It’s mid-March and 2013 is well under way. Remember those New Year’s resolutions and goals you made? Maybe you wanted to get more physically active, get 10 more clients, or get more organized. How are you doing? Are you blowing it out of the water or just feel like you are blowing it? Here are a few tips that might help you get refocused, reenergized and redirected.
I wrote an article in December “8 Sure Fire Ways To Make Your New Year’s Resolution Stick”, I thought it might be helpful to revisit and expand on a few of the topics.
What were you thinking?
When you first set your goal or desired outcome for 2013, what was the real reason and belief behind making that goal? Is it still strong enough to recommit you to taking action? The example I used in my older article was how a compelling belief can influence a person’s desire to take action. I used an example of a grandfather that wanted to quit smoking because he believed he would gain added health benefits vs. the grandfather who believed he would live to see his granddaughter graduate high school if he quits smoking. It might be worth going back to your goal and ask yourself, “Why do I want this in the first place?” Is my belief behind this goal just something nice to say out loud or does it really connect with me on an emotional level? Does it get me fired up every time I say it?
Tip – Reconnect with your belief and reason behind your decision to make a goal. Write it down and place it somewhere you are going to see it every day. For example: When I _______, I know I will________.
Tell somebody!
Writing out a goal or milestone is one thing. Letting the world know about your intention is quite another. Enlisting someone’s help is usually the magic combination of both. Here is something to think about. I’m a small business owner and a coach. My clients have asked me to hold them accountable to the plans and actions they want to implement. I ask them to communicate with me on a regular basis. It may be communicating every day, once a week, or once a month. The purpose is to answer the following questions:
- Where are you in your progress?
- Are you doing the things you said you were going to do?
- What changes need to be made?
- What are you committed to doing now?
So then who coaches the Coach??? I’m by no means perfect and I’m not too proud to ask for help. I get unmotivated, I have setbacks, and sometimes I need to reevaluate my direction. You guessed it. I practice what I preach, I have my own accountability partner and coach.
Tip – Michael Phelps, Jack Welch and Tony Robins have one thing in common, they enlisted the help of others to get them to where they wanted to go. If it makes since, hire a coach, empower a manager, talk to a colleague, or ask your significant other for some help getting you to your goal. Get the encouragement, direction and the push you need to get you where you want to go.
Get on that horse!
Falling off the wagon is going to happen to everyone at one time or another. A set-back here or a delay there all fall under one category….life is always in session. It’s also then quite normal to want to say “Oh well…I just give up.”
If this is happening to you, it might be a good time to do a little reflection and remember the progress you’ve accomplished to this point. Remember you’ve moved the needle of progress in the right direction – even if it was only sustained for a short while. It’s ok to give yourself permission to admit you are not Superman or Wonder Woman. You made progress before, life happened, and you fell off the wagon. You had it in you to start in the first place right? So, you still have it in you to start towards your goal again. What can you do to get back on that horse?
Tip – Think about a time when you were successful at something in the past. What was the hardest obstacle you had to overcome during that time? Remember that YOU CAN accomplish things you set out to do!
Time to step back, reassess, revisit and refocus
About 90 days have passed since the beginning of 2013. Some things may have gone a lot better than anticipated, while other things may not have turned out so well. If you are not making the progress you want, now is a good time to take a step back and figure out what’s working and what’s not. Reassess the challenges you expected. Are your solutions working? What about some of your unexpected obstacles, what are some solutions that might work? What are some new habits you might want to adapt? Take all of these things in consideration and revisit your plan to get to your goal. Are there things in your plan that need to be tweaked? Are there things in your goal that need to be tweaked? Lastly, does it make since to refocus your efforts? Some of us, including me from time to time, are focusing on the wrong things. Are you focusing most of your time and effort on the things that are going to get you closer to your goal? If you changed some, part, or all of your focus; how would that impact things? What are things you can do differently to refocus on the items that will give you the progress you need?
Tip – Take the time to look at how you are doing and be open to tweaks. Make sure that you are focusing on the “right” things not just the things that make you feel busy or productive but the things that are actually producing the results you want.
Are you recommitted yet?
Now, on a scale of 1-10, how committed are you to achieving your desired outcome? If it’s not a 10, figure out what you would need to do or change (including the goal itself) to get it as close to a 10 as you can. Next explore all the resourses available to you (including people) that can help you get there!
Tip – What would happen if you changed?
- Your Mindset
- Your Accountability
- Your Focus
