How To Keep a Positive Outlook When Working Towards Your Goals

Let's be honest. Achieving anything worth having can be an extremely daunting venture especially when you consider some of the reasons we don't reach our goals. 

Here is my number 1 tip for keeping a positive outlook through it all in one word.

Gratitude

Gratitude is an incredibly powerful tool to have in any arsenal. When it all seems to be closing in on you and you start to feel frustrated and are ready to throw in that towel just write a list of at least 25 things that you are grateful for in the journey to your goal and in your journey throughout life. Trust me. It creates a shift.

How do YOU keep that positive outlook? Comment on our Facebook page. 

Having challenges achieving your goals? Book your free right fit session today.

5 Steps Towards Your Goals

There is always this big question when it comes to achieving goals. "I have set the goal... now how do I get there?". This question is one that has plagued the earth for many, many... many years. 

I truly believe that as we are all unique there is no hard and fast  rules for goal attainment. I can offer quite a few solutions, at the end of the day I would encourage you to try the one that resonates with you...and tweak it where necessary to suit you.

Today though, I will highlight a 5 step process to achieving your goal. Give it a try for a smaller goal or milestone to see if it works for you.

Assuming that you have already set your goal:

Step 1: 

Identify why this goal is important to you -  for starters this helps you to connect with your goal on a deeper level and we do have a tendency to work harder at the things that e connect with.

Step 2: 

Determine the steps that you would need to take to achieving this goal - Knowing the steps helps you to get a better understanding of what achieving your goal entails. Think of it as making an informed decision.

Step 3: 

Set a deadline - Knowing when you would like to achieve your goal by helps you to determine how much effort you may need to put in in what period of time. Warning, we as people sometimes think of this in isolation and forget our our existing obligations, hence finding ourselves thoroughly disappointed for not reaching our goals after putting too much on our plates.

Step 4: 

Select an accountability partner - We can sometimes get easily distracted and lose focus along the way. Due to this, it is extremely important to choose someone that you trust, who will keep you on your toes whilst you work towards your goal. 

Step 5: 

Take action - Now this is where many of us fall apart. We set the goal and go through the theory and the paperwork, then we do nothing. If you want to achieve anything in life you have to DO THE WORK!

What other reasons can you think of? Comment on our Facebook page. 

Do you need help achieving your goals? Book your free right fit session today.

3 Reasons To Have a Goal

I have been privy to many conversations where I have heard people make the statement "I don't have any goals", or "I don't need goals."

A goal is an aim or a desired result, that being said It is extremely unlikely that there is any one on this earth who has never set a goal. In fact, when you truly think of it setting a goal is a part of our natural make up. 

Imagine if we never had a goal. Many of us would never have taken our first step, learned to read, been able to speak or do any of the things we are capable of doing today. From the time you wake up an make the decision to get out of bed, you have set a goal...(quite frankly if you made the decision not to get out of bed, then you've set a goal there too).

All of that being said, Everyone has a desire to have something more in life, and because of this we tend to set goals, whether we want to call it that or not (hey... a goal is a goal is a goal). Here are just 3 (of many) reasons why goals are important.

Goals give us the clarity we need to move forward.

There is something really propelling about knowing exactly what you want and making a decision to do something to get it. There is something that is even more powerful about writing it all down and keeping it somewhere where it can be front of mind.

Goals have the ability to boost confidence

This is, of course, dependent on how you go about trying to reach that goal. If you set your big goal without ensuring you have milestones that you are just a tad uncomfortable with the you will be crushed if you don't achieve that goal. However, with each milestone achieved you find yourself able to trust in your decisions, and feel better about yourself to boot.

Goals help you to focus

We live in a world filled with plentiful distractions and when we don't have something to work towards we can very easily find ourselves floating into nothingness. Having a goal is a way to keep you grounded as you go through everyday living.

In the midst of all the reasons we can find to have goals it is critical to remember that as important as the goal might be the key is not to miss out on the journey towards that goal.

What other reasons can you think of? Comment on our Facebook page. 

Do you need help achieving your goals? Book your free right fit session today.

5 Reasons People Don't Reach Their Goals

We all want something more in our lives, whether it me more money, a better job, our own business, to see the world, our own home, a great relationship, a bigger family, (you know this list could quite possibly be never ending), more time with friends, a new washing machine, certification... you get the picture. These things are usually things we are willing to work towards to achieve or receive.

Sometimes we hit the target right on and other times we miss the mark, either big time or by a minimal amount. A great many of us set goals and don't reach them for a variety of reasons. Here are just five of them:

Fear 

Our biggest fear could well be considered as the fear of the unknown. We bog ourselves down what ifs and thoughts the worst case scenarios dire enough to stop even the most daring of men in their tracks and send them home whimpering with their tail between their legs. We also tend to spend too much time analyzing what could go wrong that we end up retreating from our dream or convincing ourselves that we need to find a different, "less risky" dream because our original dream is absolutely unattainable.

