by Carol Woodliff (C) 2005
January is almost over. Are you feeling a bit overwhelmed by those New Years’ goals?
Even if you aren’t a “resolution person”, most people use the New Year to redefine what they want to achieve. It may be a new job, taking your business to the next level, losing some weight, or spending more time with family. For many of us it isn’t just one goal, but a list of “make my life better” goals. Then about the third week of January we begin to feel overwhelmed or disappointed because we aren’t moving forward as quickly as we would like.
Karen and I had one of those moments earlier this week. We both have a list of personal goals, goals for WMW Group, and goals for our personal hypnotherapy practices. Karen is juggling the demands of growing a business with a busy family life. I’m committed to growing my business but also getting back out into the social world and perhaps-do I dare say it?–dating again. We both have health and fitness goals we want to achieve. We sat at my dining room table and looked at each other and had to admit that we were in serious goal overwhelm. The great thing about doing what we do is that there are amazing moments where we get to say to ourselves, “What would we tell a client to do?” We have the opportunity to remind ourselves of the things we know but have forgotten for a moment. We thought we’d share what we remembered with you.
So here are some ideas of how to overcome that sense of goal overwhelm:
1. Write down all your goals and their necessary action steps.
2. Take another look at each of them and ask yourself “Do I REALLY want or need to have this goal at this time?” Be honest. Don’t keep a goal on the list because someone else thinks you need to do it, or because it is the kind of goal you are supposed to have. If you are not truly committed to it, or if the goal isn’t where you really want to go at this time, take it off your list, or keep a “later” list. There no reason you can’t add a goal back to the list at some future time when it is right.
3. Review the remaining list and based on your commitments pick a goal or two that you can steps toward. Assign the other goals to a later “to do” list. You can’t focus on a list of 700 things that obviously can’t be done today.
4. Take a look at the goals you are going to focus on and see if they can be split into smaller easier steps. Better to look at the steps you can do today, rather than beat yourself up for all the things can’t possibly be done.
5. Set interim goals that help you work up to the big goal. If your goal is to run a marathon, set the distance goals over time that will build your endurance to the level you need to achieve.
6. Schedule time to do these smaller interim steps.
7. If you are stuck or “don’t want to” start with one small thing you CAN do. Many times it doesn’t matter where you begin; the important thing is that you do something.
8. Remember the Power of Affirmations. Say affirmations about your goals daily. For more about writing effective affirmations see the article: Affirmations for Success.
9. Enlist Support: Many of us are reluctant to ask for help and support, even though we would gladly give it if asked. Don’t be afraid to talk to or call a friend and ask for support. Support can come in many forms: Encouragement, doing something together, brainstorming on how to overcome a particular obstacle and so on. If you have not asked for support much in the past, push yourself to ask for help at least once a week. You can also hire a coach, to help you strategize and create systems to help those goals.
Both Karen and I are committed to helping you achieve your personal and professional goals. Whether you want a one session strategy session or on-going support, we are here to help you!
Wishing you health, happiness and success this year and every year!
Carol