GET UP AND DO IT

GET UP AND DO IT

 Before you begin to work on your goal you need to do some groundwork.  It is crucial for you to understand the task ahead.  You need to be wiling to give yourself the best chance to achieve what you want.

WHY WE RESIST CHANGE

All human being find change difficult at some level.  The degree may vary but our reactions are similar.  There can be fear, resistance or anger or feelings of powerlessness and loss of control.  Life, however, is about change.  Birth and death are the big ones.  The 6 commandments of change are:

C      Commitment to change

H      Hard Work

A      Anchoring yourself

N      No negatives – but be realistic

G     Goals – be specific

E      Easy does it

Most goals require a degree of hard work and focus.  Some goals demand that you make changes, build new skills and take up challenges.

IDENTIFYING YOUR GOAL

This probably sounds very simple – and perhaps it is.  However, we want you to learn to be very specific and clear about your goal.

DEFINING PARAMETERS AND SETTING GOALPOSTS

What are the parameters so that he has a yardstick to monitor his progress.  This is such a key to maintaining motivation.  In the business world you often hear people using the expression being SMART.  SMART is an acronym for:

        SPECIFIC

        MEASURABLE

        AMBITIOUS

        REALISTIC

        TIMED

OWNING YOUR GOAL

Owning your goal is a key ingredient in “Getting up and doing it”.  If you don’t identify your goal clearly and concisely and say to yourself then you never have the ownership that can be incredibly motivating.  In a study at Harvard University Business School, graduates were asked the following question: “How many of you have clear, written goals and have made a plan to accomplish them when you leave Harvard?”

3% had written their goals down

13% had unwritten goals

84% had no goals at all

GETTING MOTIVATED

Motivation is a key ingredient in working on and achieving your goals.  Think of it as an energy and power source – without it you will run of steam and find that you just lack that vital spark to keep going.  As you work on improving and enhancing your energy sources, you must learn to be protective of them.

FIGHTING FEAR

Think how your thoughts drive your feelings.  This means that you must be aware of hurdles to positive thought at all times, a major one being fear, which can step in and push you off track.  You need to be protective of your motivation and you need to feed it, not deplete it. FEAR is an acronym for “FALSE EVIDENCE APPEARING REAL”.  To increase and generate motivation, it is also important for you to understand the decision-making process.

BEING AWARE OF SELF SABOTAGE

There are lots of different ways, you can sabotage yourself and the awful thing is that sometimes it won’t even feel as though you’re doing it.  You need to start noticing because it can come from anywhere, such as inside; you or sometimes from other people and it can be very well disguised.

HOW OTHER PEOPLE CAN SABOTAGE YOU

Remember that not everybody around you will want you to change as a result of your goal.  Other people can feel threatened when you start to make changes.  Perhaps you are doing something that they would love to do but they cannot or maybe they feel that you will change and become different towards them.

REMOVING NEGATIVE BLOCKS

One of the first things that you need to do, is gain a greater sense of awareness and a most effective way of doing this is for you to make a list of the ways you block yourself from doing different things.

THE WHOLE-PERSON CONCEPT

It is very easy to settle into a negative way of thinking, behaving and living.  It might affect and impact on other people, but they are likely to feel the benefits of you looking after yourself too.  Ask yourself, first of all, if you are making the most of yourself physically.  Your emotional health is all important to your wellbeing.  You should air for an ability to feel and express feelings and feel the highs and the lows but not be governed by them.  Your mental health is obviously very important but most people’s attitude to mental health are drastically different from their attitudes to physical health.  We are human and that means that we need to love and be loved.

MAKING A THOROUGH INVENTORY

Is your house in order?  Take your time to work on each section.  Think hard about each question, because you may well miss out on something that will be a key issue in terms of your success or failure with your goal. How is your home life in more practical terms?  Are there current pressures at home that are creating problems for you?  If you are working, how would you describe your skills?  How you would describe your grey areas?   Do you feel reasonably fulfilled?  Or are you frustrated and feeling a lack of achievement in your life? It is important to think about your principles.  Principles are your standards and rules in terms of personal conduct.   Yours needs are fundamental and therefore cannot be ignored or escaped.

NEGATIVE BLUEPRINTS

Perhaps you come from a family that gives some strong negative messages.  You may have been exposed to a blueprint that teaches you that something is not worth trying because it won’t happen.  Let us take you through some negative messages that people give themselves when they are contemplating a goal:

Ø    ‘I’ll never do it

Ø    ‘I always fail’

Ø    ‘People like me don’t achieve’

Ø    ‘I’m afraid of failing

Ø    ‘I slip back’

USE POSITIVE SELF-TALK AND ‘KEEP IT IN THE DAY’

Positive self-talk promotes ‘can do’ frame of mind.  Start saying things like,

Ø    ‘I can do it.’

Ø    I am going to do this

Ø    I am going to succeed

Ø    I deserve this

Ø    I am good enough

Ø    Nothing is going to stop me

WHAT DO WE MEAN BY AFFIRMING YOURSELF?

Self-affirmation is a statement that comes from you.  If you start to affirm yourself, the chances of success in your goal will be high.  For example, you could tell yourself that: you are going to achieve your goals.  Think back to the number of times you have told yourself: I can’t do that.  I wouldn’t be good enough to do that etc.  Affirmation is a commitment to you and you alone. You are telling yourself that you are going to succeed.  Self – affirmation is easy because it’s so private and personal.  Personal success and achieving personal goals is based upon how important you are to yourself.

STAYING FOCUSSED THROUGH BEING MOTIVATED

Using micro-goals can build motivation and keep it going.  As a result of being motivated, it is easier to stay focused and you are propelled towards finishing and achieving your goal.

DON’T BE AFRAID TO ASK FOR HELP

If you are learning a new skill or building on an existing skill, think about getting some tuition to give you the best possible start.  If you are reluctant to seek the help of a teacher or trainer, ask yourself why.

BUILDING SELF-BELIEF

Remember in terms of focusing and finishing that you have to work hard on believing you are going to achieve your goal.  It might be a small goal, or it might be something much bigger and grander – you yourself have to believe that you can do it.

YOU DO HAVE THE TIME – DON’T LOSE FOCUS

If we wait until we have time, we probably will be retiring – and even then there might not be enough time.  Some of you really will find there is no time to add anything else to your life.  No one has said that a goal has to be achieved in the fastest time possible.  Remember that one of the SMART skills is about being realistic, so give yourself permission to take the time you need – if you can only steal small bits of time, so be it.  If you are determined, you will do it.