Time to get brutally honest. Authentic. It’s a challenging thing to do sometimes, isn’t it? To get real with oneself. But it’s an essential thing to do on the road to success. And regularly. Becoming intimate with what we really want in life can be uncomfortable. But setting goals, putting together a plan and executing that plan is the foundation of success in any endeavour. And it’s never so much as actually achieving the goal itself – it’s what it makes of you as a person along the way. So here are my 4 “baby steps” that you can take to create a huge impact on your progress.
- Make time for you. This needs to done regularly. I would suggest at least once a month if not more often. Physically move yourself away from your work, your family (if you can), the ‘busyness’ of your life. Take an hour, half a day, a full day, a weekend. Whatever time you feel you need. Then ask yourself these questions: What do I really want? What will allow me to be just me? Why do I want this? Who will I need in my corner? How can I make this happen? When will I get started on this? When you can answer these questions honestly and authentically, you will develop clarity, confidence and more of an assurance of the outcome.
- Break it down. Your big goal might be so big that you are not currently in a position to see it clearly enough to take a first step. But this is precisely what you must do. Again baby steps. And it doesn’t matter how small the step is, just so long as you take that next step. Let’s say for instance you have a goal of running a marathon. Clearly you probably are not going to be able to do that tomorrow or next week if you have never done it before. Your first step might be hiring a personal trainer and a running coach. Then you might go and see a Dietician. Then you might see a particular marathon you would like to participate in, gain the support of your running coach and personal trainer and actually enter it. That way, it gives you a deadline. Then you might start running for 1km a day for a week then increasing it by 500 metres a week. Baby steps. After 6 months’, you’ll be able to run that 40 odd kilometres a lot more easily than when you got started. Consistency is key but keep adding in those baby steps.
- Compare your daily habits to those of your future self. Let’s use the above example again. Consider what your future self who has completed that marathon does on a daily basis. What does your future self think? Where are you going? What are you doing? What is important to your future self? Then bring that back to the present moment. What daily habits are serving you or obstructing you from achieving that goal of running a marathon? Focus only on the things you can change, not things you can’t like running in the afternoons if you are in a job. Re-think your choices. Perhaps eating that chocolate bar every day isn’t such a great idea. Sleeping in for that extra hour may not serve you anymore if you are getting up an hour earlier in order to run.
- Look at your results and celebrate the wins. This is the most important. Perhaps write your goals for the week on a piece of paper and put it up somewhere you will always see it, like the fridge. Once you’ve achieved it, cross it out, put a huge tick next to it, then get rid of it and write out the next one. Take photos of your new body each week to look back on. Celebrate the wins – but obviously don’t go overboard. If you are wanting to run that marathon, maybe don’t go out for pizza and then head to the bar! Lol But make sure you are rewarding yourself for your achievements – irrespective of how small they are.
Have you set goals in the past and not hit your targets? Just remember your past does not equal your future and right now is the only moment that counts. Right now is the only time you get to choose how your future will look. Maybe you didn’t hit your target because your steps were too big and too inconsistent or irregular. Just try this strategy on for size. See if it works for you and I’d love to hear what your achievements have been from taking baby steps. Have fun with it.