Episode 7
The procrastinator’s guide to goal-setting (because January was a test run)
If you’re feeling personally attacked by the fact that it’s already February and you still haven’t set your 2025 goals, don’t worry—I’m right there with you. 🙋♀️
This episode is for my fellow delayed goal-setters, January quitters, and people who just needed a little more time to get it together (same, bestie, same). The good news? You’re not behind, and I’m giving you official permission to set lazy goals—because small wins lead to big success.
What You’ll Learn in This Episode:
- Why starting late is actually better than rushing into goals you’ll abandon by February
- How to ditch the guilt and set bare minimum goals that are so easy it’s almost laughable
- Why momentum—not motivation—is the real secret weapon for success
- My personal struggle with finally reading Fourth Wing and why I should probably take my own advice
Your Mini Challenge:
Set one hilariously easy, bare minimum goal and write it down. Then, take it up a notch: DM me your goal, but make it sound like a movie tagline. Tune in for an example!
Subscribe and grab the episode show notes!
Resources mentioned:
Helpful Links:
- Free Energy Mapping Workbook
- Sign up for Holistically Productive (free!)
- My Favorite Tools
- Instagram (@mirandamerten)
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Music credit: Uppbeat https://uppbeat.io/t/soundroll/the-pop
Transcript
Welcome to Holistic Productivity with Miranda Merton, the podcast for Gen X women that blends nostalgic 90s vibes with modern strategies to help you create solid routines, align your goals, and simplify your life.
Speaker A:Get ready to make productivity personal, practical, and oh, so powerful.
Speaker A:Hello, hello, and welcome back to Holistic Productivity.
Speaker A:I would first off like to say happy February.
Speaker A:Happy New Year.
Speaker A:Can I still say Happy New Year?
Speaker A:Probably not, but since this is my first episode of the year, I hope your beginning of your year is going fantastic.
Speaker A:I wanted to bring you this episode today because we are, again, like I said, in the middle of February.
Speaker A: ningful, manageable goals for: Speaker A:I am leading by example here because it's February and I have not put out a podcast episode this year.
Speaker A:My intention was to start right after the new year, right after I started working again.
Speaker A:But here we are.
Speaker A:I have now procrastinated so much that I am weeks past my original deadline.
Speaker A: rastinator's guide to setting: Speaker A:Because even though January is over, some of us, myself included, need a little extra time to get the ball rolling.
Speaker A:And that is perfectly okay.
Speaker A:Before we jump in, I want to ask you if.
Speaker A:If you have ever procrastinated so long on a goal that you decided to scrap it altogether?
Speaker A:Yes, I have done this.
Speaker A:Actually, I procrastinated so long I had to scrap pretty much all of my January episodes.
Speaker A:I had a bunch of ideas ready to go, and the weeks just kept going on and on and on.
Speaker A:And by the time I sat down again to look at my production schedule, I said, I can't talk about that stuff anymore.
Speaker A:So that brings me to where we are now.
Speaker A:Did you know that the second Friday in January is National Quitters Day?
Speaker A:And this year it was January 10, which means that a ton of people have already given up on their resolutions.
Speaker A:In my opinion, it doesn't matter.
Speaker A:It doesn't matter if you are one of the national quitters.
Speaker A:So we're going to forget the New Year, New Me hype.
Speaker A:Let's try New Year, same me, but maybe a little more hydrated.
Speaker A:We're going to get started.
Speaker A:And you know what?
Speaker A:I'm officially giving you permission to set a lazy goal.
Speaker A:No big vision required.
Speaker A:Just one tiny, ridiculously easy goal.
Speaker A:The kind of goal that makes you laugh because it's so small.
Speaker A:Why?
Speaker A:Because small wins huge.
Speaker A:Keep you moving.
Speaker A:Would you rather set one fun, easy goal or keep pretending that you're going to read that book on your nightstand?
Speaker A:And I can relate to this one because Fourth Wing has been sitting on my nightstand for months.
Speaker A:I was gifted the first two books in the series and I am in about chapter 10 of book one still saying every night I'm going to crack that book open and continue reading.
Speaker A:Maybe I should take my own advice and set some small goals when it comes to reading Fourth Wing.
Speaker A:So first things first, let's ditch the guilt.
Speaker A:Starting late doesn't mean that you're behind.
Speaker A:In fact, it probably means you're more thoughtful on what you really want to focus on this year.
Speaker A:So let's get into it.
Speaker A:Pause for 10 seconds and think of one tiny thing you did last year that made your life easier.
Speaker A:Okay, you got it.
Speaker A:That one tiny thing.
Speaker A:That is a win.
Speaker A:And if you're having trouble remembering any wins from last year, here's a couple of ways that you can review.
Speaker A:You can go through your Google Calendar and look at the meetings or entries that you have in there.
Speaker A:Or you can take a look at the phone calls you had with certain people or certain events.
Speaker A:Another way is to look at your social media or your email platform.
Speaker A:You can either look at things that you posted or emails that you sent, because we usually post or email our wins and look at your numbers.
Speaker A:Celebrate your growth.
Speaker A:Did you start the year with 550 subscribers and ended it with 900?
Speaker A:That's a win.
Speaker A:You got to think of every little thing as a win.
