Four proven ways to
reach your goals
The beginning of a new year is a great time to think about goals. The very fact that we are thinking about setting new year resolutions we are telling ourselves that life can be better; life and work can improve, and here’s how I’m going to make them better.
New year resolutions have a tendency to start with a huge energy and desire behind them and we have hope that this year will be different and better. We have also heard of stories and may have experienced cases whereby after a few weeks these hopes and desires fizzle away and we return to old unwanted habits.
Our role is to manage our way towards a successful outcome.
It seems like there is a subconscious commitment driving those old unwanted habits and the more aware we are about these tendencies, the more consciously we can change those habits through time. One proven and powerful method is to get to know our strengths and innate talents and focus on them to achieve our goals AND know our blind spots to manage them.
The statistics on resolutions speak volumes. Depending on the study, only between 12% and 39% of resolution-makers succeed. And the success rates plummet as we age.
1. You have a WHY: What is really the reason for this goal?
For example, if you want to lose weight in 2023, this desire is driven by a reason or value system and the sheer importance of that fuels your motivation.
Some lose weight because they want to keep away from hospitals and surgery and others because they want to feel free and vibrant every day and others because they want to enjoy playing with their children and grandchildren…..So, for each person there are underlying reasons to put the time and energy behind the goal.
“When you feel like you’re not productive, it’s not necessarily because you’re lazy, it’s because you’re not working on the right projects and you haven’t found the ones that are intrinsically motivating and meaningful to you.” —Adam Grant
2. You are UNIQUE: How you approach a goal is unique to you!
The interests and structures we put into place to get something done are different and particular to us. For example, some of us go for runs or walks to lose weight and some of us go to yoga combined by healthy diets and others have a rigid rule that no junk food is brought into the house to eliminate temptations……So, for each person there are different ways to reach the same goal of reducing 5 kg in one month!
Strengths-based goal setting by nature is about making sure you feel energized and drawn to the goal. Understanding the feeling you have towards a goal allows your inner engine of motivation to drive you past challenges and times you are lured to change course!
3. You create the POWER: Clarity is Power
If it is too vague then you can’t be sure you have reached it. So I want to lose weight does not cut it. However, I want to lose 5 kg from 1st to 31st January is very specific.” You must be able to measure it to reach it.”
Good goals are specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and time bound.
Be aware of the “The keeping up with the Jones” syndrome! Don’t make the mistake of getting to the end of your life and realizing you were running someone else’s race. The best goals come directly from the highest authority: your inner core.
If you want: six-pack abs, a smaller/bigger behind, a fairy-tale wedding, a bigger truck, cleaner gutters, whiter teeth… then you may just be a victim of effective advertising or perhaps you want to make more money than your brother, win the baseball tournament or graduate at the top of your class. Those may seem like healthy pursuits, but any time your goal is measured against someone else, you’re motivated not by your own true wants, but by what society wants you to want.
4. You are a BELIEVER: Transformation takes time
Knowing yourself and building the inner strength and resolution requires regular reminding and reflection and creating a structure for that is important. Also, human beings naturally select the easier path and sometimes forget there is no magic pill to reaching your desired goals or achieving success. Great change doesn’t happen after a handful of tries, but that’s how we tackle our resolutions. Lasting change happens when we make an irreversible decision to lose the weight or quit smoking—no matter how much time or effort is required. Burn the boats!
You may remember hearing or even remember hearing yourself say things like: “I tried meditation once, it didn’t work for me.”
When you do, have a go at replacing the word “meditation” with “showering” to see how this sentence really sounds!
In most of human history we couldn’t just flick a switch and get light, or tap an app for our dinner. I’m thankful for these conveniences but see how it’s robbed us of our patience. A baby doesn’t try to walk a few times then say, “I guess I’m not cut out for this.”
Keep believing and building on your inner trust in yourself and nature.
At ICE, we invite you to continuously develop and believe that if you start by getting to know yourself more and better, you will lead this new path to your desired goals every year with passion. Join us on our next Strength Workshop to get an insight about your innate talents and to learn how to aim them at your goals. Happy New Year.
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Taymour Miri (MCC, Gallup Strengths Coach)
Read more about Taymour Miri and ICE by going to https://icoachingeducation.com/who-is-ice/