Hey there, Goal Investigator! If you’re waiting for a sign, a push, or a nudge to start working on your goals and dreams, consider this it. You’ve got this! Sometimes, the idea of taking that first step can be scary, like a terrier. But remember what Mel Robbins says: 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, launch. In this case, it’s 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, take action.
Today is a good day to take action
Hey there, Goal Investigator! If you’re waiting for a sign, a push, or a nudge to start working on your goals and dreams, consider this your push. You’ve got this! Sometimes, the idea of taking that first step can be scary and terrifying. But remember what Mel Robbins says: be like a rocket going into space 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, launch. In this case, it’s 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, take action.
Often, we get caught up in our heads on what we should do and get stuck in analysis paralysis. We get so stuck in the research stage that we forget to actually take action and get started. Because at the end of the day, we aren’t going to achieve our goals and dreams if we don’t start taking action. It doesn’t have to be a big, scary action; it can be baby steps. It’s just the first thing you can think of to get started. Often, the hardest part is getting started.
Is there a daily activity you can incorporate to build a habit and make progress? For instance, if your goal is fitness, consider a thirty- to sixty-minute walk before work with your dogs. The initial attempts might be challenging, but if you persist, it will soon become a part of your routine.
Another example is if you are writing a book, is there a time of the day that you can write for thirty to sixty minutes, OR are you more motivated with a number of words? How many words each day can you write at a minimum? My minimum number of words daily is 300. It is a doable amount, and often, I will write more than this.
What I am saying is to set a minimum goal to get you started, and often, once you are started, you will do the full amount or more.
Let’s build a community of support and motivation. Share your tips and tricks for getting started and staying on track. Together, we can overcome procrastination and achieve our goals.
Like many of you, I often feel overwhelmed by a large goal or an extensive Task Tracker list. The sheer magnitude can lead to procrastination, self-sabotage, or a belief that the task is too daunting to tackle. However, I’ve discovered a powerful strategy that brings relief: breaking it down into manageable baby steps.
First, I gain an overview of what I want to achieve by brainstorming the goal and listing all the tasks I need to complete. I also take time to define what success looks like for me. Then, I work backward from the desired outcome, identifying the steps needed to reach it. Once I have a clear destination in mind, the next step is to plan my first move. This simple act of planning helps me feel more in control of my journey.
What is the very first thing I need to do? Is there anything else I can tackle in the meantime? Sometimes, I find myself waiting for someone else to respond. During those moments, it’s essential to practice patience and tolerance. Can I do something else while I wait?
Personally, I start with the big picture and then determine the next step. After completing that step, I move on to the following one. At times, I need to plan several steps in advance, especially if they build on each other or if there are time-sensitive tasks involved.
I was in a car accident on 1 November 2024. This has affected all areas of my life, and I have had to not take on any new clients in my backup job as a domestic cleaner. I am not sad about not being able to take on new cleaning clients, but I am sad that it has finally set me back about two years.
In the early stages of recovery, I was inspired to start with my Crafty Monkey Creations product range of candles and reed diffusers. You can check them out at cmchgd.com; you can buy them if you live in NZ. This has made me realise that I must change how I do things. I need to sell only the products I already have in stock, not those I INTEND to sell. I do better if I pre-make the product and then sell it. There is too much pressure for me to pre-sell something and meet the demand.
Part of this is that I have a short attention span. I am creative and like to make something once or twice but then get bored or another project catches my eye.
I cycle through projects, which means making products in bulk to sell via the website or creating products that are set and forgotten. I also need to batch-write blog posts so you get one new post from me daily.
Finances: My finances have taken a hit due to the accident. I have not been able to work at all for a couple of weeks and have been working reduced hours since December. All of my savings have been used, and I have unfortunately had to go back full-time on the benefit.
Solution for finances: I need to bring home a Gross wage of $700, which will give me an in-hand amount of $547.49. This doesn’t improve my financial situation, but it gives me independence.
Job or occupation: As mentioned above, I am returning to Domestic Support part-time. I have started a home and body product range via Crafty Monkey Creations, but this is a slow build.
For my passion project, Holistic Goal Detectives LTD, I have started to write a book, Create Your Dream Plan Action Life – Take Your Dreams and Make Them a Reality. I realised I was forcing myself to make a course, and it just wasn’t feeling right for me at this time. Thus, I have gone back to basics and focusing on my writing. And I am committed to writing one blog post a day. Once I get back in the habit of writing daily, I will turn some of my posts into an audio podcast. I just (last night) found out that my web host has a section for setting up a podcast, so look out for that very soon. At this stage, my planners are the final part of Holistic Goal Detectives LTD. I started with The Quarterly Planner, which I updated for personal use. Next will be The Future Plan, which is still in development. I will also make the individual components available for purchase so that you can pick and choose the inserts you want to make the perfect planner for your needs.
