Go find a note pad and pen and consider these questions………
Remember: Knowing what you want is the first step to getting it. Knowing what’s holding you back is the second step to making sure you get to keep it!
Write down your answers so you can see your progress later.
- What do I want to achieve this year? Write down as many goals as you want in any area of your life, health, wealth, relationships, etc. If you are really stuck on even coming up with a goal, start by asking yourself if I could be, do or have anything in life, what would it be? Then select one goal that’s central to your overall plan. Determine the small action steps it will take to get you there from where you are now. (You can identify the last step and work back from there-get the end result and work back to now.) is it more training, do you need a coach, is it researching further, is it changing jobs or moving areas?
2. Ask yourself, is this something I have tried to achieve before and not been successful? For instance, has it been a New Year resolution in the past? Or on your To Do list for several years without completion or success?
- If yes, ask yourself, what has stopped me in the past? This might include time, money, not having the right opportunities, lack of motivation, procrastination, lack of self belief, not knowing how to achieve it, or maybe you don’t know what has stopped you.
- With regards to achieving your goals and following through on your plans, what patterns have you noticed occurring? For example, do you often put lots of energy and enthusiasm in at the start, then within a couple of weeks find you’ve lost motivation? Do you put off getting started for so long you just give up? Do you start too many projects at once, and end up overwhelmed and under-motivated? Identifying your unique patterns is key to changing them.
- What about limiting beliefs? What you tell yourself can also stop you from achieving your most prized goals and visions. For example, if you have decided that this is the year you find the right relationship, believing that you are not worthy of love will sabotage your plans. If you told yourself that this year is the year you finally find the right job or start the business you’re passionate about, but you have an underlying belief that, “I’m not smart enough,” or “It’s impossible to find work in this market,” how motivated will you be? How effective? Listen to what you tell yourself about what you believe limits you.
- If there were 2 important changes that need to occur in order for you to be totally successful and reach your goals, what would they be? i.e.) Have more confidence in yourself? Be more creative? Break patterns of self-sabotage? Get over fear of speaking in public? Write down anything and everything that comes to mind and then write down ways that these challenges can be overcome.
7. What help, support or resources do you need? This could be a mentor, additional skills, a ‘how to’ guide, a clear action plan, sounding board or someone to brainstorm with, etc. Identify what research you can do on your own and the resources you can obtain in the form of books, CDs, personal development. There are lots of free resources available such as our Breakthrough to Success event that will guide you to pinpoint what’s stopping you from achieving your goals. Take advantage of anything that teaches you the strategies and techniques that change limiting behaviours. This will set you on a clear course for success.
- List 3 things you can do each day starting now to move forward with achieving your goals. Enlist the help of a friend, partner or coach to establish your own accountability, tell them what you intend to do. This puts the power squarely in your hands to determine your results. E.G If the goal is that you want to travel the world , then begin by researching a country at a time or cut out picture from magazines about places you want to go, small steps to success!
- Take action daily and review your goals weekly. Many small steps towards your goal will move you towards the accomplishments you wish to attain. Take a step every day towards your goal, this maintains motivation and momentum, both essential for your success. Think about what you will be doing, what you’ll see, experience and feel when you’ve achieved your end result, make a living picture in your mind and go back to it over and over making it more real every time you do it and therefore more achieveable.
- Keep the top 3 goals written on a 3 x 5 card in your desk drawer, hand bag or in your wallet and look at them once a day. Ask yourself, why do I want to achieve these goals? What will that give me or do for me? The “why” is your grander purpose and will motivate you to persist in taking action until it’s completed.
- When you achieve a goal, celebrate! This is a great way to reward yourself for a job well done. It will anchor that wonderful sense of achievement within your psychology and physiology. This will only lead to building even more success!