Step by Step we are moving towards our Goal, knowing by now WHAT we want to attain, WHY this is important to us, having checked our BELIEFS and ANCHORED our motivation.
Now it is time to go back to where we stated our Goal, the WHAT we want and to make sure it is a S.M.A.R.T. goal.
What is a goal but a dream with a date? For if we aim at nothing, we are sure to hit it. So let's aim ay hitting what we want! Here we go:
S is for SPECIFIC.
Write it down. What specifically do you wish to attain? Whatever it is, you can specify it, be precise so you know what you are aiming at. Be as specific as you can, and write it all down.
M is for MEASURABLE.
A goal has to be measurable or how else will you know you have reached it? Even happiness and energy levels can be measured on number of days or on a scale of 1 to 10. Know what you are aiming for so you can measure progress and attainment.
A is for ACTIONABLE.
You have to take action, nothing is going to happen by itself.If you do what you always did, you are going to get what you always got. So what are you going to do? What are you going to do more of? Less of?
Identitfy danger zones, things, people, events which could put you off track, be aware of these and pre-plan solutions.
R is for REALISTIC
You are setting yourself up for success. If your goal is so ambitious that the chances of you succeeding are very slight you will only get discouraged. So set smaller, attainable goals. It may take longer but the motivation which you will get from making those smaller goals will see you through to the sweet finish.Small steps take you a long way and are a lot more efficient than one huge step which may end in your falling flat on your face and taking a while to recover.
Time also to check your ecology.How do your goals fit in with those around you? Are they do-able?
T is for time-framed
Back again to the dream with a deadline. Set your end goal and if it is far away, agree with yourself also on a medium term and a short term goal. What do I need to do this week in order to reach X by the end of the month? How many kilos? Exercise how many times? How much money? Whatever your issue, work backwards. And of course NOTE it all down.
Note the date , note the result, note the difficulties...
Keep that unswerving desire burning, keep track of your progress. Focus on the finishing line and enjoy the journey!
Once the plan is finalised, full of motivation and focus we will move next week to step 7: take massive action.
Let's make it happen!
Friday 28 January 2011
Friday 21 January 2011
Step 5. Anchoring your motivation. Part 2: Visualisations
Last week we talked about the importance of anchoring your motivation so you can access it when you need it most. We talked about the technique of using affirmations and this week we continue on anchoring, using this time the tool of visualisation.
Visualisation is a very powerful technique.
Thought creates reality. The brain does not make a difference between something lived and something very vividly imagined! Intriguing isn't it? But true. Have you ever woken from a particularly powerful dream and for a while you are fuzzy about if it had actually happened or not?
Try it.
Take the thing, the state that you have determined as WHAT you want.
You need to sit somewhere quiet, where you can relax without any risk of being disturbed. Shut the door, put the phone on silent. Now sit comfortably with your back supported and your feet firmly on the floor. Let your hands rest on your knees in a natural position. Shut your eyes and take a couple of long, deep, and regular breaths. Feel yourslef really sinking deeper within yourself. Now visualise the new you having attained that which you seek. Make it as real as you can, with as many details as possible. All your mind must be engaged.
Visualise yourself having attained your goal: make it colourful, vibrant, highly desirable. What will you look like? How will you feel? What will people be saying around you and what will you be saying to yourself? Pay attention to the colours, the light. Are you seeing yourself as if you were a fly on the wall or are you looking through your own eyes? If you are not doing it already, associate with the new you, see through your own eyes. Make the new you picture even brighter,even bigger. Notice how you react to this.
Know you can do it, you will do it, you have just seen yourself do it.Install that photo in your mind. Take your time to install it firmly. It will help you bypass limiting beliefs.
Once you have it securely installed and you have enjoyed this visual of the new you with all your senses, gently bring yourself back to the now. Wiggle your fingers and feel your mind coming back to the surface, take a few deep breaths and open your eyes.
So how did that feel? Strong stuff!
Enjoy the feeling, go back there whenever you want and use it to fuel yourself forward.
Next week we will be looking at making your goal SMART.
Let's make it happen!
Visualisation is a very powerful technique.
Thought creates reality. The brain does not make a difference between something lived and something very vividly imagined! Intriguing isn't it? But true. Have you ever woken from a particularly powerful dream and for a while you are fuzzy about if it had actually happened or not?
Try it.
Take the thing, the state that you have determined as WHAT you want.