Speaker A:And even if something huge doesn't stand out, taking a look at these little things throughout the year is what's going to help you keep on moving forward.
Speaker A:I want you to write these things down also, because it's fun to look back and celebrate.
Speaker A:And again, these are the things that keep you going.
Speaker A:When you can start recognizing wins and recognizing what they look like, then you will be more inclined to do more of them and keep going.
Speaker A:Next, I just want you to set one or two goals.
Speaker A:We're going to start with the bare minimum goal.
Speaker A:If your goal is to start exercising, I want you to set the bar hilariously low.
Speaker A:For example, I'm going to put my sneakers on and step outside.
Speaker A:That's it.
Speaker A:If you feel like walking, cool.
Speaker A:If not, you still met your goal.
Speaker A:The next day, put your sneakers on and go to the mailbox.
Speaker A:All right, so another example.
Speaker A:Don't jump into the 75 hard challenge or 75 soft for that matter.
Speaker A:That one's just as hard.
Speaker A:It's called hard for a reason.
Speaker A:So start with just drinking one extra glass of water a day.
Speaker A:I, for example, have a really hard time with drinking water all day long.
Speaker A:And I did get a giant water bottle kind of like the size of that giant Stanley cup.
Speaker A:And I think if you fill that thing up three times a day, that should be like how much you're supposed to drink.
Speaker A:But I have a hard time even just filling up once a day.
Speaker A:So what I did is I swapped out one of my servings for flavored sparkling water just to help mix it up.
Speaker A:I think I got.
Speaker A:I think it's called Nixie is the brand I got.
Speaker A:It's pretty good.
Speaker A:It's like a berry flavor.
Speaker A:And I was never a big sparkling water fan, but actually found a brand I like so that helps.
Speaker A:Put a little lime.
Speaker A:It helps.
Speaker A:I don't drink it for every serving, but just swapping out one actually helps me at least get one extra serving a day.
Speaker A:So another example, if you want to grow your Instagram, maybe just make a point to comment on at least half of the amount of videos that you watch.
Speaker A:If you find yourself watching 10 videos in a row, maybe you know, say, hey, I'm going to comment on the next 5 comment Thoughtful things to make people go look at your profile or respond to commenters within comments.
Speaker A:That always helps because then they'll go look at your profile and see, oh, maybe I should be following this person.
Speaker A:That was a very good, insightful comment.
Speaker A:So those are some ideas to get just really small wins and really small goals going.
Speaker A:Making your goals hilariously small will give you more wins and you will be surprised at how much that actually motivates you.
Speaker A:And finally, the last thing is actually going to be your secret weapon.
Speaker A:It is momentum.
Speaker A:Forget the all or nothing thinking.
Speaker A:If you forget to do something one day, just remind yourself to keep going and then just add it back to the list the next day and move on.
Speaker A:If you find yourself continuously dropping the ball on the same action, you keep not doing the thing or you keep moving it to the next day, that's going to be your sign that either that goal is not that important to you or you need to tweak it a little bit to make it more enticing.
Speaker A:Maybe you need a progress buddy, someone that you can check in with or even just tell someone you're doing things.
Speaker A:Or maybe you want to post it on social media so they can follow your journey.
Speaker A:Jelly Roll the Singer if you know who Jelly Roll is, he is doing a weight loss journey.
Speaker A:He's lost about £100 already so far, and his goal is to be on the COVID of men's fitness magazine next year.
Speaker A:And he has been posting and he's put it onto social media and put it out there.
Speaker A:So now he's got accountability that he knows people are watching him.
Speaker A:If that's something that works for you, then go for it.
Speaker A:Put it out there.
Speaker A:Or maybe you can just do something as simple as downloading a habit tracker from the app store.
Speaker A:And I do have some trackers as well.
Speaker A:Google spreadsheets.
Speaker A:You know, just track it, keep it simple.
Speaker A:All right, so here is your mini challenge for today.
Speaker A:I want you to set one bare minimum goal.
Speaker A:Just one.
Speaker A:Write it down and then add it to your calendar for tomorrow.
Speaker A:Add it to a time slot.
Speaker A:Don't put it on the all day section.
Speaker A:Pick a time that you want to do this thing and add it to your calendar in a time slot.
Speaker A:You'll find that when you write it down and when you assign a time to it, you're more likely to complete it.
Speaker A:So do that for me right now.
Speaker A:The episode's almost over.
Speaker A:You're not going to miss anything.
Speaker A:Think about what you want right now.
Speaker A:Pull out your calendar, pull out your phone, and jot it down.
Speaker A:Okay?
Speaker A:Then I want you to, after you've written your goal down, DM it to me, but make it sound like a movie tagline.
Speaker A:For example, this summer, one woman will finally drink eight glasses of water a day.
Speaker A:All right, I'd love to cheer you on.
Speaker A:I can't wait to see your bare minimum goals.
Speaker A:Until next time, keep it simple, keep it fun, and keep it productive.
Speaker A:Next time on Holistic Productivity.
Speaker A:We live in a world where there's literally an app for everything.
Speaker A:Need to track your water?
Speaker A:There's an app.
Speaker A:Want to plan your entire life down to the minute?
Speaker A:There's an app.
Speaker A:But here's the thing.
Speaker A:When you are using 12 different tools to stay organized, are you really organized or just overwhelmed?
