Hey goal achievers! If you’re like me, you may be shocked that we are already entering the holiday season. Time is flying by, and it seems to go faster and faster the older I get!

On a recent episode of Elite Achievement and in this blog, we’re discussing what to do when you are in (or coming up on) the final quarter of a year. The fourth quarter always signifies a pivotal point in your goal achievement journey and leaves you with one of three thoughts:

1. I am crushing my goals and am on track for their achievement so I can coast through these last few months of the year.
2. My goals are in striking distance, and I really need to focus these last three months and work even harder to achieve my goals.
3. I am so far off track from my goals – why even bother?

You might be tempted to give up or slow down, but imagine how much stronger you will be if you finish this year strong.

What Running Marathons Taught Me About Achieving Goals

I’m a former marathoner, and this makes me think of a running mantra, “run the whole race.” When you run 26.2 miles, you learn a lot about yourself and experience a ton of different emotions. You start out nervous and excited, which evolves into feeling powerful and determined. Then, for me, there was a bit of curiosity, followed by doubt and fear mixed with pain and frustration. And finally, I felt elated!

Believe it or not, these are often similar emotions we experience on our goal achievement journeys. We set our goals, feel pumped about what we plan to achieve, and move on confidently as we start taking action. Then, when we face that first hurdle or disappointment, we feel defeated and hesitant. We may even question ourselves and our goals. This point is where most people give up. But what happens if you choose to run the whole race? You only get the finishers medal in a marathon when you cross the finish line. But those medals aren’t reserved for elite, professional runners. Whether you sprint, jog, walk, or crawl across that finish line, you earn the medal.

How do you want to finish your year? No matter where you are in your goal-achievement journey, I encourage you to finish the year strong! How you choose to complete this year sets the tone for how you will start the next. If you choose to finish strong, you will prove to yourself that you can bounce back and that you don’t give up when it gets tough.    

There is still time left in the year to grow, build new habits, learn, and make an impact. If you haven’t done so already, schedule time on your calendar in the next few days. Reflect on the third quarter and year so far. Use the questions below to help and take notes on what is working and what isn’t working in relation to achieving your goals:

What progress have you made towards your goals?

If you aren’t making much progress, why do you think that is?

When have you been the most productive?

When have you been the least productive?

Reflection time is critical because it allows you to learn from past activities, habits, and beliefs so you can make intentional decisions on how to move forward. This increased awareness puts you back in control of achieving your goals.

Below, you’ll find three ways to finish this year strong and enter the new year on the right foot.

Three Ideas to Finish the Year Strong 

Idea #1 – Define what “finish strong” means to you!  

Go back and look at your goals. Are the goals you set at the beginning of the year still meaningful to achieve? Are the goals you set at the beginning of the year still connected to your vision? Do you have a clear “why” for achieving these goals?

If you answer “no” to any of these questions, you might need to change your goals. Yes, I am giving you permission to change your goals if they are no longer connected to your vision or if you can’t clearly articulate why you are going after them in the first place.

I am not encouraging you to change your goals if they are still meaningful, but you are off-track. Instead, adjust your strategies or maybe even your timeline for achieving your goals.

If you don’t have clear goals at this point in the year, set some now! A new quarter means a fresh start. Once you are clear on the goals that are still meaningful and important to go after this year, what needs to happen to make them a reality? Finish strong by consistently executing the actions that lead to goal achievement.

Idea #2 – Implement peer accountability calls.

Let’s face it. We all have the best intentions when setting our goals, and then the initial excitement starts to wear off when we need to do the actual work of achieving the goal. The busyness of life, fear, or overwhelm can take over, and we don’t do the things we know we need to do to achieve our goals. You can combat this by showing up week after week on a call with a peer you respect and admire. On the call, commit to doing the things (like outreach, asking for referrals, networking, and asking for the sale) that you might otherwise shy away from.

Part of achieving goals is having clarity around why the goal is important and what needs to happen to achieve the goal, and the other part is courageously taking action. You can set your environment up for success with peer accountability calls.

Idea #3 – Develop a goal-achievement mindset.

If you choose to take away and do only one thing from this blog post, let it be to develop a goal-achievement mindset. Start by paying attention to how you talk to yourself, the stories you repeat, and your beliefs about achieving your goals. This awareness can be shocking!

One simple change is to shift your thinking from I can’t to how can I? You go from telling yourself you can’t to asking yourself a question that opens up possibilities. From there, the universe goes to work, showing you new ideas.

Be mindful of what you consume – are the books you are reading, podcasts you are listening to, and people you are following on social media moving you closer to your goals or further away? You get to control what you choose to consume and, therefore, the messages you receive. Make sure they are the right messages.

When we are feeling behind on our goals and tempted to work even harder to achieve them, we often stop doing important things such as working out, meditating, or journaling because we tell ourselves we don’t have time. This is a mistake. Doing the things that make you feel confident and powerful are foundational to a goal-achievement mindset. As we end this year, what practice, such as gratitude, meditation, reading in the morning, and affirmations, will you commit to doing consistently to develop your goal-achievement mindset?

You still have time left this year to make an impact. It’s not too late to set goals or to chase the goals you set at the beginning of the year, so I encourage you to identify at least one action you can implement today.

And with that goal achievers, keep celebrating your weekly wins, noting your lessons learned, and identifying your priorities for next week so you can finish this year strong.

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