A new year means a fresh start - and a chance to set and achieve new goals. Today - our Life Coach Elise Touchette is here to get our minds set on making those dreams happen - and happen this year!
What is keeping you from creating your best year yet?
It may already be the middle of January, but it doesn't mean that it is too late to create a plan for your best year yet! You've heard it before, people who write down their goals are more likely to accomplish them. Most people know this and they still don't get their goals down on paper. Here are 5 possible obstacles and how to overcome them.
1. Looking back can be painful.
- 2011 was a hard year for many people and they just want to pick themselves up and move forward.
- But there are lessons hiding in 2011 that can help create a much better 2012.
- The key? Curiosity.
- Look at the bad stuff with a curious eye to see if there are lessons that can be learned.
- MORE IMPORTANTLY - Look at what worked in 2011. These are your 2011 bright spots.
- How can you multiply your bright spots in 2012?
- How can a bright spot in one area of your life be applied in another?
- For example: You improved your health because you started a food journal. How could journaling an activity in another area of your life lead to improvement in that area?
2. Reality Bites
- Planning for one year can be hard because the logical part of our brains keeps piping up to tell us to be "realistic" and we limit ourselves or avoid doing it altogether.
- Set aside 10 minutes to visualize what you want your life to look like in 3 years. 5 or 10 years is too many. It is too hard to imagine life that far out.
- 3 is a magic number that gets that logical part of you to quiet down and allows you to imagine what you really want.
- From there you can use that logical part of your brain to work backwards to see how to start down your 3-year path NOW.
3. I can't get it all done!
- Planning can be frustrating for people because they don't know how they will get it all done.
- First off, don't worry about how you are going to get it done. Just get it all down on paper to look at.
- Then, prioritize. There are lots of areas in your life where you want change. Some of those areas might be just as important as the other, but that doesn't mean they are all the same priority.
- Pick a couple of high priority areas and write down your goals just for that area for now and start taking action.
- Know that your priorities can change as you make progress in an area or as life brings you new challenges and opportunities.
4. I don't want to choose
- Some people are amazing at generating ideas and when you pair that with someone who loves to keep their options open, you get an obstacle to achieving your goals. So, what do you do?
- First, let your idea generator go crazy. Write all of your ideas for goals on index cards. One card per goal.
- Next, sort them out. You can put them into categories, lay them out in chronological order if one goal needs to be accomplished before the next goal can be started, filter based on your values, whatever.
- Finally, select the goals you will work on "FOR NOW". Clip the other goals together and keep them safe so you know you can go back to them when you want to.
5. Setting goals and resolutions didn't work last year...
- This might be the biggest obstacle people face. Why do it if it didn't work last year. The key to this obstacle is to change your mindset. This comes from Kelly McGonigal. http://kellymcgonigal.com/about-kelly-mcgonigal/
- This obstacle is especially troublesome in changing habits.
- The mindset that keeps us stuck where we are is pretending that we'll be better tomorrow.
- Did you plan to get healthier last year? How many times did you tell yourself "I'm going to skip the workout today, but I'll work out every day for the rest of the week?" or "I'm going to allow myself one candy bar today and I'll eat salad the rest of the week."
- The mindset that helps us change our habits is viewing every individual choice as a commitment to all future choices.
- "Do I really want the consequences of putting off working out until tomorrow?"
- "Do I really want the consequences of eating a candy bar every afternoon for a year?"
- Suddenly there is time for the workout and we loose our appetite for the candy bar.
If none of this works, find someone to help you. A friend, your partner, a coach. Some people do better when they have someone to collaborate with. I know I do!
http://shinealightcoaching.com/Shine_A_Light_Coaching/Home.html