The first financial goal for the Holistic Goal Detectives LTD group is $850 per week or $3700 per month.
Friends: I am happy with my interaction with my friend group. It would be nice to have a business friend to bounce ideas off, but that would require me to go to a networking event, so I am not interested in doing it at this stage.
Leisure: While recovering, I have had plenty of downtime. I am happy with the books I am reading and the streaming services I have. OHHHHH and I have started gardening. Rather than failing again at in-ground gardening, I have been trying container gardening and have had some success. It is very addicting, though, but in the long run, it will help with my health because I will eat more fresh fruit and vegetables than snacking on junk food.
Once I have some extra money
I would like to start going to the beach more often to walk the girls (dogs). The cost of extra petrol means I can only occasionally go to the beach at the moment, which is about a thirty-minute drive from home. It is a good way for me to de-stress and find peace.
I want to get a day back and hiking boots and start going on day hikes again. Furthermore, I would like to get a multi-day pack and relevant tools and equipment for several days of hiking. I would like to do more of the Te Aroha track and other Great Walks of New Zealand. It is an amazing way to see the country I live in.
To accompany the multi-day hikes, I would like to get a food dehydrator and dehydrate some of the fruit and vegetables that I grow on the land. I would also like to dehydrate my own meals for when I am hiking.
Once my fitness is better than what it is now, I would like to get a kayak.
Partner or relationship: I am still single; I have been working on myself. As much as I would like a partner, I need to get my financial situation sorted first. By that, I mean I need to get to my minimum wage first. That way, I can feel like I am an equal partner, not a lesser partner in the relationship. I don’t know; this is just how I feel. I miss having a best friend who is a companion, but he needs to be the right person. And if I see a red flag, I need to learn that means stop, not jump in anyway.
Health: Alright, let’s get into it; having to write this section out has held me up writing this post. But here goes. On 1 November 2024, I was driving to Auckland from Whangarei (about 2.5 to 3 hours to get to my aunt’s place from my home). I was driving at the speed limit of just under a few days before I had been given a speeding ticket. I was going straight on the highway, and as I came to the intersection at the Ruakaka turnoff, a car pulled out in front of me. I tried breaking, to no avail. After impact, I tried to get as far off the road as possible.
The impact was on the passenger side bonnet and door. Thankfully, Fluffy, my small white dog, was in her car seat, and I think that cushioned her impact, and she was unhurt. The airbag punched me in the face, but thankfully, I didn’t get bruises on my face. I also suffered from a whiplash from the seat belt and the impact. My injuries were cracked ribs and bent bone in my neck, and I injured my back in new places. I am so very thankful that my injuries were not any more serious. Oh, I did have an MRI after I was ambulance to the hospital. I think it is an MRI, the one where you have to remove all of your jewellery, and you are put horizontally into the machine that takes images of your insides.
Today as I write this, it is Friday, 4 April 2025; my ongoing injuries are my ribs still hurt from time to time, only a mild niggle. My back is excruciating; sometimes, walking is very painful.
I have this week made an appointment with the doctor to see if I can get a pain management plan in place. Because I need some help.
Also, I went from 73kgs to 82kgs.
Exercise: Yeah, exercise. Hmm. My chosen form of exercise is walking. But for a while there, I couldn’t even do that. It was a struggle to walk maybe 50 steps of where my driveway meets the shared driveway. Since “getting better”, I have done a few walks but haven’t done as much as I should. For free exercise, I can walk along the road. There are two problems: I hate walking along the rural road, and my shared driveway is long and narrow. Okay, three points; the third is if my land was shaven, I mean weedeated, then I could do laps on my property. Sadly, it is overgrown with brambles, and I cannot use my weedeater.
Living conditions: Around the time of my accident, I was getting some work done on the lifestyle property:
I got my tiny house turned around, and wastewater/septic sinkhole holes were dug
a flushing toilet was installed and upgraded from a camp toilet
10,000-liter water upgraded from 1,000 litres
To help with all of this, I got some groundwork done.
What’sWhat’s next:
A proper house water pump
A vegetable garden that provides 80% of my vegetables from now on
I need a shed for my laundry to get a proper automatic washing machine with enough space to dry the laundry in winter. And space to operate Crafty Monkey Creations until I can get a building made for my office/crafts/Crafty Monke Creations
Then, a bedroom pod for when my youngest visits on the weekend.
