Get Going on Goals by Isobel Colson

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Slide Notes

The aim of this deck is to help you create some goals for the year. Why? So that you can experience the pleasure of living with a greater sense of purose and fulfilment.

I read through hundreds of articles about how to be successful with goals and have distilled the advice, so that you don't have to.

I hope you find this useful. Feel free to contact me with comments and questions at isobel.colson@engagewith.co.uk

Get Going on Goals

Published on Apr 03, 2017

The aim of this deck is to help you create some goals for the year. Why? So that you can experience the pleasure of living with a sense of purose and fulfilment.

I read through hundreds of articles about how to be successful with goals and have distilled the advice, so that you don't have to.

I hope you find this useful. Feel free to contact me with comments and questions. Call on 0203 667 1502 or email at info@getgoingcoaching.co.uk

View Outline

PRESENTATION OUTLINE

Get Going On Goals

10 Tips for Creating & Achieving Personal & Professional Goals

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No 1. Make & Take Time

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Create your plan

Use January to reflect and plan.
It's never too late to get started, 1st January is just an arbitary date.
Create goals for both your personal and professional life.

Firstly - take your time. If you are reading this thinking "but I have missed the 1st of January, its all over for another year" think again. Every day is the start of the year ahead technically. It is really hard to get started on a new regime when the days are still cold and dark, so be kind to yourself.

Use January to reflect and plan. By February you will hopefully have taken your first tentative steps on specific goals, making sure that you start small and congratulate yourself to build confidence at every possible opportunity.

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No 2.Review the
year just gone

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How did you get here?

What went well?
What didn't go so well?
What/who do you need to forgive or forget?
What can you learn?
What will you do differently this year?

This is a really important part of the process and one that most people miss. Before you launch into the year ahead, take a moment to consider, what has the year just gone got to teach you? What do you need to do differently? Is there anything or anyone that you need to forgive or forget?

The idea here is to clear the weeds, to let go of the emotional baggage that will otherwise weigh you down.

For more detail, read my article:
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/importance-acknowledging-our-achievements-wh...

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No 3. Take your bearings.

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Where are you now?

Use the 'Wheel of Life' to look at different elements of your life.
Where are you now. Create a rating.
Which areas of your life need attention?
The aim is for all the spokes to be balanced, so the wheel turns smoothly.

The wheel of life is a useful coaching tool, used to help you assess where you are now. The idea is to divide your life up into elements or segments and then give each one a rating. Ideally our lives should be in balance, but it is not always like that. Perhaps last year you had to give a lot of energy and attention to your job, perhaps your personal relationships suffered as a result. Doing this exercise helps us to see where we need and want to put our energy.

The wheel of life is available on the web or you can contact me for my version at isobel.colson@engagewith.co.uk

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Where do you want to be?

Before creating individuals goals, consider where you want to go or how you want the year to be.
Is there a theme or an overall direction, that will help you to stay focussed?
Think of one word for the year

Before you dive into the detail, take a moment to look forward through the year. What do you want to achieve, is there an overall theme? Having a sense of direction will help you to stay on track.

A friend of mine comes up with one or two words, that sum up the year. It acts like a north star, providing direction and giving us something to focus on when we the going gets tough. This year her expression is "Ruthless Prioritisation"

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No 4. Get Thinking

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10.

What do you want to be, do or have?

Take time out to create a list of possible goals for the year.
List all the things you would like to be, to do or to have. Write them down.
Do this with a friend and even better out walking.

Now its time to dive into the details. This is your opporunity to imagine, to plan, to fantasize about all the things you could do this year.

Take time, go somewhere inspiring or comfortable. Spent the whole month if required working on your list. What is most important?

Buy a new book and fill the pages with lists and drawings and pictures. Let your imagination run wild.

This is what is called divergent thinking.

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No. 5 Get Clear

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12.

How are you going to get started?

Select a small number from the list.
Consider a balance of short / medium and long term or maintenance and inspirational.
Make them SMART.
Understand why resistance kicks in

Now it's time to get into the details. You have your direction for the year, a list of options and now you need to pick some goals to get started on.

My advice would be to choose a small number and start small, however we are all different so you do what is right for you.

If you are new to this process, then you could consider having some maintenance goals which are usually connected to good habits. For example a goal for your physical health, going to the gym, cutting down on the booze.

I then balance this with a more inspirational or aspirational. What would make you feel really good, what would bring you pleasure or a sense of achievement?

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13.

No. 6 Get Connected

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Create powerful motivation

Make them yours - no 'shoulds'.
Connect daily activity and micro desicions to a significant goal.
Think forward and write yourself a letter. Imagine you are looking back from the end of the year at all the things you have done. How do you feel?

Why do we fail to keep to new year's resolutions? Often it is because we are too ambitious with our goals, starting with a plan to go to the gym three times a week is too much, too soon and our resistance kicks in. Sometimes it is because we have not attached enough meaning behind the resolution.

Spend some time really connecting with why you want to do this thing. Ask yourself, how will I feel if I get to December and I haven't done this thing? How will I feel if I have?

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No. 7 Get Going
& Keep Going

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Tips for staying on track

Start small.
Document the goals clearly and refer to them often.
Create accountability. Who can help you stay on track?
Focus on creating new habits.
Measure them.
Congratulate yourself often.

Setting goals and getting started is the easy bit, the hard bit is staying on track. What can you do to help yourself?

You are more likely to take consistent action if the goals are written down, you check them often and if you are sharing your progress with someone. Who would you work with? Can you arrange either weekly or twice monthly check in?

Set a measure for your goals and then keep track of your progress. Celia Queen Bee of LinkedIn recommends saying x number or more, for example "I will create one or more LinkedIn articles a month". This way you can measure your success, know when you got there and congratulate yourself accordingly.

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No. 8 Get Going on Goals With Your Team

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Team Activity - Review the Year

5 Achievements
4 Disappointments
3 Things to forgive or forget
2 Lessons learned
1 Key take away

The individual activity that I described earlier can be done with teams, if there is a good level of communication and trust already established.

Photo by Patrick Perkins

19.

Team Activity - Set Goals

Personal goals - sharing creates connection.
Work on professional, team and company goals, incorporating lessons from previous year.

Take and make time for your team to do some goals setting for both their personal and professional goals, then again for team goals.

Photo by Mathias Jensen

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No. 9 What else?

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Consider...

Balance drive with gratitude.
Check in with the experts.
Create a Tah Dah list to document what you have done.
Become the master of starting over.
Be prepared to change the plan and your mind.
If goals to achieve don't resonate, you could create a to be list instead.

The research indicates that far from making us dissatisfied with life, working towards future goals helps us to be happier in the present. However, having a daily practice around gratitude is a good idea. For example each day write down one gratitude statement, put it in a pot and then at the end of you year, you can open them all back up again and remember a host of wonderful events that would otherwise have been lost.

Remember - each day is a new day. Let go of what you did or didn't do yesterday because today is a new day and you get to start all over again.

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No. 10 And finally...

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Why should I bother?

When we get clear, the world gets out of our way.
When we take time to acknowlege our achievements it builds our confidence which helps us to meet the next challenge head on.

When we decide what it is we want to do, be or have, the world seems to start putting opportunities in our way. It seems like magic but it isn't. The reason it works is because your subconscious mind gets working on looking for those opportunities, so when they come along you can spot them more easily.

We are all very busy getting stuff done. We often forget to congratulate ourselves on what we have achieved before we rush onto the next thing. Taking time to create this acknowledgements builds our confidence, well worth doing.

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