You need to sit somewhere quiet, where you can relax without any risk of being disturbed. Shut the door, put the phone on silent. Now sit comfortably with your back supported and your feet firmly on the floor. Let your hands rest on your knees in a natural position. Shut your eyes and take a couple of long, deep, and regular breaths. Feel yourslef really sinking deeper within yourself. Now visualise the new you having attained that which you seek. Make it as real as you can, with as many details as possible. All your mind must be engaged.
Visualise yourself having attained your goal: make it colourful, vibrant, highly desirable. What will you look like? How will you feel? What will people be saying around you and what will you be saying to yourself? Pay attention to the colours, the light. Are you seeing yourself as if you were a fly on the wall or are you looking through your own eyes? If you are not doing it already, associate with the new you, see through your own eyes. Make the new you picture even brighter,even bigger. Notice how you react to this.
Know you can do it, you will do it, you have just seen yourself do it.Install that photo in your mind. Take your time to install it firmly. It will help you bypass limiting beliefs.
Once you have it securely installed and you have enjoyed this visual of the new you with all your senses, gently bring yourself back to the now. Wiggle your fingers and feel your mind coming back to the surface, take a few deep breaths and open your eyes.
So how did that feel? Strong stuff!
Enjoy the feeling, go back there whenever you want and use it to fuel yourself forward.
Next week we will be looking at making your goal SMART.
Let's make it happen!
Friday 14 January 2011
Step 5. Anchoring your motivation. Part 1: Affirmations
Now this sounds like fun doesnt it?
The thing with motivation is that we dont always have it available when we need it the most.It is relatively easy being motivated to lose weight when our tummy is full or when we are feeling great about ourselves, but how to stay on track when the going gets tough?
Hence the concept of anchoring. So what does an anchor do? When we throw an anchor on a boat (from a boat sounds better!)we are fixing where we want to be. At times the current, the tide, the wind may take the boat a little bit off track, but the anchor ensures that we come back to where we want to be. And that is also what anchoring our motivation will do for us.
So how can we anchor our motivation?
The two most common ways are by affirmations and visualisations.
Today we shall take a look at affirmations.
An affirmation is a word, a sentence, maybe a few sentences, that mean something to you and that you repeat to yourself so much that they become your self-talk. A few rules need to be obeyed. An affirmation needs to be:
- positive
- present
- personal
By positive I mean stating what you want and not what you are moving away from. Our brain does strange things with "donts".Our brain does not operate with negatives,they don't exist,so it wipes them out. So where does all your attention go? Sure enough: to that which you do not want."Don't think of a red car": we automatically do. So when we say: "don't smoke" to ourselves, our brain registers: " smoke, smoke". As philosopher Jung said: "What we resist persists", so do not give all your attention to that which you do not want.
Present:State your affirmation in the present tense and start acting the part now.Fake it till you make it and start developing now the qualities of the person you want to become.
Personal: this is about you and you must feel deeply spoken to by your affirmation so make it personal:
I am fit, firm and focussed. I am organised and in control. I am a great Mother. I am positive and motivated.I am great at what I do.
Whatever works for you as long as the three "P"s are respected.
Then REPEAT it all the time, in your head, out loud, write it on colourful cards. Affirm it to yourself as often as you can, till your message to yourself becomes fully ingrained in your sub-conscious.This will keep you focussed, keep you anchored to the destination you have chosen.
That is enough for us to focus on today, so why wait? Think up a word or a sentence which is your goal and start boldly telling your brain!
Good luck and more next week with anchoring by visualising!
Let's make it happen!
The thing with motivation is that we dont always have it available when we need it the most.It is relatively easy being motivated to lose weight when our tummy is full or when we are feeling great about ourselves, but how to stay on track when the going gets tough?
Hence the concept of anchoring. So what does an anchor do? When we throw an anchor on a boat (from a boat sounds better!)we are fixing where we want to be. At times the current, the tide, the wind may take the boat a little bit off track, but the anchor ensures that we come back to where we want to be. And that is also what anchoring our motivation will do for us.
So how can we anchor our motivation?
The two most common ways are by affirmations and visualisations.
Today we shall take a look at affirmations.
An affirmation is a word, a sentence, maybe a few sentences, that mean something to you and that you repeat to yourself so much that they become your self-talk. A few rules need to be obeyed. An affirmation needs to be:
- positive
- present
- personal
By positive I mean stating what you want and not what you are moving away from. Our brain does strange things with "donts".Our brain does not operate with negatives,they don't exist,so it wipes them out. So where does all your attention go? Sure enough: to that which you do not want."Don't think of a red car": we automatically do. So when we say: "don't smoke" to ourselves, our brain registers: " smoke, smoke". As philosopher Jung said: "What we resist persists", so do not give all your attention to that which you do not want.
