Similar to a world-class athlete, as long as you have a strong focus and strategy you will be well on your way to achieving whatever you set out to accomplish. The following tried and tested Life Coaching Practitioner methods will help guide you towards reaching your goals.
Smart Goals
SMART is an acronym for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Timed (Goal Plan). These five headings are explained in more detail here: Project Smart Goals and, of course, can be used in a variety of settings where ‘something’ or ‘anything’, as a group or by yourself, has to be successfully organised and/or achieved.
Being Positive
It is important to remember that Goals come in all shapes and sizes; they don’t all have to be bright, shiny, first-past-the-post Gold Goals, but can just as well be smaller Silver goals or even mini-sized Bronze ones. They are all just as important within your overall Goal Plan strategy. The key point to bear in mind is that, in order to achieve successful goals, they must be thought of and stated in the positive. This may sound obvious but, if you have a negative goal, such as, “I don’t enjoy my job” you actually won’t achieve anything. It is, in effect, a closed ended statement that doesn’t lead you anywhere or have any identifiable aim. Sam Bowen, Paralympian, whose right leg is paralysed from the knee down due to a mortar explosion talks about being “so low….I couldn’t accept what had happened to me, My mentality became ‘Can’t, can’t, can’t’. But this changed in 2011 when she was persuaded to join a sitting volleyball session and suddenly her mantra became ‘I can do this. And I’m enjoying this’ (The Sunday Telegraph 19.08.12). So, instead of using a negative, the statement, or goal, has to be turned around and announced in the positive. This can be done by asking yourself questions such as, “What do I want from my job?”, and “What would I rather be doing instead?” Your answer could be, “I want to change my job and pursue a career in Marketing for a professional services company.” This is a positive goal!
Achieving It For Yourself
Another important question you need to ask yourself is, “Am I doing this for myself or for another person’s benefit?” By answering this question, you will strengthen and cement the actual reason why you, personally, want to achieve your goal. If you are setting a goal for someone else’s profit then you are definitely not in control and will not be able to singularly drive your Goal Plan forward. You are, in essence, fulfilling someone else’s ambition. Be sure that you are confident in the reasons for achieving your goal and that it enables you to realise your aspirations.
Obstacle Ilusions!
For a goal to be achieved it is also imperative to ensure that you don’t allow any negative external influences to jeopardise the pathway in your Goal Plan. However, there will, of course, be times when obstacles will present themselves and create unexpected necessary diversions or temporary dead-ends.
The positive way to deal with these problems is to find a compromise solution, which could mean finding a different way of achieving the next milestone in your overall Goal Plan strategy.
Goal Plans are SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Timed) and, therefore, if you are challenged with an obstacle, or negative influence, it is important that you find a solution as quickly as possible to overcome it, so that you are able to keep on track and reach the finishing post within the time frame you have set.
As an easy example, if your goal is to save £1,000 in 6 months for a special purchase, you can break down your Goal Plan as follows:
Bronze (mini) Goals To save £180 per month (x 6)
Silver Goal (half way milestone) To have saved £540 after 3 months (x 2)
Gold Goal (ultimate Goal) To have saved £1,000
If you achieve £180 x 6 months you will have actually surpassed your Gold Goal and saved £1,080 – this will give you the bonus of an extra £80, and also gives you a buffer zone to fall back on if, in one of the saving months, you come face-to-face with an obstacle which prevents you from putting aside the full £180.
The key to effectively mapping out a successful Goal Plan strategy is:
- to forecast ahead
- always over estimate on time-frames so that you have a buffer zone to fall back on
- set realistic and achievable mini-sized goals so that you can feel a sense of achievement as you work towards reaching your final Gold Goal.
- Always break down your Gold Goals into more manageable bite-size chunks so that you are able to constantly measure your progress and keep your Goal Plan moving forward. The Bronze and Silver medals are just as important!
The following questions may sound a little strange to ask yourself but, in doing so, they will further help you to reinforce your Goal Plan aims and retain your strong motivation to succeed.
- How will you know when you have achieved your goal?
- How will you be sure that you have reached what you set out to accomplish in your Goal Plan?
- What do you envisage you will be feeling, seeing, hearing and doing when you reach that Gold milestone?
- How will you know when you have achieved your goal? I will have saved at least £1,000
- How will you be sure that you have reached what you set out to accomplish in your Goal Plan? I will have made that special purchase using the £1,000 that I have saved
- What do you envisage you will be feeling, seeing, hearing and doing when you reach that Bronze, Silver and Gold milestone? I will feel happy/ I will have a sense of accomplishment/I will be able to enjoy making the purchase and I will be in the shop with the purchase in my possession!
It may be that, half way through your six months Goal Plan, you lose focus and enthusiasm for continuing with the SMART task you have set yourself. By referring back to your written answers you will be reminded of the reasons you originally wanted to achieve this particular goal.
If, however, against all odds, your plans fall by the way-side and you lose interest in saving the required £1,000 to make the purchase, it is not the end of the World! Don’t regard this goal journey as a failure but look at the reasons why it wasn’t a success. It is counter-productive to be negative and, therefore, the only way forward is to look at a problem from its positive side. It may be that a newer, more exciting version of what it is you want to purchase has come on the market! In this instance, re-set your Goal Plan so that you can continue with a new journey and reach the alternative goal destination. It may be that you have decided you no longer have use for, or even like your original purchase idea. In this scenario you have two choices: you can either continue saving for another more expensive purchase, or spend the money you have already accumulated on something else.
What Will Happen…..?
There are six very useful questions, used extensively by Life Coaching Practitioners, which you can ask yourself whenever you need to make a difficult decision. This method, of course, can also be used to support your personal Goal Plan and reaffirm to yourself the reasons why you wish to achieve it. Be aware of any pictures, sounds and particularly feelings that your unconscious mind raises. Be sympathetic to the response you get and adjust your goal accordingly. This method is a great tool to formalise any undecided or muddled thoughts you may have. The last question does require some in-depth thought and may have you struggling to answer – but break down the sentence into two parts and it will make sense!
- What is the real purpose why I want this?
- What will I lose and/or gain if I have it?
- What will happen when I get it?
- What won’t happen if I get it?
- What will happen if I don’t get it?
- What won’t happen if I don’t get it?