Create Change in your life

The month of December is by all accounts a time to celebrate good times with friends and family. It is also a time to look back on what you have achieved throughout the past year, a time of reflection on the things that you have done, or are currently doing and the things that you will continue to do in the future. It is a time to look back on what has been achieved rather than dwell on what hasn’t.

It is also a time when people most often look to the future, probably more than any other time in the year. When people make their plans for the future, the changing of the years seems to signify much more than the changing of the months or weeks.

But before the countdown starts to welcome in the New Year, it is important to have a clear vision, defined strategy or set of goals in place so when the New Year does arrive you are able to hit the ground running (or just carry on from where you left off previously).

Any time is a good time to create goals for yourself, but at the start of the year it just seems more logical, a brand new set of 12 months to play around with.

And so with that in mind, what are your plans for the coming year? What do you want to do? Where do you want to do it and when do you want to have it done by?

A vision for the year ahead is something that needs to be written down, spend some time with this, write it down on paper or type it up on the computer, don’t just think about it during your coffee break. When you write something down it somehow makes it seem more real, as opposed to just random thoughts in your mind. Play around with some different ideas and scenarios, which ones seem appealing, which ones don’t?

What is the time frame for each activity? Are you splitting the year up into quarters, every couple of months, half yearly, monthly or weekly?

• Are there any courses you want to start?

• How much money do you want to earn?

• Any places you want to travel to?

• Is there one thing you want more than anything else?

Once you have this list save it and refer to it often, use it to plan your monthly or weekly goals.

I think it is important to do this before January, the year has already started by then. Consequently when January does arrive you will already know what it is you have to do, you are aware of your mission (and have already accepted it). It is a tired old cliché but as you get older the years really do seem to pass by quicker, therefore taking time to complete tasks such as writing down your vision for the year ahead become ever more important.

admin Changing direction Changing direction, Goal Setting / Motivation

Do you or have you ever set goals either monthly or weekly and then not completed them or even made them a priority? Have you perhaps conveniently forgotten about them, or maybe even deliberately ignored them. Or was the practice of actually writing down the goal in the first place success enough for you? Your goals exist because they take you closer to where you want to be in life, and there are daily or weekly tasks you need to do in order to achieve your goal.

While an objective of losing weight may be a long term goal it will be made up of a many smaller tasks that will need to be completed daily or weekly.

If you have already written your goal down then you must already consider important enough for something to be done about it.

Why then is it that sometimes it does not get completed?

Does life get in the way?
Do you have too many other things to worry about?
Are you just lazy?
Do you come up with excuses such as ‘I’ll do it later’ or ‘It will get done, just not today’.

If you are serious about changing your life, you are going to have to get serious about completing the daily tasks that your goal requires.

Excuses and laziness will not work and you will find yourself no nearer to your goal, the process of you writing down your goal will become meaningless.

You will be static, while you may not be getting any closer somebody somewhere with the same goal probably is. While you are sat there doing nothing, making excuses there are people who are completing their goals and who are making something happen, don’t you want to be one of them?

Some tips for making sure daily tasks get done;

Every Sunday make a weekly checklist of all the things you want to do for the week ahead. Include all days from Monday to Sunday. Write down everything that you want to do for that day and what you want to complete. See yourself having completed the task.

Assign a time to do it, for example between 7-8. (if it means not watching TV, so be it) Congratulate yourself when you complete the task.

Know what you have to do before the day arrives, it can be very easy sometimes to just wake up and suddenly decide something else needs to be done that day. Don’t get sidetracked like this unless you have already completed the task you set yourself on Sunday. Stay focused on what you need to do. The time you allocate for your task should be used for that task only and not other work.

Don’t try and plan too much, it is easy to get carried away when writing down what you need to do and give yourself too much, this can make you feel overwhelmed and is one way that you can start making excuses to not finish or even start some tasks.

admin Goal Setting / Motivation, Happiness Goal Setting / Motivation

When making changes in your life, a technique that you can use that can help focus your mind, as well as provide you with motivation is writing a letter to yourself. The letter is addressed to you at some point in the future, either 6 months or 1 or 2 years time. In the letter you write as if you are living your ideal life with all the changes you wish to make having been made.

Describe your ideal life in detail, where you live, your relationships, your work and the way you feel. Create a visual image using sensory rich detail and emotions. Write as if you are living the life right now in the present tense.

Write it back to yourself, don’t hold back or be reserved about what you have achieved, really let your imagination run wild, have fun with it, don’t sensor it because you think it is too unrealistic.

Write the letter as if it is from a happier more fulfilled you at some point in the future.

