How to Accomplish Absolutely Anything

It’s a bold claim, isn’t it—that this blog is the key to accomplishing absolutely anything in your life? Perhaps it is bold, but that’s what this blog is all about: finding ways to achieve your biggest dreams and to change your life.

Like a genie granting three wishes, there are limitations, but the following skill is one of the most important things I have ever learned and I guarantee it can help you manage stress, achieve your dreams, and improve your life. And being that it’s a new year tomorrow, there is not better time to implement this life-changing skill.

So how do you accomplish absolutely anything?

Proper goal-setting.

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I truly believe our lives are in our control, but we’re hindered by circumstance, motivation, and distractions. Proper goal-setting treads a path that leads us to the life we want. This step-by-step guide, inspired by psychologist Gerard Egan’s skilled helper model, is easy and fun to do!

Before we begin, I’m going to establish the rules of proper goal-setting. Your goals must:

1.) Be something you have control over
2.) Have a timeline
3.) Be measurable

For example, “I want to sell my book to a Big 6 publisher and become a famous author” is not a valid goal because it does not contain the three necessary qualities for success. However, “I want to finish writing my manuscript by January 31st” has all three of the qualities for a successful goal.

Ready to accomplish something awesome? Grab a piece of paper and a pen and follow along…

Step 1: Brainstorm Statements of Good Intention

Use your piece of paper to write down as many statements of good intentions as you possibly can! Statements of good intentions are just things you would like to do. Think broad and go until you’re out of ideas!

Examples: I want to finish writing my book, I want to run a successful blog, I want to make new friends, I want to travel, I want to exercise more, I want to spend more time with my family, I want to get a new job, etc.

Step 2: Choose between 2-4 Statements of Good Intentions.

You don’t want to overwhelm yourself with too many goals, but you also want to start 2015 off right, and you want to challenge yourself. Choose the most important things on your list and write them down. I’ll use the statement of good intention of “I want to finish my novel” as a building block for the next examples.

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Step 3: Create a broad goal

Now, we’re going to narrow down our statement of good intention into a more manageable goal.

Example: “I will make writing my novel a part of my daily routine.”

You may notice your statement of good intention can be broken into many broad goals. For example, a statement of good intention of “I want to be healthier” could have broad goals of: I want to start running, I want to drink more water, or I want to eat more vegetables. Choose one and direct your attention on that. After you create a detailed plan to achieve that goal, you can move onto the next one.

Write your broad goals down for each statement of good intention.

Step 4: Create a specific goal

In this step, you create a very specific goal based off of your broad goal. Try to be as detailed as possible.

Example: “I will write 1000 words of my novel everyday”.

Write your specific goals down for each broad goal.

Step 5: Create a manageable goal

In this step, we put timelines on our specific goals to make sure we can judge our progress.

Examples: By January 31st, I will have written 30, 000 words of my novel.

Write your manageable goals down for each specific goal.

Step 6: Create plans to achieve your goals.

Take a good look at your measurable goals and think about the barriers in the way of achieving them. Then, write down steps you can take to help you achieve your goal. For example, if your specific goal is to start running regularly three times a week by the end of the month, a barrier may be a lack of self-discipline. A plan to overcome this may be to join a running group that will hold you accountable. This step may be different for each goal, but try to write out about 3 plans for each goal.

Example: Barriers to writing 30, 000 words of my novel by January 31st include a hectic schedule and distraction from family and friends. My plan to overcome these barriers is:
1) I will set aside a certain time each day to write.
2) If I know I will be busy in the days coming up, I will write more on other days to maintain my word count goal.
3) I will tell friends and family members so they understand when I need time to write.
4) I will treat myself to a night out on February 1st if I achieve my goal.

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And that’s it! 

Remember, goals are meant to challenge you! You have the ability to inspire yourself and achieve anything in the world. Goals are a map to the heart. Good luck! Please share your goals with me and have a happy, healthy, adventurous 2015! There is much excitement on the horizon.

5 Tips to Surviving Exam Week

Hey guys! Kate here.

I know you haven’t heard from me on the blog, Twitter, or Instagram in…welp, a really long time, but it’s been a pretty ridiculous winter. Between winning NaNoWriMo, working full-time, and finishing my semester of college, I have been crazy busy!

I’m on the tail-end of my exams, with only one more to go, and I’ll fully admit it’s been stressful. The pressure of wanting to excel (or just pass) an exam, coupled with all the other responsibilities in a student’s life can be overwhelming. As I look around at my friends and classmates, I see not only are some of them just stressed, but they’re cracking under the pressure.

Exams are, of course, going to be a time of exhaustion and anxiety, but there are ways to make them a bit more bearable. As a student, I will fully admit there’s no “Quick Cure to Exam Stress” or “Easy Way to Ace your Exams!” but these five tips definitely help me stay sane when I’m buried in notes and flashcards.


1. Make a schedule and stick to it. Man, this is so important. Exams are a huge portion of your grade, so telling yourself you’ll study when you have time just won’t cut it. As soon as you get your exam schedule, plan the one-to-two weeks leading up it around your study schedule. Fit in work, any important social arrangements you have to attend, and any last minute assignments, and then build your study schedule so you have plenty of time to review. If you can, give yourself an extra day for each exam to study; it always takes longer to get something down than you think.

2. Give yourself some downtime. While you're building your schedule, make sure you don’t fill it all up with studying. Yes, you need to know the material, but burning out or pulling all-nighters isn’t going to help you either. Make sure you give yourself an hour each day to digest by watching a television show, or going for a walk. Clearing your brain will help you remember the material and keep you from feeling overwhelmed.

3. Find a study method that works for you. Okay, you might not believe me, but if you’re not doing well on tests, there’s a really good chance it’s just because you haven’t found the right way to study. People learn differently. I, for example, am the hugest enthusiast of flash cards you will ever meet. Flash cards are amazing because they help you review the material while you write it down, but they also cause you to think about the material differently when you compose the questions. And then they train your brain to do exactly what it needs to do on a test: recall! But some people may find another method works better: re-writing their notes by hand, or studying in groups. Experiment until you find what helps you the most. Every test will get easier and easier once you do.


4. Trust yourself. You’ve attended the lectures, taken notes, studied, and yet you’re still telling yourself you’re going to fail, or do horribly. Why? If you’ve done everything you can do, then have a little faith in yourself. A lot more of the information will come back to you than you think. Also, I’m a big believer in positive psychology. I’m not talking The Secret stuff, but what you believe does have ways of formulating your thoughts and actions. Before the exam, stand in front of the mirror, raise your arms in a champion pose, and say: “I am going to ace this exam!” Don’t believe this will work? Listen to an expert.

5. Look to the future. When you’re in the blackest of black places, swamped with notes and facts and your hands are calloused from holding a pencil, remember: this doesn’t last forever. Look forward to what you’ll do as soon as exams are done, and also look even further and remember why you’re in school in the first place. Then buckle down and get to work.

Exams are stressful, and long, and they require huge amounts of mental energy. But keep in mind you’re willingly going to school, and you’re putting your money into this. Exam time is about you and your learning!

Good luck everyone!