It's Spring - time to set some goals?

Did you, like many others, make resolutions as the clock struck midnight on New Year’s Eve or during the “Crimbo limbo” period? Do you think about setting yourself goals or good intentions at the beginning of a new year? Or is it something you may ‘get around to’ at some point.

Are you now thinking that there are other ways you want to live your life this year, or anything else you think you need to give up, add or change in your life?

There is nothing wrong with starting March (the beginning of spring) with some new goals or a good intention that will benefit you for at least the rest of the year. This could be something that in your view is a small goal or it could be something more significant.

Making spring goals

Whether it be a career move, a relationship issue, adding more purpose in your life or concentrating on your confidence and self-belief, these all require thought and determination to achieve a positive result. 

Think about where you want to be and what you want to be doing by the end of the year. Just as important is who you want to be with.

Careful thought and consideration to these questions alone or with the help of a coach is the first step. The next step is to start planning and mapping out your route. 

There are many tools your coach may use to help you with this. One of the most popular tools is ‘goal mapping’. This is the process of visualising how and where you would like to be by the end of the year, in this case, 2019, and beyond, and working out what steps you can start now to make this happen. It is helpful to commit your thoughts to paper, by drawing or writing what your goal is. This will depend on your preferences and how you express yourself best. This is something else your coach can assist you with. You could also draw your goal/s in colour, imagine being there, how it will feel, sound, smell, make it feel real and obtainable. However you do it, it is important to think about what success looks like to you.

When you have this goal firmly in your mind, you should start thinking about the following:

Why, how, who, what and when?

Why is this so important to you? What is your passion for this? The more positive reasons you associate with your goal, the more likely you are to achieve them. How much time will it take to achieve this? 

For example, if you want to learn a new language, how many hours are you prepared to put in studying, how are you going to achieve and fit the time in? If it is to make a career move, is your CV up to date? How are you going to find the perfect job?

Who are you going to get to help you? For example, if you are planning to set up your own business, will you be asking the bank manager to help? Who else will you need to get involved?

What are you prepared to give up to make this happen?

It is important to acknowledge to yourself your belief that this is achievable and that you know this can happen. Write the start date down and the date you will achieve your goal in bold. Can you include important accomplishment dates along the way? A timeline is always helpful to see how well you are progressing. 

To achieve any new goal can mean that you will need to learn some new skill sets.  Figuring out how this personal growth can take place is another challenge. What will be your best resource? How will you gain the necessary knowledge?

This is often more helpful and efficient if you have a coach by your side to support you in the best way forward. If you feel that this is something you can handle on your own, make the intention real and meaningful and acknowledge every achievement along the way, be kind to yourself, if you slightly go off track, don’t let this derail you, just get back on track as soon as you can.

There are many other ways to set positive goals, intentions or resolutions. What is important is to plan the journey and decide how to get there. 

Acknowledge your great achievement! Look back on all the challenges along the way.  Enjoy having succeeded, that feeling of satisfaction. Let your subconscious focus on activities that produce successful results... Be mindful that if you can accomplish this goal, how much more can you achieve?

The sense of satisfaction and personal self-esteem will be well worth it!  This time next year, you will be so pleased you started now!