It Only Takes 1 Goal
I recently had a 1:1 strategy session with my business coach, and in that call the conversation came up around burn out and the need to do everything. It got me to thinking and from there, reflecting. In the past few years, I have experienced burn out, failure, constantly starting over and feeling like I am going backwards. The reason being, I was trying to do everything at once and I couldn't.
If I asked you to write me a list of all the things in your life you would want to change, I can probably bet that most of you would have a very long list. Maybe you would want more time, more money, better relationships, a better job, a family, a bigger house, a faster car, more holidays, more happiness or even just more sleep. After writing that list, you would probably feel a little flat as you look at all the things you don't like about your life right now.
It common, particularly at key times throughout the year, for us as humans to want to make big changes. We are going to get healthy, exercise more, read more, get our dream job, cut back on spending, get more savings, and we're going to do it all at once. Now you see, that's where we go wrong. I'm not having a go, because I too have been in this position countless times. The sad reality is, that when we go full force at the brick wall in the hope of knocking it all down, all we really end up with is a sore head.
One of the most common reasons people never achieve their goals, is because they try to do too much all at once. You go to bed Sunday night and tell yourself that tomorrow, you will drink 2 litres of water a day, have 5 portions of fruit and veg, you will go to the gym before work, you won't spend anymore money on nights out and you won't snooze your alarm. Problem is, it's easy to have good intentions until the time comes for you to follow through with those intentions. Right now, you barely drink a glass of water a day and yet you want to start drinking 2 litres? Fruit only enters you're diet when it's wrapped in some Cadbury's dairy milk fruit and nut, you don't like going for a walk let alone going to the gym and chances are, you've forgotten about the night out planned for the end of this coming week for a friends' birthday. So how do you think you were going to make such a drastic change when your alarm went off on Monday morning?
Again, I am not having a go because I have been exactly the person I just described more times that I can count. I've set new year goals and stopped before January was finished, monthly goals, weekly goals (I'll start Monday) and all of them have fallen flat on their face. If you are feeling this way right now and you truly want to make a change in your life, I want you to do these few things:
Start by writing that list of things in your life you would like to change.
Pick 1 (and only 1) to start with. It can be big or it can be small, but for now, I would probably recommend starting small.
Now, right down WHY you want to achieve this goal / make this change in your life. Remember to dig really deep here.
List all the obstacles that could get in your way and stop you from achieving this goal.
Break this goal down into smaller, achievable chunks. For example, you want to drink 2 litres a day but currently drink none. Start by having a glass of water in the morning.
Now you have your goal, I want you to focus only one this one. Put the rest of the list away for another day because your sole focus is this one goal. The reason this will help and support you is because it will:
Prevent you from feeling overwhelmed when trying to change too much too fast.
It will help to build confidence and trust in yourself, because even when we achieve small things, our brain will celebrate the success.
When we change one area of our life, it naturally impacts other areas without you even having to do anything.
Goal setting shouldn't feel like work, goal setting should be fun and exciting. It's ok to go slow and make small changes no matter what stage of your journey you are at. It's always good to keep your reason 'why' close to hand as well, because it will be your motivator when challenges come up, because that will happen no matter how small your goal is. I truly hope these tools will help you with your goals. I know just writing this that I need to reflect on the steps I am taking in areas of my life as well. Sometimes, we all need a little reminder.
Now,
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