7 Steps To Increase Your Desire to Reach Goals

OK, here we go... 2017 is already in effect.

You’ve set some goals for the new year.  Some you really want, and probably there are one or two you should want, but do not.  There may be one in particular.  You know it is the right goal to have.  It is worth your time to pursue it, and fulfilling it will do a lot of good for you and your team as a whole.

But if you are honest, you will admit that your level of motivation to reach the goal is not high. You are just not that committed to it.  You can think of reasons why it would be a good goal to accomplish this year, but if you are not really committed, your chance of reaching the goal is low.

The good news is that you can increase your desire for it in 7 steps:

1. Get the plan together.

First, learn everything you can about how you can attain your goal.

Talk to those who have achieved it and ask them how they did it.

Once you’ve gathered the info, had the conversations, and digested it all, form a plan.

Make sure that you can clearly visualize how the plan will be fulfilled.

2. Get attached to the plan.

The next step is to really get attached to the plan.  You do this by filling your environment with reminders to go for the goal.  You can change your screensaver, put up post it notes, look at motivational videos around your goal, and more.

If you are really going to get attached to the goal, let positive, affirming people know about it. Forming a mini-support network would be huge here.

3. What good can come if you accomplish it?

If you have followed some of my previous blogs, you will know that this next step is a staple of mine that works.

Create a Google doc with the question, “What Good Can Come If I Accomplish ________?” (Fill in the goal). Every time you think of something good that can come, put it on that Google Doc.  You want to get as long of a list as possible here.  The more you can come up with, the better.

Don’t be afraid to ask friends what good they can see coming from it, and even researching about the benefits of _______ (insert your goal).

4. Burn the ships: What's keeping you back?

Since you took the time to see that this goal was worthy of your time and talent to pursue, take the time now to burn all the ships that can steer you away from its fulfillment.

What has held you back from fulfilling this goal in the past?  Whatever it is, the time has come to deliberately remove or offset it.  Say your goal is to be more appreciative of your team, to notice the good they have achieved, and not just be quick to point out the flaws or focus on the negative.  One thing that has motivated you to set this goal is your anxiety over what you believe the consequences will be if your team fails to do their job right.  It is still important that you point out what is off, but try offsetting that with three things they have done right.  That is a way to balance off the negative.

5. Burn the ships: Your negative beliefs.

In a previous post, we talked about core beliefs and their power to influence our behaviors.

If there are core beliefs that are holding you back from accomplishing this goal, it will help you to move forward if you can make progress towards replacing the negative ones you have identified.

6. Daily complete small steps towards the goal - what small step am I going to complete today?

Break down your goal to small doable steps, and ask yourself what small step will you accomplish today.  If you keep working towards your goal daily, and you keep experiencing wins because the steps are doable, then you will see your desire increase even further.  (Don’t be surprised if you desire to do more than just the small step you set out to accomplish.  But be careful.  Sometimes doing more than the small steps helps, but sometimes it can throw you off your rhythm.  Test and see what works for you.)

7. Keep finding reasons to fight for it.

Throughout the entire process, keep coming back to number 3.  This will help you to move even further in growing your desire.

Increasing desire is one of the top ways to see your goals accomplished. You don’t have to stay stuck in low desire and just will yourself into accomplishing your goals. Add desire to your will, and you will accomplish great things!

Chew On This:

• What would change in your life if you learned to increase your desire for goals that you are only half-heartedly pursuing?

Ryan C. Bailey is an Executive Coach who helps business leaders develop in-demand high performing teams.

Your Best Self In The New Year

This blog is going to be short. If you followed last week’s blog, we discussed how busy the holiday season can get, and I am discovering that is truer than I realized ;-) Many of us are looking into the new year with a desire to better ourselves.  We may have received some feedback as to what areas need to be improved.  We may also know intuitively of other areas that need improvement.

A helpful question my coach once gave me is, “If you had to replace yourself with an idealized version of yourself, what traits would your replacement have?”

So let me be clear... Since we are talking about ideal traits, we may never reach that idealized version of ourselves, but excellence and mastery can still be achieved.  For a goal to be SMART, it must be achievable.

For me, one skill my replacement would bring would be the ability to apply just the right amount of structure into coaching meetings without losing connection or movement towards the essence of what a client wants resolved.

1. Create SMART Goals

My advice is to make a list of ideal traits then consider creating SMART goals around each of those idealized traits. 

So for me, it is: In January, I will ask clients whom I sense want more structure to describe the structure they want, and I will start a process of trial and error to nail the structure they are looking for within three months.

If you create SMART goals around the idealized traits, then you can set yourself up for success by breaking those goals down into smaller steps.  Given the above goal, my steps can include:

1. Determine which clients want more structure.
2. Depending on personality type, phone, Skype, email, or wait until our next meeting to talk about the structure they desire for our meetings.
3. After they share what they want, repeat what I hear them say until they feel like I’ve nailed it.
4. Let them know that I want to nail it down as soon as possible, and if there are further tweaks that need to be made along the way, I will be happy to make them.
5. Implement.
6. Review and assess how it’s going with the client.

2. Get Accountability

Next step is to have accountability for the change you want to make.  How would you like to be held accountable for the realization of those idealized traits?  In my case, I have my coach. But more importantly, the client will naturally provide accountability.  Accountability would also come from what I am sensing as the structure is implemented.

3. Celebrate Your Victory

Finally, once repeatedly nailed, it will be time to celebrate.  How would you like to see yourself celebrate once you’ve achieved what’s possible to achieve, with respect to that idealized trait?

The celebration could be small, like “I will buy a couple of songs on iTunes that I have saved in my wish list.”  For goals that really impact your leadership or team, you could choose something bigger, like “I will take my wife and kids on a three-day beach vacation.”  The idea is to visualize how you will celebrate so you are further motivated to achieve that goal.

If the goal is a bigger or long-term one, consider having celebrations each time a milestone is met.

If you dream of the idealized version of yourself, you can achieve your best you.  Make small, steady progress, and you will be surprised by how different you will be by this time in 2017!

Have a fantastic holiday season and very happy new year!

Chew On This:

• What traits does your idealized self have?

Ryan C. Bailey is an Executive Coach who helps business leaders develop in-demand high performing teams.