New Year, New You – Are YOU ready?

It’s the beginning of a new decade, a new year and we are already one month down. I am all for vision boards, goal setting, visualising the next decade worth of goals… but at some stage a solid plan needs to be laid out and hard work must come into effect – these things will not just happen on their own.

DO NOT SET GOALS if you are not ready. I repeat, do not set goals if you are not ready. Sometimes we get stuck following the crowd in January, thinking about what we want, writing out new goals only to file them away, lose them in a pile of papers on our desk or put them away in a safe place, never to be found again.

It can be hard work sticking to new goals and routines. You will always read articles telling you not to set new year resolutions because you will be let down, go back to old habits and be unhappier than when you started. This is true to a certain point. If you are keen to set goals, you need more than a little inspiration and motivation to stick with it. You need to work at embedding habits, new neuron pathways in your brain so it becomes automatic.

Only commence the goal setting process if you are ready and in the right frame of mind. Start by quietening
down your inner voice that might be sabotaging your progress by repeating phrases like – “You are… not old enough, young enough, smart enough, wealthy enough…” Once you FEEL that you are ready, try to think about what you want with no limitations. Open your mind and think about, if you could have anything in the world – what would it be? Write freely, play around with it. You are now ready to set some goals.

When working with my coaching clients we set goals with the whole brain in mind. Start by setting SMART goals - then SHINE them up with a catchy headline, something you can pay attention to daily and feel excited when you say it out loud. Then work out your strategy steps to achieve each goal and out pop your actions. If you need accountability to stick to your plan, share it with a family member, friend, colleague or coach.

SMART goals are described as:

S - specific

M - measurable

A - achievable

R - realistic

T – time bound

An example of a SMART goal could be:

‘I want to run a half marathon, under 2 hours in October 2020’

If you read it out loud it makes sense and is left brain – logical. Then you SHINE it up, you need to feel excited and motivated when you read it. An example of a SHINY running goal could be:

‘The crowd goes wild’

The shiny goal is designed to tap into your right brain – creative, emotion centre. The crowd goes wild is a visual representation of you running through the finish line whilst having your support crew cheering
you on. The greater the emotional attachment to the goal, the more you can rely on inspiration and motivation to help you make some progress. It also takes determination and dedication to achieve your goals.

Are you ready to set up for success in 2020?

The only limit is YOU!