Get Those Goals | Mollie'sThoughts

Hello everyone.

I hope you are all feeling very good about yourselves if you managed to reach the "20 Acts of Kindness" goal I set for you in last week's post- link. I've done my best to achieve it myself and I've found it very rewarding. I've also noticed that whilst focusing on doing more kind acts for others, I've been able to see all the kind acts that others do for me much more! It can be anything from paying someone a compliment to helping someone carry a heavy suitcase off of the bus.
I hope you enjoyed this challenge and found it rewarding too if you joined in and if you missed it, then set it as this week's goal - you won't regret it.

Speaking of goals, this is exactly the topic I would like to focus on for this week's "Mollie'sThoughts" edition. Although last week's goal was set to encourage everyone to put a bit more thought into demonstrating kindness, it was also to help illustrate this week's topic too - see, I do plan my posts in advance occasionally!

Goals are something we are all familiar with setting in a professional environment from agreeing the grade you hope to achieve in a class at school with your teacher to getting that promotion at work. We even set goals in our personal lives for things such as learning a certain skill, becoming the sort of person you want to be, saving up money to buy that new car etc. - basically, our dreams for the future. But the thing is, goals and dreams aren't the same thing. We could have a dream to be a successful musician for example and we could fantasise about being on stage in front of adoring fans, but if we don't take practical steps and set practical goals such as learning how to play the guitar, then all they'll ever remain is just dreams. Dreams are what we hope to achieve but goals are what make us achieve. Without goals, we'd have no direction.

That's why I think setting goals is so important in life. They keep us motivated, helps us to measure our successes and lead us in the right direction - forward. Not to mention that they help give meaning to our lives.

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"Reaching for goals is an important part of strengthening self-confidence. It helps shape and update how you define yourself while at the same time helping you add to your sense of accomplishment." - Marci G. Fox, psychologist specialising in self-confidence building.

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Everyone wants to feel like their life has purpose and everyone wants to make a difference somehow and what better way to assure yourself that you are achieving these things than to tick them off as you go along? It is a proven fact that simply crossing off items on a "to-do" list can increase your self-esteem significantly. This is because you are taking the time to appreciate what you have accomplished so you are able to feel good about every little milestone you cross.

That's something else to keep in mind, the size of the goal you are setting. To begin with you want your overall goal and as an example I'll share one of mine which is to increase the success and popularity of my youtube channel. Now if I just left my goal at that then I wouldn't know where to begin. That is why it is important to set yourself short-term goals aswell as long-term ones as these are what will eventually lead you to your overall goal. So in order for me to do this, I set myself monthly goals.
This began recently after I bought a new diary (half way through the year... but I needed one so I'm sure I can find a use for the unused months' pages) which I am absaloutely in love with but that is a different story. In my diary though, at the beginning of every month, there is a specific page dedicated to "My goals for this month" and I can't tell you how useful it has been! For someone as unorganised as me, being able to sit down and consider practical steps to achieving my long-term goals is so much more efficient and much less stressful that just making it up as I go along.
So continuing my example of my goal to improve my youtube channel, last month I set a goal to make at least one youtube video that month - a goal which I managed to achieve. This then led on to this months goal to do the same but with a video that is a little longer. These monthly goals will then continue and progress each time for however long it will take until I eventually achieve my overall goal!
It's not just about only setting big, long-term goals because though they're what you're eventually working towards, they aren't going to tell you how to get there. It's the job of the monthly, weekly and daily goals to get you there step by step. And as you cross those goals off week by week or month by month your confidence will increase as will your chances of achieving your dreams!

I strongly suggest (if you don't already) that you begin keeping a record of your goals weekly or monthly so that once you achieve your dream you can appreciate all the hard-work you have put in and you can see how far you've progressed.

Don't just follow your dreams, make them come true.

Mollie

♥

Kindness | Mollie'sThoughts

Hello everyone.

As promised, I’m here with a bonus post which will be a more regular occurrence! For this bonus post (which also happens to be my 20^th post), I thought I’d do another ‘Mollie’s Thoughts’ edition focusing on kindness.

The word “kind” is one that we say many many times in our sentences and it is one of those go-to words that just springs to mind and is recognised by everyone. It’s a word that is one of the first we use when listing a friend’s personality traits – kind, thoughtful, funny etc or to round up a letter/ e-mail ("kind regards,"). We use this same word so many times that sometimes we can just use it like any other, without much thought or attention; we forget it’s real importance and meaning.

The online dictionary’s definition of kindness is:   “The act of being friendly, generous and considerate.”

In today’s world, everyone seems to always be in a hurry without even enough time to say a passing “hello” to a neighbour. But I think it’s so important to always make time to show people a little kindess.

For all we know, the other person could be having a terrible day and your kind smile and cheerful “hello there” could be just what they need to pick themselves back up! We all know that scenario very well don’t we? We’ve all been there and felt how much of an impact a strangers’ kindness can have. We also know the impact of when someone simply avoids an act of kindness because they’re being too self-focused to notice/help you. For example, if you’re carrying heavy books through a corridor behind someone and they simply let the door swing shut behind them rather than holding it for you. Or when you’re in a rush somewhere and you’ve dropped something and though people around you have noticed, they keep quiet - leaving you to realise what you’ve done yourself about 50 steps later.

It’s these simple acts of kindness that can make or break someone’s day so why don’t we make the effort to be more "friendly, generous and considerate" to others and make a difference?

We all know a smile is infectious, but so is kindness! When we demonstrate an act of kindness, it will touch and inspire those around us to go on to do something kind for someone else; the potential for a whole train of kind actions and happier people is held in the hands of someone who offers a tissue to a stranger who is sneezing or says “thankyou” to someone who serves us at a checkout.

Adults spend most of their time teaching their little ones to “say please and thankyou” and “don’t be rude” but we ourselves let our actions slip sometimes. So next time the occasion arises, let’s give a stranger a smile, help someone who looks lost, say our pleases and thank yous and hold the door open for someone whether they’re holding heavy items or not. Let’s bring back the old-fashioned manners and courtesy that Britain is famous for and let's show everyone around us some kindness.

20 Acts of Kindness

Now, as this is my 20th post on my blog I thought, why not incorporate it into this theme? So this week (by next Monday), I challenge you to carry out 20 significant acts of kindness and either blog them and link it back to this post (if you're a blogger), leave them in the comments or even write them down somewhere such as a notebook if you'd rather keep them personal and let's see how many people's lives you're able to touch in a positive way in one week! You can also write down their reaction as well if you'd like.

Everyone wants to change the world, so let's begin with baby steps and help make some people smile this week!

Mollie

♥

P.S. I'm so grateful to have this blog and have reached even a small milestone of 20 posts! I'm even more grateful to have every one of you who reads my blog and I want you to know that you're all very special to me.
Don't forget to follow me on Blog Lovin' or add my blog to your 'reading list' if you have an account on blogger! See you soon. xx