Lorna Jane's 5 Tips for Sticking to Your Goals

By Shilpa Bhim

Nothing says, “new year, new me” like writing a long list of impossible-sounding goals. And nothing signals the arrival of February like abandoning said list. To help keep you on track as resolution-setting month comes to a close, we caught up with Australian activewear entrepreneur Lorna Jane Clarkson to find out how she sets goals—and how she sticks to them. Whether you’re wanting to reach a career milestone or look after yourself more (or both) the advice from this successful woman will have you kicking all sorts of goals in 2019. Keep scrolling!

Debate and discuss your goal ideas before committing.

Lorna spends time and effort setting goals, so that she is sure each objective is something she definitely wants to pursue. “I think that it’s really important to invest the time and headspace into making sure that you’re really clear on what your goals are and why they’re important to you,” she told The Prettyish. Lorna relies on debate and discussion with trusted friends, colleagues, and her husband, Bill to come up with goals that make sense. “It always gives a different point of view that I might not have thought about. It sounds strange, but even the act of saying something out loud helps me,” she explained. “When you say it and hear it out loud for the first time, not just in your head, it makes it real. And there have been times when I hear an idea out loud for the first time and I’ve either realized how passionate I am about it or felt immediately that it just wasn’t right.”

Meditate throughout the goal-setting process.

Lorna also uses “quiet reflection and contemplation” to make sure she’s setting the best goals. She achieves this by meditating each morning. “This really helps clear out the noise so that I can focus on what I want to achieve and the best way to make it happen.”

Break your goals into smaller milestones.

Lorna writes her goals down and breaks them down into smaller milestones with clear deadlines. “This makes them more manageable and means that I know I’m consistently making progress toward them,” she explained. 

Find people to keep you accountable.

Lorna also holds meetings at work to keep herself and her team on track and accountable. “It also gives us the opportunity to make sure that we’re focusing our efforts on what’s actually important and discuss new ideas and approaches.”

Get started right now.

The biggest challenge, Lorna finds, is simply taking the first step towards your goal. "Often, the hardest part about achieving a goal is simply getting started, especially if it’s going to take you out of your comfort zone (as any goal should),” she warned. The solution? Just get started: “My biggest piece of advice when it comes to goals: setting them is great but the single most important thing you can do is to just get started. You can alter and adjust along the way, but just start. There’s no perfect time, so be strong and check yourself if you’re starting to procrastinate.”

Photo: The Daily Edited