of them. Tell my friends how I feel My friends are not going to stop me from achieving my dreams. I will tell them this in no uncertain terms that I am tired of their mimics and nothing will stop me from dreaming big. I wouldn’t care if I lose them as friends or not because I believe real friends are supposed to give you support or encourage you in what you do. I’d rather walk alone believing in myself than walking with people who discourage and see failure you in whatever you do or want to do. Attribute myself Going forward, I will put more emphasis on the below attributes as the guiding principles towards achieving my dreams: Believe – I’ve to make the decision to start believing in myself that my dreams will come true no matter how long it will take all I need is to give out my best with full of optimism. Trust – It’s written in the good book of life that we need to trust in the Lord with all your heart and soul and He shall make our paths straight! I have to always put lots of trust in Him and include him in each and every step that I take knowing that God helps those who help themselves. Focused – I am going to remain focused on the task at hand towards achieving my dreams and take each step with positivism without wavering. Am never going to stand or turn around and listen to the barking dogs to disrupt my mission to remain focus in what am doing. Competitiveness -The current world is very competitive. I am going to remain a life to the challenges that come with it while at the same time be ready to be challenged. The need to rise with every fall, learn from my mistakes and those of others and be ready to change in doing good is also going to be key to ensure my dreams succeed. Perseverance – Success does not come overnight and neither is the road to it straight. I need to be able to withstand each storm that comes my way and overcomes it with full of confidence and never accepts to remain down since every successful person has a story to tell. Research Constant research on the subject of my dreams is now going to become an integral part of what I do towards achieving my dreams. [bctt tweet=”The current world is very competitive.” username=”Diana Mgeni”] Reading how the people who had the same dreams as mine how they were able to manage to get through their storm and be able to succeed in what they do. I will seek to find out the best way to actualize my dream and build an understanding of the same with the interested parties. Ask for help This help can take the shape of; financial, knowledge base and social input. I wouldn’t be shy to try to ask for any assistance from the people around me or my role model. This is from the realization that there are other interested parties to the success of my dreams whose input will always remain valuable to me. A step in the dark As I embark on the tasks towards achieving my dreams, I need not to be scared of the outcome provided that it has come from my very best of input. I must be prepared to showcase to everyone my work and be ready to accept both the critics and compliments from them full of positivism bearing in mind that you need them to grow since not everyone will like or support you in whatever you need. Even if my crowd is small those that will listen to me; it is an achievement and will always appreciate them. With all these, I believe that I can make my dreams come true! So let’s keep dreaming! This article was written by DIANA MGENI. Interested in contributing for She Leads Africa? Click here.
A MINIMALIST’S PERSPECTIVE TO SETTING GOALS
Goal setting is paramount to individuals as it helps with the rebranding, focus, and orderliness of life. I mean, we all have aspirations and dreams and accomplishments we would love to attain yes? And when it comes to aiming that peak, it’s all about good intentions, yes? When it comes to sharing our aspirations with others, we get bold, we get optimistic, and we get daring, yes? Most people even go as far as creating reward systems for themselves, like when I positively tick so soon my goal list, I have to get me some Birkin Bag because I sure deserve it! Right? So why do we let the negative kill our vibe? Why is it that we often fall short of the goals we set for ourselves? How come we wonder why we are at the same place we were years past, with the same poor habits and no sign of progress? It’s simple. [bctt tweet=”Start simple and work your way from the ground up” username=”SheLeadsAfrica”] The answer to the entire why questions are because as human beings, complicated is our tag names, no offense. We tend to overcomplicate and make vague the steps necessary to accomplish the goals we set for ourselves. As there are loads of various perspectives to setting goals, this article gives you another strategy to set and look at your goals progressing from a minimalist’s perspective. LITERALLY, HUG BIG PICTURE IDEAS This may be very contrary to what minimalist’s belief in but its standard. Embracing that big light bulb idea will make one hone in on what we tend to get out of this life. This idea may range from securing a major deal in your niche, wanting a big family or just being financially well off. It could be anything that tickles your fancy, just make sure you write it down on a paper with your lovely pen. Note: it’s important to take the time to grasp what you want your life to be all about, and what you would want to achieve big time. PRIORITIZE THE PARAMOUNT This is the forte of minimalists. So once you’re done listing out your big ideas and dreams’, noting the order of importance is the next step. When you create a prioritized list, you are getting rid of the confusing clutter and allowing yourself focus on what you truly want to accomplish. So this is it: you create a list of your goals beginning with the most important to achieve at this point in your life to the least important. Note: One has to realize that the goals found at the bottom of the list are still important but not as crucial as the ones found at the top. Now, success is just around the corner because you have something real, a real end goal you wish to achieve and not just wishful thinking goals. CREATE TANGIBLE STEPS Now that your priorities have