How long will it take to change your life?

Goal planning involves several things but one of the most important is to set a date to achieve your goal. You may not be achieving your goal because you haven’t yet done this so you haven’t been able to fully focus on what you are moving towards achieving.
The reasons this is so important is:
•    People who write their goals are more likely to achieve. Not only will you imprint what you’ve written into your subconscious mind but also you create a reference point for yourself to define where you are at the start of the process of change and where you hope to be when you’ve traveled along the road of change.
•    Deciding on the date by when you want to have succeeded gives you the motivation to take action and do things differently
•    You can plan how and when you will do the steps towards achieving your goal. Most goals will have small steps you have to take to get to your final destination. Make sure you define the small chunks and decide when and where you will be able to do  those steps and move yourself forward.
•    It will keep you focused on your objectives. It can be  easy and commonplace to be distracted along the way by others who try to influence you and distract you from your chosen path.
So prepare your timetable for change with dates and times when you will take each  action you have to take to reach your goal. Leave time if possible for some celebration as you succeed along the path because you will achieve more this way and it’s fun to acknowledge your achievements.

Goal setting strategies for success

Are you frustrated by failing to achieve the goals you’ve set yourself even though you believe  you are very motivated? Perhaps this is happening because you fail to follow the three important goal setting strategies you need in order to succeed. These are:

1. Be even more precise about what you want to achieve. You have already made your goal more detailed than something such as ‘I want to be happier.’ You now say for example ‘I don’t want to feel low every day.’ Trouble with this goal is that it’s based on what you don’t want rather than on what you do want. Make it positive. Make it specific.
2. Set yourself a realistic time scale. If you’ve failed to set a deadline for your goal achievement you are more likely to fail to achieve it. Set a very precise date so that it becomes like a deadline at work and you can experience the necessary pressure to get yourself taking the actions you need to every day in order to achieve what you want.
3. Make a plan, write it down, look at it every day and follow it until you achieve what you want.  It’s too easy to be distracted when you are lacking in the discipline of following a routine. As you complete each step, tick it off on your plan. Be creative with coloured pens and make a pleasing visual display of your progress.

Follow these three strategies for goal achievement and you will succeed mush more quickly than you would without them.

Coaching can be the push you need to get those things done.