You can get it if you really want

In his famous song Jimmy Cliff sang “You can get it if you really want, you can get it if really want, but you must try, try and try....you’ll succeed at last”.

At this time of the year many of us are starting to revisit our old goals and start planning for new ones. However, in this article I want to show you how to achieve goals that you will actually be able to stick to this year!

A new year is an opportunity to reassess our lifestyles, rethink our goals and plan for the rest of the year. But despite our best intentions, the majority of us fail to see them through before January is up. But rather than blame our fleeting willpower, perhaps we need to review our resolutions themselves. Changing ourselves is not easy- but if we want it enough and are prepared to think about what we want with good planning it is entirely possible.

Once you have decided upon your goal make sure that it is as clear as possible. Can you see yourself or your business achieving the goal? It not perhaps the goal is too big or the wrong goal. Spend some time really getting to the bottom of what it is that you want to achieve. It is best if the goal has you or your business at its centre, and it is expressed positively. For example, “I am fit and exercise regularly” or “we are the ‘go to’ business for .....”.

Key questions to ask

The more clarity there is about your goal at this stage the better, what will it be like when you have reached your goal? What will you be doing? What will you say? Where will you be? Your goal should be something that you or your business can achieve alone. It is not about changing someone else. Make sure that your goal matches your values, our values can be very powerful so make sure that your goal is in line with your values otherwise it will not happen. Do your personal behaviours match your goals? Success is about behaviour strengthen your personal behaviour to match your goals.

Make your goals SMART

This year, make your goals SMART. Keep your goals Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Timely. Just say, for example if you wanted to lose weight you might plan your goal using the SMART model to look something like this.

Specific

Think about how much weight you want to lose. Think hard about why you want to lose that weight. Many people think that if they lose weight that their lives will change. That everything will be different, that their lives will be better in some way. But losing weight will not cure a broken marriage or change our personalities.

Measurable

Can you measure your progress? ‘I will lose x amount of pounds by the end of January’ break it down into steps, week by week, month by month and keep a track of what you are doing. Write your goal down and read it every day. The act of submitting your plans to paper makes them clearer and firmer in your mind.

Achievable

Is the goal possible? Perhaps you have been unrealistic in the past. Trying to lose too much weight in too short amount of time. Break your goal down into small bite size chunks. Many people fall along the wayside simply because their goals are too big and therefore seem unachievable. Dividing it up into small chunks can make it seem more achievable.

Relevant

Check that any short term objectives you set yourself are aligned to the direction you want to take overall. Making small gains towards your goal is better than giving up and missing your goal altogether. Some people fail because they haven’t thought though what they will do when they lapse. So when it happens they give up and go on a binge. Think in advance there will be some turbulence, things may get sticky. But if you stay with your plan example, you will not meet your overall goal.

Timely

Create a timeline for achieving your goals, how much exercise will you do each week? This will help to keep you motivated and help you to stay focused. Identify what you want to accomplish and when you want to accomplish it by and reassess it regularly to make sure you are on track.

If we really want to achieve something we may have to work at it and as Jimmy also sang....

“You can get it if you really want - I know it

You can get it if you really want – so don’t give up now”.

Happy 2013!