Some examples of things you might want to include are;

Dear Yourself,

• I am currently living in …
• It’s nice to have …
• I am …
• I never thought it would be like this …
• It just goes to show …
• Right now my life is amazing …
• I have managed to …
• I have many …
• Next week I will be …
• Just last week …
• I never thought life could be …
• My ‘####’ is really going really well …

When completed read it back to yourself and pick out a few things that you can start working on straight away. Have fun!

admin Goal Setting / Motivation Goal Setting / Motivation, inspire, motivate, motivational

If I said to you in 3 months time you would have the change you wanted in your life and your life would be exactly like you want it, what would your immediate reaction or thought be?

• It’s OK I already know I will have the change I want in 3 months time.
• Great! What do I have to do?
• No it won’t, it is just not possible.
• It will not happen at all, don’t joke about things like that.
• It would be nice but I doubt very much whether it will happen in 3 months.
• Yeah whatever, I wish.
• Are you serious? I don’t think so.

If your initial answer to the question is a positive one (1-2), then that would suggest that you already have the self-belief needed to make it happen. This is good, if you do then I would recommend you write it down on a piece of paper and stick it somewhere prominent so you can be reminded of it every day.

For example.

• 3 months from now I will have lost 14 pounds.
• 3 months from now I will be speaking good basic conversational Spanish.
• 3 months from now I will have completed 100 pages of my new book.
• 3 months from now I will be selling my handicrafts online.
• 3 months from now I will have found a new job with better prospects.

If you believe it will happen but are not sure how it will happen, as an exercise try this; Go into the future to when you will have what you want, and look back to right now. As you look back on yourself at this present moment, what are the steps you would have taken now to make your goal come true? What actions did you take? What was your day to day behavior? See each step you would have taken in your mind’s eye.

What were you doing each day to work towards your goal? Be vivid and detailed in your descriptions of the activities you did? This way you will know exactly what you have to do right now, to make where you want to be in 3 months from now a reality.

Remember to write down the goal, a few times if need be and put it somewhere where you will see it each day. Don’t be afraid to even send yourself a text message or an email reminding you about what you need to do each day to get where you want to be.

If your reaction to the question was negative, such as, ‘it won’t happen’ or, ‘I don’t think so’, can you guess what will happen in 3 months time? It is not rocket science to understand that if you say something will not happen, then the chances of it happening are slim.

If your immediate reaction is negative then you either;

1. Don’t believe you can accomplish the task.
2. Don’t really want to complete the task.
3. Don’t want to be disappointed when you fail.
4. Don’t believe the task is achievable.

If it is number 1, then you should ask yourself why exactly it is that you don’t believe you can accomplish the task and how you know this with such certainty. I would also recommend you start imagining that it were possible and use the technique outlined above to find out how you go about achieving it.

If it is number 2, you need to ask yourself why it is that perhaps you don’t want to achieve the task, is it fear of failure or even success, if you are not motivated enough, change the goal so you are?

If it is number 3, take the approach of ‘there is no failure only feedback’ and take action towards your goal. Look upon everything you do as feedback, if you are taking action towards your goal you simply cannot fail, therefore any action you take is positive.

If it is number 4, then ask yourself; is the outcome I want in 3 months to large, is it realistic? (A million in 3 months, a new business generating massive profits.) If it is then change the goal to something which you know is achievable in 3 months, I don’t mean to cut back on your expectation of what you want for yourself, but only you know what you can realistically achieve in 3 months.

If you don’t right now believe the task is achievable then it is highly unlikely you will achieve it, simple as that. How much time can you spend on the goal, can you afford to give up your job? 1 and 4 are similar, but if you are working 12 hour days, then how much daily time will you have for the task you want to achieve?

For example the difference between 1 and 4 is this,

Goal 1. In 3 months time I will have lost 14lbs.

This is an achievable goal, people have done it in the past and people will do it in the future. But not everybody will believe THEY can achieve it.

Goal 2. In 3 months time I want to be able to write a book, as-well as working 12 hours a day.

While writing a book is achievable in 3 months, however not many people would have done it working 12 hours a day in another job. In this example If you know you are going to be working 12 hours day for the next 3 months, either change your goal, or cut back on the hours you are working so the goal does become attainable.

admin Goal Setting / Motivation Goal Setting / Motivation

Why is it that when we set ourselves goals we know we must achieve, we sometimes lose our focus and find ourselves not completing the activities we know we should? Do you ever have this problem? I understand that life can get in the way sometimes, we can get distracted, we take our eye off the ball or we often get involved in other activities. But when the days of doing nothing turn into weeks, and then months we might suddenly wake up one morning with a sick feeling in our stomach’s, a feeling that says ‘Oh! I haven’t done half of what I was planning to do by now’, and then you ask yourself ‘How did I let this happen?’

