I’ve been meaning to write this article since watching Morgon Spurlock’s reality-show, 30-Days. The premise was that in 30 days, you can change your life. Steve Pavlina also wrote an article to the same effect. If you have the discipline and stick to a goal for 30 Days, I truly believe you can change your life.

However, we live in a world of instant gratification and 30 days might seem like a lifetime to some. I’m going to suggest an ADD-style way of changing your life. In addition, I’ve been a firm believer in the concept of what I call “chunking”; meaning breaking down a task, or in this case a goal, into manageable, bite-sized, chunks. In this article I’m going to lay out six steps for achieving your goal by making changes each 14 days.

Before I begin, here is my logic to the 14-Day Achievement Cycle using. When I first started to run almost seventeen years ago, I was not in good cardiovascular condition. My achievement was to eventually run 5 miles without stopping. So, for two weeks I’d run around the block twice. After the two-weeks, I’d assess where I was. I noticed that the two-loop run was much easier after 14 days than when I first started. I then set a goal of running two-and-a-half loops the next 14 days. After the 14 days, I could do two-and-a-half loops without a problem. Next I decided to run four loops for the next 14 days. And so on. Each 14-Days was a cycle. Each cycle helped my get closer to obtaining what I wanted to achieve.

By using this 14-Day Achievement Cycle, I had small victories every 14-Days! Of course each 14-Day cycle is a step toward a larger goal. If you currently dring two cups of coffee a day and want to quit drinking coffee entirely, your first 14-Days might simply be to drink one cup every day. The next 14-Days you drink one cup every other day. You get the idea. I found this method to be much easier to swallow and is a bit more realistic. We humans love to see progress quickly and by using this approach you can have a small taste of victory every 14-Days.

Now, here are the Six Steps.

#1 Decide on your achievement.

What do I mean by achievement? Remember that in my article, Six Steps…to Goal Achievement, I said that a goal must be S.M.A.R.T. (please read that article for more details). Your goal in this program is set every 14-Days. Your achievement is the larger objective at hand. Though this sounds a little backwards, let me explain. Your achievement might be, “To Quit Smoking”. Each 14-Day cycle, your goal will be something specific such as, “I plan to smoke only one pack of cigarettes a day for the next 14-Days.” The reason to do it is to keep you motivated in the short term. To say, “My goal is to quit smoking in one-years time,” can be daunting for some. In my opinion, anyone can swallow a 14-Day goal.

#2 Plan your 14-Day Cycles.

Though in each cycle you are entirely focused on your 14-Days, you need to plan how many cycles and what you’ll do in each cycle to reach your achievement. You need to have an overall strategy.In my personal example above, I noted how I increased the distance I ran every two weeks. I did not do this haphazardly. Before I even started my program, I wrote out what I would do each and every 14-Days until I reached my goal of being able to run five miles without stopping. You need to do the same.After you decide on your long-term achievement, take out a sheet of paper and write down what you need to do each 14-Days to reach your long-term achievement. How many cycles will you need? You may need to do some research to help you define the activities in each cycle.

Finally, make certain that there is a concrete goal at the end of the 14-Day cycle. Remember the main benefit of this approach is to achieve small victories every 14-Days.

#3 Write down your Achievement and Goal Statements

I know this may seem like a simple, common sense step but it is very important. Oftentimes a goal is concocted in your head but never written down. The act of writing something down signifies importance. When you make an agreement it is often in writing. The bank would never give you a loan on a handshake and a verbal agreement.You want to write down your achievement and under it right your first 14-Day goal (your small victory!). For example:

Achievement: Become sales manager
14-Day Goal: Call 100 more prospects than normal and close 1% additional sales.

Achievement: Become a better listener
14-Day Goal: Finish book/audio lesson on how to be a better listener.

#4 Make your achievement and goal highly visible.

Write the goal by hand on the back of your business card and keep it in your wallet or purse. Reference it often. At work, put the goal on a sticky note next to your monitor. At home, stick it on your refrigerator. Constantly remind yourself of your achievement and your 14-Day goal. The more you see it the more likely you’ll be to stick to it!

#5 Be Accountable by telling others about your 14-Day goal.

Tell a friend, spouse, co-worker or others about your 14-Day goal. Accountability is a good thing. By telling others you are firming your commitment. You want to choose someone who will be a partner in your progress.It is essential to tell others about your 14-Day goal because that is all you are focusing on for 14-Days. It is up to you whether or not you want to tell them about your achievement.

#6 Stay on track by journaling the experience.

Since 14-Days is such a brief period of time, journaling the experience should not be a herculean effort. Get a notebook and put the date in the upper left hand corner of each page. Under the date, list your 14-Day goal. On the upper right hand corner of the page write out your long-term achievement just so you have an eye on it. Every day, journal the experience. You can be as verbose and descriptive or as simple and brief as you want.

This 14-Day approach is simply an alternative to the typical goal setting processes you may have read. The approach may not be for you and it may not be effective in all applications but it is an approach I’ve used, unknowingly at times, that seems to work.

Wish you much success!