been set, you can start using this information to pinpoint steps that would help you achieve the most important goal on your list. Remember, you need to take time out and think deeply for you to establish well thought out steps to achieving your goal. Now, try to begin with the most basic achievement you can think of. As with how we humans evolved, and our learning process, we started learning A, B, C before forming sentences. So start simple and work your way from the ground up. Remember with previous steps, it’s important to note them down so you can refer back to them later.It helps when you keep your laid out thoughts short, black & white and precise so it’s clear to see if you have successfully accomplished a step…or not. This phase is more or less, understanding the significance of creating a solid foundation that is easy to grasp and build upon. GET RID OF THE CLUTTER As a minimalists’ main goal is to declutter in all aspects of life, this works in setting goals as well. Any step or thing that doesn’t aid in your success should be scratched out, with every ounce of intentionality and no looking back. Anything that proves as a barrier in achieving your goals, be it an excess of social events, ideas, obligations, people or items, scratch ‘em out, please. Now don’t get me wrong, they may not be negative influencers, in general, but they may be distractive and you won’t be needing any distractions when it comes to pinpointing the goals and heights you want to attain at a certain period. We need focus vibes and not distraction vibes. [bctt tweet=”If you want to lead a simple life, scratch the reward system, let go of that chocolate and be bold.” username=”SheLeadsAfrica”] REWARD SYSTEM…OR NOT. Reward system is an innocent idea but totally unnecessary. For minimalists, they see value in the lifestyle they have opted in for and they know there’s a light at the end of the tunnel. They know the rewards and gains they have to look forward to by achieving their goals and so they embrace the simple idea that for every phase completed, they are a step closer to achieving their desired goals. This setting goal strategy may be very tough on people and opting in for the reward system is not a bad idea but if you want to lead a simple life, scratch the reward system, let go of that chocolate and be bold. REVAMPED LIFESTYLE A minimalist strategy to setting goals gives a more defined approach to things and a simple approach to creating and meeting your desired goals. Once you’re done setting your goals, you start getting results in your overall lifestyle, positive results as that’s the beautiful outcome of setting goals. It’s more like you put in hard work in one area of your life and you see a transformation in other areas. Keep that in mind. Note: Don’t try to skip previous steps to jump. It doesn’t work that way as the steps
How to deal with that job you don’t like
So you managed to get through school. You aced that interview! The excitement of finally being part of the workforce and getting that paycheck is giving you a rush. But as you slide into your work routine you start to realize something awful, you hate your job. As the initial excitement of winning the job search fades you may realize things aren’t what you expected or you are overwhelmed. How do you survive such a situation? Breathe Becoming an adult is quite a daunting task, with so many things to balance and learn. When you add a job to this mix, it can feel overwhelming. The first thing you need to do it take a deep breath. Try to wrap your head around what’s happening it your life. Focus on the positive It’s easy to have a bad day when you’re only focused on the bad things. I hate to sound like your mother, but you need to begin counting your blessings one by one. What are the perks of your job? What do you enjoy? When you look at it this way, you will discover that perhaps your job is not all bad. Be Realistic There’s a long list of reasons why you might hate your job. Some common reasons are the salary, the hours and superiors. But sometimes, you really have to be realistic about your job. You can start by finding out what salaries are in your field. This will help you understand that you can’t expect to be earning top manager salary on your first day. Secondly, you may also feel as though your boss is out there to get you. But ask yourself, is he really up to that? Is there something that you perhaps need to do better? Consider other factors If you’re staying up late every night to catch up on daytime soaps or not eating properly, you’ll probably be constantly exhausted. Make sure you’re taking care of your body, your mind, and emotions. Feelings can heavily affect your system. If logistics is a problem try carpooling or taking alternative transport, or leaving home a bit earlier to avoid traffic. Wait it out They say time fixes all problems. Sometimes the best solution is to wait it out. Maybe you just need more time to adjust. On the hand, sometimes it may be time to move on from that job. While waiting it out, you can begin searching for other opportunities or perhaps even start that business you’ve been thinking of. Whatever you decide, you need to make concrete plans that will guide your next steps. This will ensure that you don’t end up in the same situation again. Communicate If something else is really bothering you, maybe it’s time to speak to whoever is in charge. Try explaining to them what the issues are without whining, be clear and concise. Be cautious about how much information you share though. Learn from it If you do decide to move on, make sure you take everything as a learning experience. Understand why things didn’t go so well. Know what you want from your next job. How would you negotiate your hours and pay? Finally, don’t let your current situation weigh you down. In order to grow, we need to go through rough patches that will help us fully grow. This article was written by Love Akinkunle. Love is an African writer, content creator and victim of wanderlust. She works in PR, event management, and tour management when there’s writer’s block. If you’d like to get featured on our Facebook page, click here to share your story with us.
