'Just do the thing': 4 women on the biggest goal they ever set for themselves and how they achieved it.

We all have one goal or another, but if there is one thing so many of us can relate to, it's the saying: "It's easy to set goals, but it is even easier to break them."

Research shows that atleast 92 per cent of people's New Year goals fail by January 15. Those aren't very inspiring numbers. 

But that doesn't mean the goals we set are impossible to achieve. 

We asked 5 women to share with us the biggest goal they ever set for themselves, plus how they managed to achieve it. 

Watch: These women kicked some major goals after the age of 30. Post continues after video.

Here's what they had to say.

Jessie, author of Heartsick. 

"My biggest goal was writing a book, and yes - in 2021, it was published! 

To achieve that goal, there were a few steps. The first was pitching the idea to a publisher, which I knew was important because it would give me an external deadline to work towards. I struggle with self discipline so never would have been able to do it without knowing I had someone I was answerable to. Then, like with any big project, I broke it down into manageable steps. You can’t write a book in a day… but you can do little things every day that add up to a book. I made a series of deadlines (so for e.g. have 20,000 words written by this date) in order to stay on track. I didn’t always meet those deadlines and was in a panic for the entire nine months, but I got there in the end!

My words of wisdom for anyone with a goal similar to mine would be: 

"Inspiration or enthusiasm won’t get you very far, unfortunately. That feeling you get in your gut at the beginning of any big project will NOT be there at 8pm on a Tuesday night. Something else has to kick in. That’s when habits and a strategy are critical. I had so much self doubt and I ended up reading something that said 'you don’t have to believe you can write a book in order to read a book.' I loved that. Stop thinking about whether you can do the thing and just do the thing. 

"All any 'achievement' is, is a series of small, entirely doable tasks."

Sarah

"I decided to do postgraduate study after 20 years of not doing anything at all academic. I’ve passed a certificate in the first year and have decided to carry on towards a diploma in 2022! 

How I am tackling that goal: 

"I hadn’t written anything academic for over 20 years, the paper was entirely online and I knew no one who was doing the same paper, so the first time I sat down to write an essay, I had no idea how to start and just burst into tears! 

Luckily I had a great friend on standby who talked me into finishing (starting!) it and I got a B+ on that one! My youngest started school this year and since I work shifts, I’ve been able to dedicate whole days to assignments which has been good.

My advice would be to not think about it all at once, it’s too overwhelming. Just do bite size achievements. They all add up."

Rose 

"In 2020, I landed the job of my dreams. I didn't think it would happen. I didn't think I deserved it, and I thought that it was even too big of a goal to set for myself. It's crazy to look back almost 14 months later, with the fattest, juiciest smile on my face - because I actually did it! 

I work in the media industry and breaking into any job in that field can be incredibly difficult. I am quite young, and I went up for a position that I believe possibly hundreds of people applied for. I worked a lot on my cover letter and resume, and I had three or four colleagues to look over it to give me brutal feedback. I practiced interview questions, and meticulously edited my portfolio work for hours on end, which is crazy to think about but clearly I was determined. 

I went through five interview rounds before I heard that I had gotten the job - almost two months later. 

My advice to anyone with a similar goal to mine is to set atleast 15 minutes a day to focus on your resume or cover letter. Perfect it and rewrite it - then rewrite it again. Go to someone you trust (preferably someone with much more experience than you) and let them tear you to shreds. I was pretty hard on myself, but considering I only had less than two years worth of experience in my industry and went up against people with atleast three to four times the experience - I think my word has some value to it. Good luck to anyone hoping for a new job in 2022!"

Listen to 8 Minutes To Change Your (Work) Life. Post continues after podcast.