Do You Keep Forgetting Your Goals?

You aren't alone...

When I started ADHD Big Brother coaching by community a few years ago, I had this vision of accountability on steroids. Not only would we have a home for some daily accountability, but we’d get creative with each other on our weekly plans, our monthly goals and even our yearly goals.

Having overcome a 20+ year nicotine addiction by utilizing the help of a quit group community, I saw just how impactful it can be to surround myself with the support of others who are going through a similar experience. So I applied that to my ADHD coaching. And it worked!

But what happened quite often when we would do our monthly goals group zoom chat is we would all look back at what we posted the previous month and then say things like “Oh, I totally forgot I said I was going to do that!” or “Oh, suprisingly I actually did some of that even though I totally forgot I was going to do it!” or “Who the hell was the person that came up with THAT goal?! I said that?!”

The thing that was missing from the monthly goals was that they were not top of mind. We didn’t check in every day about our monthly goals. We didn’t look at them, we didn’t acknowledge them, not like we did with our daily accountability. We just declared our monthly on a day of intention and then moved on.

Our goals are like a really cool helium balloons. We fill them up, we stare at the cool balloony shape and how it looks, and then it floats away. The more time that passes, the farther it gets, the smaller it looks, and the more distant until it’s out of sight/out of mind.

We need something to tie our balloon to!

No, this isn’t your “why”, this isn’t your purpose, this isn’t all that front loading work you did to come up with your goal. That shit leaves just as fast as it came as well. It does for me.

It’s as simple as putting it in front of your face where you can see it.

If you are a person reading this with ADHD, and I asked you what your top 3 long term goals are, would you be able to answer them? I wouldn’t! Not while I’m writing this, I couldn’t tell you. I’m sitting here trying!

I mean, I know mine has to do with health, money, and spirituality. I know those are the buckets. But I’d really have to think about the actual work, tasks, specificity, the SMART goal breakdown of each one. The idea that I would memorize something like this is a bit far reaching…and I’m an ADHD Jedi! I have an ADHD lightsaber, and I use the ADHD force! Remember my goals?! Nope.

So how to keep this stuff top of mind?

Here are ways to keep your goals top of mind

Community Check-in

One of the ways we attack this in my community is we have a mid-month check in call to remind ourselves of what we are working on. That enables us to get back on track sooner than once a month. Be a part of a community that is setting goals and talking about them.

Externalize in Front of Your Face

Another method that I use is that I keep my goals on my whiteboard next to my desk. I need only look to the right and my goals are presented to me, reminding me what I determined was important to me.

Group Accountability

I created a group called the Consistency Crew, which meets once a week to keep that accountability and forward motion constantly on the radar. Do you have a group you could put together to meet with in an ongoing basis to keep your eyes on your respective prizes? It helps, big time!

Physical Reminders

Similar to my whiteboard, are there areas that you will always be looking at that you could place notes or images of inspiration that will remind you of your goal? Vision boards, motivational quotes….if the cliche works, use it!

Habit the Slog!

When you break the goal down into its smaller chunks, what might be the daily habits you could create that will keep you moving toward that goal? We gamify habits in our community with day streaks, card games, board games, whatever works and seems fun! What can you do to make the daily habits easier and more fun.

These are the things that help me out. What ways do you keep your goals top of mind? And bonus question, if your goals are top of mind, what ways do you ensure that you are moving your needle towards that goal?

Let me know!