Procrastination

Ever had that moment where you knew exactly what you needed to do to get that goal in the bag, but found every reason in the book to find something else to do...It's been known to happen! Instead of making those sales calls, we explore the social media or rather than develop that marketing plan e decide to watch the ads on television just to get some "inspiration"(excuses, excuses). 

No Support

I know you know what it feels like to do all you can to forge ahead to your target then to face the people that we look to for that much needed support just to hear every reason under the sun as to why you shouldn't or can't get there. Often times that leaves us feeling that we could probably get there if only someone had our back.

Overwhelm

Thought of your big dream and then you went ahead to think of everything you needed to do to get there? Then all of a sudden a lump appears in your throat and an elephant decides to take a little rest on your chest and you just feel as though your might explode in panic. Well that my friend, is overwhelm. 

Lack of Clarity

"I want to live in my own home, or maybe rent, or maybe I could just stay here with my parents forever and just get a dog instead" this is usually our thought process when we are unclear of what we really want. When the target keeps moving you are always more likely to miss.

What other reasons can you think of? Comment on our Facebook page. 

Do you need help achieving your goals? Book your free right fit session today.

A Sad Truth

Just a few weeks ago I have had the opportunity to go to a few different schools across the island speaking to 14 and 15 year olds about goals as a part of an introduction to the Junior Achievement – Company Program.

I was absolutely thrilled to receive the invitation to speak with these young minds and I thoroughly enjoyed interacting with these beautiful and fun loving individuals.

It was of course an absolute shock to me that approximately 75 % of them did not know what a goal was, which inevitably meant that a vast minority of them at the age of 14 and 15 did not have goals. Now granted, over this 2 week period I have only been able to speak to about 120 of them or so, but the way I see it, those 120 are just a minuscule sample of the youth population of the world.

I strongly believe that for even 1 child over the age of 7 (if it even has to be that high) not to know what a goal is is absolutely unacceptable.

These young ones are the future of our universe. The world is in their hands. The earth is theirs. We need to take the time to guide them in the direction where they can achieve phenomenal things. We need to get them to a point where they can dream and dream big and then submerge themselves in their achievements.

I can go on and on about this. But for now I want you to think about it and tell me what you can and will do about this situation before it is too late.

Take A Step Back

I was playing a word game much like lingo, where you are given the first letter of a 5 letter word and you have 5 chances to come up with the correct answer.

It so happens that I was given the letter A and my first thought was “I got this. The word is apple”  well of course you know I got that wrong  , so then I thought, “There can’t be that many 5 letter a words”.

After 2 more wrong answers, I decided to just stop clear my brain and think about it. A flood of 5 letter “A” words came to me and trough the method of deduction I came up with the right one with one more chance to go.

I know by now you are wondering “Why on earth is she telling us about a word game?”

Here is the deal. Many of us work hard to reach a goal, whether it is a planned goal or a subconscious one, Sometimes we can’t seem to find the right path to reach our destination.

My suggestion:

Stop, breathe and clear your mind. Sometimes taking a small break, taking a step back, just a breather can give you the opportunity to take a fresh perspective on things. Sometimes those same things get you re-energized and some times they allow you to see if you are going about things the wrong way.

There are so many possibilities that can stem from simply taking a little time away from your current situation (not a full out vacation).

Step Back. Breathe. Go again.

21 Days

I have seen in a number of places and heard it repeatedly over the last few years that it takes 21 days to form a habit. Simply meaning if you do the same task 21 days straight that it will automatically become a habit.

Well. I beg to differ. Over the years I have tried many 21 day and 30 day challenges and I can honestly say not one of them has become a habit. I have become more aware of them and inclined to do them, and I find it immensely easier to do the tasks than I did when I started…but they have neither become involuntary responses or custom behaviours of mine.

Here is my take on it. Yes… repetitive and consistent behaviours are critical to the habit creation process, but there are other factors that can contribute, such as socialization  drive, determination and discipline. I am quite sure if I dig even deeper that I could come up with a few more factors, but this is all I have got for now.

I say socialization because when I think of the things that are habits for me now such as bathing and brushing my teeth twice daily… these are things that my culture and by extension my family have instilled in me for years. The socialization process would fit in to school and work environments as well through the use of positive or negative reinforcement.

As for drive, determination and discipline- I would tie them in to the habits that we want to form for ourselves. Like daily exercise, meditation, daily email checks etc. These are all goal oriented tasks, hence the need for the 3d concept I stated earlier (you know… drive, determination and discipline).

Please note that none of this is to be confused with addiction (playing games on facebook) and distractions (following every link you see when you are supposed to be focused on ‘a’.)

What is your take on this?