If you want to achieve your goals, stop focusing on them
A lot of us have set out the goals that we want to achieve in 2018. Whether it’s business, family life, financial, career or social goals we have set them out and we expect to achieve them by 31st December 2018. How successful have you been in the past? Personally, at the end of the year, I find I have achieved 50% or less of what I set for myself to achieve. So what am I doing wrong?. I stumble across an interesting TED talk by Reggie Rivers, his first bold statement was that “IF YOU WANT TO ACHIEVE GOALS STOP FOCUSING ON THEM!” This caught my interest as it goes against what I had learned so far, I listened to the entire presentation. [bctt tweet=”Break your goals into tasks that’ll bring you closer to the goal.” username=”SheLeadsAfrica”] Reggie broke down that focusing on the goal makes you unable to use your energy on actually achieving the Goal. Moreover, more often than not you are not in control of the outcome and are only in control of your behavior and reactions. We all want to make money in our business by the end of the year, but you can’t force customers to buy from you, you can make the product as good as possible, yes, but you really can’t guarantee the outcome i.e. profits. For instance, if you want to lose weight you end up weighing yourself every week. Of course, those who struggle with weight like I, realize that this does not lead anywhere fast. In fact, you end up frustrated and abandon the whole weight loss journey. You are focusing on the outcome. He suggests that you should focus on WHAT IS IN YOUR CONTROL, your behavior. Hmm… what does this mean? He says that you should focus on your behavior, which you are in control of, to achieve your goal. [bctt tweet=”Focus on what’s in your control – your behaviour” username=”SheLeadsAfrica”] Assume you are able to achieve the goal and perform the tasks to achieve it. In the weight loss scenario, you should focus on what you are eating, how much you exercise and what you drink. We need to break the goal into smaller tasks that we can perform easily and fast while working towards the main huge ambitious goal. Reggie suggests that you should have tasks that you can perform TODAY, TOMORROW and THIS WEEK. I like the idea that you break up your big goal into smaller manageable bits. What does this achieve? You remain motivated as you achieve something every day and week. Every small step moves you closer to the big goal. You can dream big and break the large goal into smaller action points and you end up achieving an ambitious goal. This works even when you need to save or invest. This I can testify to. You keep on revising your plan every so often and thereby are able to make necessary changes to move you closer to the goal. This is particularly helpful in business so that where you can change a strategy that does not work before you lose too much money. It helps you be disciplined on simple tasks and eventually bigger ones. This is a way to get rid of bad habits like procrastinating. If you are accountable on a daily and weekly basis you notice your weakness and work on it more often to improve yourself. It actually keeps you on track as you end up spending the necessary time, without getting distracted, to achieve your eventual goal. Normally when a task is huge we are quick to allow ourselves to be distracted away from it. In conclusion, I think this is a great concept to adopt in business and generally in life, deal with what you are in control of. Forget what is not in your control because you can’t change it anyway. Got an article you’d like to share with us? Share your story with us here.