At this time of year, many of us set goals for ourselves – New Year new start.
And yet how many of us get to this time in January and we are already starting to struggle to keep the momentum going to achieve our goals?
I was at the local gym last night (The Junction at Broadstone) and as I was leaving, I chatted to one of the managers who told me that the gym was absolutely heaving at the moment, but that they had done a study that showed that only 30% of those that joined in January, actually stayed on.
In my work as a coach, there are three key things that I have found keep people on track with their goals.
Firstly, knowing what it is that motivates you generally in life and work is crucial to keeping you on track.
If you are someone that is motivated by making a difference (Searcher), then having a goal that is focussed just on you (e.g. losing 10lb in 90 days) may not be as motivating as it needs to be for you to achieve it. Does it mean that you can’t? Absolutely not! But what if you were to get some sponsorship for losing the pounds and give that money to a favourite charity? Or how about as part of the plan for losing the weight you were to train for an event run by that charity? Would that be more motivating? Would you be more likely to keep at it?
Secondly is a plan. Having goals but no plan to achieve them is called “dreaming”. You have to think through how you are going to achieve those goals. And in the same way as the goals should be SMART (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, Time bound), so should the plan. Do remember though that this does not mean that you cannot revise the plan or the goal. We do our best with the knowledge we have at the time to set goals and make plans that are SMART and as we get more experience, sometimes we need to improve them, and that is not only ok but necessary.
And last but by no means least, is accountability. Having someone who is going to keep you accountable (a personal trainer, a coach, a friend or family member) and is going to make sure that you keep on track and review and revise your goals as you go, is essential. We can all come up with a 100 reasons to get out of doing something that will get us nearer our goals, but if you know that there is someone who is going to call you on it, who is going to let you know that that isn’t good enough and who is going to help you get into action, we are much more likely to stick to our plans.
What goals have you set yourself for this year? How are you going to achieve them? Are you planning to achieve them in a way that will continue to energise and motivate you?
To find out what your key motivators are try out our Motivational Map and if you are looking for accountability then let’s talk and plan out how that could work for you.
