March
19, 2004
In
this issue:
I. A big enough Why for your personal
goals
II. A big enough Why for your business
goals
III. From behind the barn door…
I. A
big enough Why for your personal goals...
As I've
set personal goals over the years, I've often wondered why sometimes
I would achieve those goals fairly easily or why sometimes I would not.
For example, "Be lean, strong and healthy" is a constant goal for me.
And one I achieve consistently when I have a big enough Why. It's also
one I struggle with when I don't have a big enough Why.
Let me explain. Nine years ago I quit smoking. I started to gain a bit
of weight, so I started running. So my motivation at the time was to
decrease and maintain a weight I was happy with. Once I achieved that
goal, I discovered it was becoming harder to maintain my motivation
to run consistently. I needed a new motivation. So, I joined Team-In-Training
and started training to run a marathon in Alaska. I ran almost every
day in preparation for the marathon, running miles I never thought possible.
Then the marathon was over, and again, I found running consistently
harder and harder to maintain. I needed a new motivation, so I trained
for a 5k, with the goal to beat my best time, which I did.
In January 2003, I wanted to get in shape for our wedding and honeymoon,
so I kicked up my workout to consistently run 5 miles 5 days a week.
Well, I looked fabulous for our wedding/honeymoon - and felt great,
too - and now it's creeping up on a year later, and I'm at the same
place again. I need a motivator. Well, we just booked our first anniversary
trip to the Turks and Caicos. Now I have a motivator to kick my workout
up in consistency and intensity.
For me, I need something like the motivators described above; replacing
a bad habit with a good habit, running a marathon, a race, looking great
for our wedding/honeymoon, and looking and feeling great for our upcoming
trip. I wish being healthy and looking and feeling good all the time
were strong enough motivators for me! Perhaps someday they will be,
but for now I need a bigger Why.
If you find yourself struggling to work towards a goal you've set, perhaps
you don't have a big enough Why. Something that helps me is to write
a page or two about why I want to achieve the goal. It helps internalize
it for me so it becomes more than fleeting thoughts in my head. Ultimately
when I've done this exercise, I've created a big enough Why for myself,
and that's what motivates me, pushes me towards reaching and achieving
my goal. If you find yourself getting stuck while doing this exercise,
continue to ask yourself, "And what does that/will that mean to
me?" and "And how will that make me feel?" over and over
until you can really feel the depth of your commitment to reaching your
goal. See II for an example of this process.
II. A
big enough Why for your business goals...
As I describe above, I need a big enough motivator in order to achieve
a personal goal. The same applies to my business goals. When I started
my coaching practice, I asked myself what my motivators were for doing
so, what my Why was that was going to help me to be successful. Here's
part of what I wrote down:
Goal: Successful
coaching practice, by my definition of success:
How would achieving this goal make me feel?
~ feeling a sense of freedom and of peace of mind, feelings of pride
and accomplishment, feeling joy in being able to share the wealth, feelings
of enjoyment and happiness, feeling in control over my own destiny,
feeling motivated and excited, feelings of security, feeling of being
able to contribute positively to others' work and lives.
Why are you committed to this goal?
~ I am absolutely committed to achieving this goal because I must have
control over my own destiny. I must be my own boss in order to be happy
and successful (that's my "if…then" rule - If I am my
own boss, then I will be happy). In order for me to take pride and be
excited about the work I do, it has to be for me, for us, for what having
my own practice will give us: job security, financial well-being, freedom,
motivation, excitement, and total joy and pride in knowing it's my own.
Also being bound only to myself will be particularly important when
we do have a family. Our financial obligations
will be met and we are able to invest on a consistent basis - with money
left over to play. AND I get to help people achieve their dreams and
goals at the same time! This equals ultimate joy for me.
Try it and find out what your motivators are
for achieving a goal. This exercise will likely strengthen your resolve
and help spur you to reaching your goal much faster and easier!
III.
From behind the barn door…
Spring has arrived, according to the calendar, but she hasn't shown
up in person where I live yet. But I do think that even the calendar's
date does something positive to my mindset, even if Mother Nature isn't
on the exact same timetable.
I've been thinking this week about the touchstones I have in my life.
Or more accurately, on my desk. I enjoy having talismans that I believe
bring me positive energy within eyesight of where I do my life's work.
Here's what's on my desk at the moment and what their meaning is to
me:
~ the Cat's Meow Mark Twain house and a St. Francis de Sales charm;
supposedly Sam Clemens is a distant cousin, and St. Francis is the patron
saint of writers, so these help me think positive thoughts about my
writing.
~
various turtles; symbolizing self-confidence, wisdom, pace not race.
~ Snaggle, the pink dragon I got from a street vendor in Edinburg, who
brings prosperity (and also functions as my inner ally, which I'll talk
about in a future issue).
~ 20 pence from Dublin with a horse on one side and a harp on the other,
reminding me that two of the many reasons I want to be hugely successful
is to be able to travel to Ireland and to have our own horses.
~ Kermit the Frog finger puppet - just because I'm a huge fan... :)
~ ticket signed by Cheryl Richardson; the last time I attended one of
her events led me to creating my own coaching practice.
~ picture of James and I on a boat on the lake where I spent my summers
growing up and where we got married; reminds me of how lucky I am to
be able to live this dream.
Sometimes touchstones help center me back to my WHYs…I look around at
all these things and I'm reminded why I'm doing all of this in the first
place. They all touch me in a way, and make my life and my work meaningful
to me.
What are
your touchstones?
Alicia
Forest is a Personal & Business Coach serving enterpreneurs and small
business owners in their desire to create a sucessful business, by their
definition of success. Her coaching programs are delivered by means
of quarterly teleworkshops, monthly teleconference calls, email and
telephone.
You are welcome to pass "Inner Compass ~ Weekly Directional" along to
your colleagues and friends, as long as it is intact. Your recommendation
is how we grow. The author of "Inner Compass ~ Weekly Directional"
is Alicia Forest. Contact her at alicia@innercompasscoaching.com
or at 845-778-3510.
For administrative matters and for information on our coaching programs
and other products and services, contact us at support@innercompasscoaching.com
or at 845-778-3510.
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