Page 5 - Momentum by Dr. Cassandra Shaw

all. The 3% of the class who had both written goals and a plan, were making ten times as much

2
as the rest of the 97% of the class.

Action Plan

Setting goals is only one part of the equation. You must have a concrete action plan as well.
Create an action plan of how you’ll get to your number one priority goal from where you are

today. Did you write it down? Are you clear, succinct, and vivid? For instance, is your goal to,

Lose weight this year, or is it something more concrete like, Lose 50 pounds by December 31,
20xx. Even this is not concrete enough, but it is better. How vivid can you get with your goals?

Get Your Motivation

Which women do you know have succeeded, even in the face of being told no and facing
many challenges? All those women showed great motivation. They didn’t give up. They had

clarity around their focus, they knew their purpose and passion, they defined their goal, and

created an action plan to achieve it. Give yourself milestones in your action plan so you can
celebrate the wins along the way. This not only keeps you motivated but also inspires you to do

more. Motivation has two sides – internal and external. You do need both. Ask yourself these
questions:

• What inspires me?

• Who around me is supportive and encouraging (and who is not)?
• What small successes do I have built into my plan?

• Have I started my plan off slowly and allowed it to build momentum?

• What is the end benefit for me (keep this in mind when things become hard)?

Put Plan Into Action

An important technique for helping to put plans into action and achieving them is to

visualize it. Athletes do this all the time – they often comment on how they visualized their
swim, their race, their game, etc. In their mind, they go through the entire event and visualize

2 Wanderlust Worker, “The Harvard MBA Business School Study on Goal Setting,” Wanderlust Worker, https://www.wanderlustworker.com/the-harvard-mba-business-school-study-
on-goal-setting/.