Today’s post is going to be very practical! It’s the New Year and most of us have created goals or resolutions… That’s a fantastic start! Now, how about making sure that we stick to these goals? I’d like to share some tips with you to make sure that you follow through and truly create the year you want to create!
Follow these steps to follow through with your goals:
STEP 1
Consider all the important areas of your life:
- Finances
- Relationships
- Self-actualization / growth
- Work / Career
- Health and wellbeing
- Community
- Hobbies / free time.
STEP 2
Make sure that you establish a very clear vision for each one. You can still view my webinar to help you do that. Make sure you come up with as many details as possible. This means thinking beyond what your goal is by imagining what it would look like, feel like, smell like or sound like when you are living this vision. Now, from this clear vision you have for each part of your life, choose the areas you feel are most important. Prioritize!
Ask yourself – how will it feel when I have reached this goal? Why is this meaningful to me at this moment of my life? What will reaching this goal allow me to do? Look for the deeper impact it will have, on you, but also on those around you and perhaps even, on the world!
This step is really important – it helps to truly embed your motivations into your subconscious. If you don’t know why you’re doing something, the motivation will soon disappear! You can also give your goal a catchy name to always remember it!
STEP 3
Think deeply about the obstacles that might hold you back from achieving the goals you have chosen. In the past – what mental blocks have stopped you from achieving your goals? What behaviors / habits do you have that might not allow you to do what you set out to do? When we become aware of what’s holding us back, it becomes easier to overcome those obstacles. This is called “mental contrasting” and it helps us develop new habits. Research by Gabriele Oettingen tells us that merely positively fantasizing about having achieved our goal DECREASES our chances of achieving that goal. Your brain thinks you’ve already achieved this goal… so why bother to work towards it. Your motivation, therefore, decreases. That’s right!!! DECREASES! This is why Step 3 is critical to your success. And there’s another trick to this. The research shows that mental contrasting only energized and motivated those who truly believed that they could achieve their goals. So, as you create your goals, and start to visualize the obstacles, also ask yourself: “Do I deeply believe that I can accomplish this goal?”
STEP 4
Design a strategy for yourself . What will you do when those obstacles come up? Have some solutions ready to go so you don’t have to think it through when need to adopt the new behavior. You could do this in a few ways:
- You could set an implementation intention using the sentence “If / When…. Then…”
E.g. I know that waking up in the morning is hard for me and I want to start going to the gym before work. How can I get over this obstacle? “When I hear my alarm, I get up straightaway without hitting snooze”. Implementations are based on the work of Peter Gollwitzer and they allow our brain to prethink solutions so we are ready to go when the crunch comes!
- You could write a list of obstacles and what your idea for overcoming it might be.
As part of your strategy, also break down your bigger goal in smaller, easily achievable chunks. This will help you stay on track.
I promise you! Follow these steps and you’ll be ready to create a phenomenal 2019! Remember though – you must take time to think through each area of your life and go through the process or creating deep internal motivation and you must believe that you will succeed!
To sum it all up:
1: Create your vision
2: Define your goals (and believe you can achieve them)
3: Visualize the obstacles to achieving those goals
4: Design a strategy for those goals
Of course, I would love to help you through this! Here are a few ways I can support you:
- If you’ve never had a coaching session with me, I would love to gift you a session to help you through any of those stages. If you have already had a session with me, you can always book another here!
- You could join my group coaching program: The League of Extraordinaries, starting on January 29th for support, accountability and growth. Please contact me directly for more information.
- We will be doing a powerful guided visualization during my upcoming workshop” Step into 2019 with Purpose” and I would love to see you there! Use code “INTO2019” for 15% off any ticket type (you save even more when you book for you and a friend!)
- Go back to my webinar to help you create a powerful vision or simply answer the questions on the webinar companion handout. You will find both under the heading “Create Your Life” on the resources page of my website.