Feeling relaxed: I am a little tense right now because of everything that is going on. I will feel better once I reach my minimum financial goal.
Feeling in control: For the most part, I am in control of my life. I can’t control when people buy from me, but I can do some marketing and advertising to increase awareness, which will organically increase sales.
Planning for the month ahead helps you stay on track with your quarterly focus. It allows you to break it up into smaller, manageable chunks. It also allows you to evaluate what is important to you. By pre-planning, you will be more prepared for the action steps you need to take, and you won’t be surprised by events.
(c) 2025 Goal Detective Cindy and Holistic Goal Detectives LTD
What you will need?
Your Create Your Dream Plan Action Life notebook or planner (Printed or digital copy)
Monthly Task Tracker
Your planner or the full Quarterly Planner with the weekly planner included
Up to an hour for the planning session
Using a notebook or printed-out planner, you will need your writing instruments.
What is the focus for the month?
Is the monthly focus the same as the overall quarterly focus, or are you focusing on one part of the overall focus?
Monthly Action Steps
It is helpful to have a task tracker for the month. This may seem like double handling of the tasks from planning the quarter, but if you get overwhelmed, this step will help.
From your Quarterly Task Tracker, transfer the items you will be taking action on this coming month.
What other action steps do you need to video this month?
In your weekly planner, note any appointments and events that have been pre-booked. Do any tasks need to be completed before the appointment? If so, add the task to the monthly tracker.
Can you think of anything else you need to do this month?
Recording your achievements
We as humans tend not to celebrate our achievements or brush them off as no big deal. I challenge you to record your achievements and go a step further, reward yourself. That is why the Quarterly Planner has space for you to record your monthly achievements. Did you write that blog post? Awesome, record it AND reward yourself. This could simply be doing a little happy jiggle in your seat, making yourself that cup of coffee or tea you have been dying for but didn’t allow yourself until you finished writing the post. Or go for that walk? Or make that hard phone call?
The point is to record what you did and reward yourself.
Another reason to record what you have completed is so that:
You have a list to prove to yourself that you do actually finish things.
For those days you are being mean to yourself, you can see what you have achieved
For the end-of-quarter review
For the end-of-year review
To help you track the progress of more significant projects while achieving smaller milestones
There are only six days left in March and Quarter 1 of 2025. Where has the time gone? That means one Quarter is ending, and 1 quarter is about to start. By now, you have most likely forgotten what you had set out to achieve in the past 90ish days. At the very least, you may have drifted off course. It’s time to review what was accomplished, what wasn’t, what worked, and what you would do differently. And to prepare for the next 91 days.
(c) 2025 Goal Detective Cindy (Hargreaves). Cindy’s actual planner.
Q1 2025 Review and reset
Before you can set the focus for Q2 2025, you need to review the focus and actions from the previous Quarter. This will give you an idea of what you need to focus on next and help form the basis of the next quarterly plan.
You will need a notebook to Create Your Dream Plan, Action Life plan, or buy the PDF Printable of the Q2 2025 Quarterly Planner.
What was the focus for Q1?
At the start of the Quarter, what did you set out to achieve that Quarter, the focus? If you use a notebook, head up a page with Q1 2025 Focus. Yes, for this section, we are focusing on the Quarter that has just begun. Summerise the focus for the Quarter.
What worked?
On a new page in your notebook, head it with “What worked.” Think back over the last three months and consider what action steps you have taken. Out of those steps, what worked?
In the coming Quarter, as you go, you will note down what worked in the Q2 2025 section.
For example, for my other business, Crafty Monkey Creations, I recently launched a shop using Shopify (that has been a big win). I have recently started an action step to create a purchase order for the stock I need to make. This helps because then I can easily input the stock values into my Makers Calculator spreadsheet to determine the quantities of the raw materials I need for the restock.
What did not work? And What would you do differently?
This section on “What did not work” doesn’t mean you failed; it just means you tried something and it wasn’t the right action for you. This section ties in with the next section, “What would you do differently?” Both of these help you, on reflection, work out what is right for you, your goals, and what you are trying to achieve right now.
Q1 Monthly Review
We will zero in on January, February, and March of 2025. This will let you look closer and highlight various aspects in more detail. For each month, make notes on the following, just like you did for the quarterly review:
Monthly focus
What did you achieve this month?
What do you still have to do?
What did you do instead of or as an extra activity towards your goal?
Having the quarterly review recorded helps you plan your actions for the next Quarter. It also helps you with the end-of-year review and setting your goals for the next year.
In the next blog post, we will look at setting the plan for Q2 2025.