Present:State your affirmation in the present tense and start acting the part now.Fake it till you make it and start developing now the qualities of the person you want to become.
Personal: this is about you and you must feel deeply spoken to by your affirmation so make it personal:
I am fit, firm and focussed. I am organised and in control. I am a great Mother. I am positive and motivated.I am great at what I do.
Whatever works for you as long as the three "P"s are respected.
Then REPEAT it all the time, in your head, out loud, write it on colourful cards. Affirm it to yourself as often as you can, till your message to yourself becomes fully ingrained in your sub-conscious.This will keep you focussed, keep you anchored to the destination you have chosen.
That is enough for us to focus on today, so why wait? Think up a word or a sentence which is your goal and start boldly telling your brain!
Good luck and more next week with anchoring by visualising!
Let's make it happen!
Wednesday 5 January 2011
A resolution needs motivation so on to Step 4: Examine your Beliefs
Lets continue on our 8 steps mission to discover and harness your motivation!
We have in Step 1: committed to paper, in Step 2:Determined what we want, in Step 3: Determined why we want it and now we need to take a little psychological break to examine the beliefs we hold regarding what it is that we want.
So, what is a belief?
A belief is a feeling of certainty we hold about something which is upheld by reference experiences.
In order for you to fully commit to getting what you want, you need to fully believe it is the right thing.I shall share an example with you:I had a client a few years back wanting to lose weight. She was doing very well up to a certain point and then went back to over-indulging. After a few sessions it appeared that what was holding her back after the initial thrill of losing weight, was her belief in what a thin woman was like. She believed thin women were boring, always saying no to the good things of life, drinking mineral water and nibbling on celery sticks. She preferred to identify with the wild woman who devoured life including over-indulging in food and drink...
How CONFIDENT are you that you will achieve your goal? If you are already saying to yourself: OK I'll go through the moves but it will never work, I have failed every time so far...you are indeed setting yourself up for failure again in order to comply with that limiting belief you hold about yourself.
You need to believe you DESERVE to achieve that change.
You need to believe you CAN do it.
You need to believe you WILL do it.
The modern concept of Coaching came about in the 60s when a famous tennis coach named Tim Galwey wrote: :The Inner Game". He came to the conclusion that the firecest opponent was not on the other side of the net but within us. We need to recognise our fears and excuses and move beyond.
Beliefs and habits can change.
Pull on other successful aspects of your life, set yourself up for SUCCESS!
So take out what you wrote you wanted to achieve and ask yourself what you believe about that state or about others who have achieved that change.
Good luck! More next week with Step 5: ANCHORING your motivation!
Let's make it happen!
We have in Step 1: committed to paper, in Step 2:Determined what we want, in Step 3: Determined why we want it and now we need to take a little psychological break to examine the beliefs we hold regarding what it is that we want.
So, what is a belief?
A belief is a feeling of certainty we hold about something which is upheld by reference experiences.
In order for you to fully commit to getting what you want, you need to fully believe it is the right thing.I shall share an example with you:I had a client a few years back wanting to lose weight. She was doing very well up to a certain point and then went back to over-indulging. After a few sessions it appeared that what was holding her back after the initial thrill of losing weight, was her belief in what a thin woman was like. She believed thin women were boring, always saying no to the good things of life, drinking mineral water and nibbling on celery sticks. She preferred to identify with the wild woman who devoured life including over-indulging in food and drink...
How CONFIDENT are you that you will achieve your goal? If you are already saying to yourself: OK I'll go through the moves but it will never work, I have failed every time so far...you are indeed setting yourself up for failure again in order to comply with that limiting belief you hold about yourself.
You need to believe you DESERVE to achieve that change.
You need to believe you CAN do it.
You need to believe you WILL do it.
The modern concept of Coaching came about in the 60s when a famous tennis coach named Tim Galwey wrote: :The Inner Game". He came to the conclusion that the firecest opponent was not on the other side of the net but within us. We need to recognise our fears and excuses and move beyond.
Beliefs and habits can change.
Pull on other successful aspects of your life, set yourself up for SUCCESS!
So take out what you wrote you wanted to achieve and ask yourself what you believe about that state or about others who have achieved that change.
Good luck! More next week with Step 5: ANCHORING your motivation!
Let's make it happen!
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