At the beginning of the new year articles abound with slogans such as Just do it! and Out with the old; in with the new!
REALLY?!?
Slogans like these assume I do not bring past years’ knowledge and talent to my new endeavors. While slogans can be temporarily motivating, real change and success requires more. Coaches prefer to look at the gaps between where we are and where we want to be in reaching goals. Then we can use all our self awareness and positive past behavior (the old) to develop strategies to assist us in achieving our goals (the new).
Tony Schwartz, co-author of The Power of Full Engagement and The Energy Project, brings new words of wisdom to the whole concept of achieving goals. He believes we focus too much on self-discipline as the path to success. So if you’re like many of us and your New Year’s goals are already shaky, you may want to read the full article on my website (link).
In the meantime, consider the following juicy actions that have worked for me and many of my clients:
- Announce it! Think back to the tactics you’ve taken in achieving other goals. I have noticed that when I want to play big (big-a…. goals), I announce it to people that will typically check in with me from time to time to see how I’m doing with that. This triggers the embarrassment factor for me if I haven’t made any progress at all.
- Pair up with an expert! I have also realized that I achieve my goal faster when I pair up with an expert, professional or not. When I wanted to get back to playing the piano (and it wasn’t happening despite writing out my S.M.A.R.T. Goal), I hire a piano teacher even though I was formerly an accomplished pianist. Knowing I needed to practice before my upcoming lesson helped get piano playing on my priority list.
- Set-up your ritual! Like many others, I want to be more physically fit this year, but leaving my cozy home (and cup of something hot) to exercise does not come naturally to me… yet. Notice my language allows that this is a new behavior I’m building and guilt is not a part of it. So I keep my sneakers and work-out clothes in my office with my Y membership card on top of them as a visual reminder I am putting in place. This has worked for me before with practicing regular meditation.
Bottom-line: You know where your obstacles lie, so build a plan that is incremental and builds on your self-knowledge for getting past the boulders. Make it a game rather than a struggle!