Isha on ABC 15: Three Tips to Help You Accomplish Your Goals
Most of us have made New Year’s resolutions and some of us have even started working toward the goals. But how long will the motivation last?
Life coach Isha Cogborn of coachisha.com says there are three steps to succeeding on goals you set any time of year.
The first step is to understand the intention behind your goal. Are you just pursuing it because you think you “should” or do you really want to?
Cogborn says ask yourself, “How will my life be better if I’m successful? What difference will it make in the lives of others?” Dig beneath the surface.
If your goal is to stop smoking by the end of the month, you might not be that excited about it. But when you think about how the true cost of smoking can be as high as $7,000 a year when you factor in higher insurance premiums and decreased value of your car and home because of tar stains, the thought of saving $7,000 just might make you a little giddy (stat from quitsmoking.com).
Getting clear on the intention will do one of two things – it will either give you the inspiration to pursue it full force or make you realize it isn’t worth the effort.
Next Cogborn says the most frequent excuse is “I didn’t have time”. So Tip #2 is to make sure how you spend your time matches up with what you want. Time is the great equalizer. There are people who will always have more money, or more education, but we’ve all been given 24 hours to work with each day. How we choose to spend that time will often dictate our measure of money, success, health, and other factors.
Cogborn says you need to put some new habits in place to achieve your goals. So if you’re busy now, where are these new activities going to fit? If you were to keep track of how you spent every minute of your day for the next week, you would likely find out that a good chunk of your time could be put to better use.
You may have to give up some activities or commitments on your plate right now to make time for the things that you need to do to reach your goals. And you’re going to have to learn to say no!
Cogborn says starts with setting priorities for your life. Certain things have a permanent place – our family, and for many of us, our faith – but beyond that, what two or three things are most important to you right now? If it’s your health, then exercise needs to be on your calendar and nothing should interrupt that. If it’s finishing your book then there must be time set aside to write. The bottom line is you have to make some choices. If we manage our time like money, we’ll spend it on the things that are most important and recognize that it only goes so far.
Lastly, you have to build your success team. When you look at what it’s going to take to reach your goal, what support do you need? Take a step back and ask yourself what you’re lacking? Maybe you need to have a regular workout partner to keep your fitness goal, or get more help with household responsibilities to free you up.
Think about it this way – before you cook your favorite dish, you figure out what ingredients you need. What ingredients do you need to enjoy the sweet taste of success this year? But don’t let that be an excuse either. The best cooks learn how to improvise even when something is missing!
Read more: http://www.abc15.com/dpp/lifestyle/family/ways-to-stay-motivated-to-achieve-your-goals-all-year-long#ixzz2ZwHUiucH