Is it laziness?

• Have you stopped believing you can achieve your goals?
• Has something happened in your life that prevents you from pursuing them?
• Do your goals not interest you anymore?
• Has your life changed that these goals have now become irrelevant?
• Have you lost all your motivation?
• Does it suddenly seem like too much hard work is involved so you’ve decided to stop altogether?

Why are you not putting any effort into making your goals come to life? Have you given up already?

Maybe you feel you have too much to do, so you feel so overwhelmed that you don’t do anything. If you are losing focus what can you do about it and how do you get back on track? I think the first thing to ask yourself is why are you losing focus? If it is because of unforeseen circumstances then maybe there isn’t much you can do about it, but if it is because you are becoming lazy and unmotivated then that is a different story. If it is then it may be time to get back to basics.

The frightening aspect of becoming de-motivated is that it becomes too easy to talk yourself out of doing what needs to be done. It is also very easy to stop believing that you can achieve your goals, both of which are detrimental to your success. If you stop believing, then in your mind it becomes pointless to continue working towards your goals. Why would you pursue something that you don’t believe you can be successful at?

I think this is a big issue with people giving up in life, they simply stop believing it’s possible. The dream becomes too big and too distant and the next thing that happens, it’s forgotten altogether.

If you have stopped taking action, start again as soon as possible, start by taking small steps a little each day, and make sure they get completed and that you record your activities if this helps. Also be sure to congratulate yourself for what you have done.

Always remember that nobody becomes rich or successful overnight, it takes hard work, action, determination and an unshakeable belief that it will happen.

Don’t lose focus, instead continually remind yourself (daily if need be) what it is you want and what you need to do to get there. It is too easy sometimes to fall into the trap of inaction and indolence but this is to be avoided unless you want things to stay as they are.

admin Goal Setting / Motivation Goal Setting / Motivation

How often do you write down your goals or desired outcomes? Do you set goals weekly, monthly, daily or yearly or not at all? How often do you achieve your goals? What was the last goal you achieved for yourself? Do you achieve your goals? I think setting goals is important, because let’s face it if you have no desired goal, then you have no direction and you run the risk of just drifting and letting life pass you by.

Time waits for no man. Six months from now what do you want to have in your life that you don’t have at the moment? What about 1 year from now, or 5 years? Where do you want to be?

Most of us have some sort of goal, even if it’s to pay off the mortgage. For some it might be to save up for a holiday or to buy that new car you have always wanted. For others it might be something more personal. Maybe you have career goals, relationship goals, health goals, financial goals, or self development goals.

Here are a few examples:

• Lose weight
• Become financially independent
• Learn a language
• Get a promotion at work
• Find a new partner
• Learn to sing
• Learn to play the Guitar
• Climb Mount Everest

Have you ever written down your goals or are they parked away in the back of your mind? I wonder how many people would rather watch TV then actually spend time writing down their goals? Maybe people don’t write down their goals because they don’t believe they can achieve them?

If you don’t have goals, how will you ever achieve anything in life? Goals are fundamental to success in life?

One way I have recently learnt is to use NLP to help clarify what the goal is by way of asking certain specific questions. This way it helps you become clear in your own mind what exactly it is that you want, why you want it and how you will know when you attain it.

Try asking yourself the following questions in relation to your specific goal; Maybe write them on a piece of paper, or type them out, then print it out and stick it somewhere where you will see it every day.

• What specifically do you want?
• What will that do for you?
• What will this outcome get for you or allow you to do?

• How will you know when you have got it?
• What will you see hear and feel?
• How will someone else know when you have got it?
• What is the first step?
• What is the last step?

• When, where and with who do you want it?
• How long do you want it for?
• Is the outcome in keeping with your sense of who you are?
• What do you get out of your current behavior that you would wish to preserve?
• What time frame will this outcome need?
• Who else is affected and how will they feel?
• How does it fit in with your other outcomes?
• How does it increase your choices?
• What will happen if you get it?
• What won’t happen if you get it?

• Can you start and maintain it?
• What resources have you already got (skills, people, money, objects etc)?
• What resources do you need?
• Who has already succeeded in achieving this outcome?

When you are clear about what your goal is and what you have to do to get it, you can begin to take steps to work towards getting it. Try it and see how you get on!

admin Goal Setting / Motivation Goal Setting / Motivation