JUMPSTART G o als. Carmen Munson,LMSW, BCC Counselor and Life Coach

Transcription

1 JUMPSTART Y O U G o als R 2013 Carmen Munson,LMSW, BCC Counselor and Life Coach

2 Jumpstart Your Goals! Table of Contents 1. Welcome 2. Inspirational Quotes 3. Top 10 Tips 4. Letter from the Future 5. Celebrating Accomplishments 6. Goal Setting Template Instructions 7. Goal Setting Template

3 Section 1 Whatever you can do, or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it. Begin it now." Goethe Congratulations! If you re downloading this package, you are already taking some action towards achieving your goals in the coming year. As a coach, my desire is to help provide you with inspiration, information, worksheets and strategies to help you reach the goals that are most important to you. I look forward to hearing of your successes. One of the reasons I decided to become a coach was because I experienced the power of setting goals when I was going through some huge transitions in my life about 15 years ago. Although I was working extremely hard, I was frustrated because my life wasn t anything like what I wanted it to be. Financially I was struggling, earning little more than minimum wage despite the degree I had recently earned from Cornell. As a single parent of 2 young children, I was struggling. There wasn t much fun in my life at the time. In a nutshell I felt discouraged, tired, and overwhelmed. A counselor suggested I do the letter from the future activity (it is included for you in this package). I choose to imagine I was living 10 years in the future. I wrote about my kids being healthy and happy, earning more money, living in a house in the woods, having outdoor adventure in my life, enjoying my life and earning my master s degree in social work. About a year and a half later I realized that I had already met all of my goals (well, all except the fabulous significant other, that took a little longer). It astonished me to realize all that I had achieved in such a short time. In the years since, I ve written several new versions of my letter from the future. Most everything has materialized. My most recent letter includes a vision of sharing my inner wisdom and resources with more people. Thus, this package has been created to help give you a running start on achieving your life, career and business goals. I encourage you to contact me to schedule a coaching session. Working with a coach helps people reach their goals even quicker and with less stress, than going it alone. Carmen Munson, LMSW Climb Higher Business Coach and Consultant carmen@toclimbhigher.com

4 Section 2 Inspirational Quotes About Goals To accomplish great things we must not only act, but also dream; not only plan, but also believe. Anatole France Be specific and passionate about your goals. The universe notices intent. Violet Deniro What an immense power over life is the power of possessing distinct aims. The voice, the dress, the look, the very motions of a person, define and alter when he or she begins to live for a reason. Elizabeth Stuart Phelps "Until one is committed, there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back, always ineffectiveness. Concerning all acts of initiative and creation there is one elementary truth the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans. That the moment one definitely commits oneself, then Providence moves, too. All sorts of things occur to help that would have never otherwise have occurred. A whole stream of events issues from the decision, raising in one's favor all manner of unforeseen incidents and meetings and material assistance, which no man could have dreamed would have come his way. Whatever you can do, or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it. Begin it now." Goethe "I know of no more encouraging fact than the unquestionable ability of man to elevate his life by conscious endeavor." Henry David Thoreau "Go confidentally in the direction of your dreams! Live the life you've imagined." Henry David Thoreau "Planning is bringing the future into the present so that you can do something about it." Alan Lakein "Only in growth, reform and change, paradoxically enough, is true security to be had." Anne Morrow Lindbergh

5 Section 3 Top 10 Tips Reaching Your Goals 1. Be specific. 2. Make it realistic. 3. Believe you can attain it. 4. Act as if you have it. 5. Set a specific deadline. 6. Make it the top priority. 7. Envision and feel it in detail. 8. Write it down. 9. Tell people. 10. Enlist support.

6 Applying the Top 10 Tips 1. Be specific Too often we set goals that are very broad and general. An example would be I want to make more money. Use a strong and affirmative voice, A year from now I have earned 20% higher profit than To make it even stronger, calculate it into actual dollars, A year from now I have earned $5,000 higher profit. 2. Make your goal realistic The best goals challenge us to stretch what is possible, yet are within the realm of possibility. If your business is doing well, you might start by determining what a realistic goal would be if your business continues to grow at the current rate. Now, can you increase that by 10-40% to add the challenge factor? Using the above example, perhaps you ll realize that $5000 more profit is very realistic, and that $7,000 is still realistic but gives you more of a challenge. If so, go with the higher number. 3. Believe you can attain it. In order to reach a goal you have to be able to see yourself as having achieved it. If you don t believe you will succeed, or think it will be too difficult, chances are strong that you won t succeed. Let s imagine you are setting a goal that is unlike anything you ve ever done, and you know that it will be challenging to do. It will not seem natural to imagine yourself having completed this goal but that is exactly what you must do. This mental technique is routinely used in sports psychology. 4. Act as if you already have it. Now that you ve pictured yourself as already having attained your goal, start living your life as though you ve already accomplished it. An example would be that you have attained your goal of losing 20 pounds. Imagine how you ll feel and behave, and start to experience those feelings and behaviors. Connecting with our motivators is very positive. Our brains are hard wired to seek rewards. 5. Set a specific deadline. It s important to give yourself a specific deadline. If you are setting several goals, it may help to priortize them and give them separate deadlines, based on their importance. A business example would be, It s June 30 th and I will have 6 new clients. 6. Make it the top priority. All of your goals should not be equally weighted. Choose the 2-3 most important to focus on first. Think about them; give them attention every week by taking some actions towards them. Remind yourself of why they are important to you. 7. Envision and feel it in detail. Imagine yourself having achieved your goal. How will it look, sound, and feel? Revisit this visualization often, as it will help keep you motivated and moving forward.

7 8. Write it down. Research has shown that the simple act of writing down your goals makes it much more likely that you ll achieve them. Whether you write your goals in the form of a letter from the future, or as a list of statements, putting them in writing helps you attain them. 9. Tell people. People often set goals and don t tell anyone. This is usually because we don t want to be questioned or ridiculed if we don t reach them. However, you are more likely to achieve your goals if you establish some accountability. Choose people whom you trust and tell them about your goals. Telling people solidifies your commitment, and helps you clearly establish your intent to reach your goals. 10. Enlist support. Think about whom and what can help you in reaching your goals. Perhaps it s asking a friend to help you learn a new computer skill, or asking someone if they know anyone who might be able to help you. Don t be shy about asking, just make sure you are respectful and not demanding. It s okay if they say no, you will be no further behind. Often, people really like helping others to succeed.

8 Section 4 The Letter From the Future (this letter is to be written and not mailed) Pick a time in the future 5, 10, 15, 20 years from now, or any length longer or shorter that is meaningful to you. Date the top of the letter with the imaginary future date. Imagine that the intervening years have passed and you are writing to a friend you know and like. (If you prefer, pick some other supportive person to whom you can comfortably imagine writing.) Use the friend s name in the salutation, as in Dear. The purpose of dating the letter and writing it to someone you actually know is to strengthen the psychological realism on a conscious and unconscious level. Imagine that in this future you have resolved or found a satisfying way to cope with whatever problems are troubling you at the present time. Describe in the letter what helped you resolve those problems. At the time of the letter writing, you are living a wonderful, joyous, healthy, satisfying life, the sort of life you would wish to live. Describe how you are spending your time, where you are living, your relationships, beliefs, and reflections on the past and future. Go into as much detail as possible and do not worry about the practicality or reality of the various ideas or thoughts that emerge as you describe this preferred future. If you surprise, amuse, or delight yourself, and especially if you find yourself laughing at times as you write this letter, you are probably on the right track Yvonne Dolan, M.A.

9 Section 5 Celebrating Accomplishments I encourage you to routinely make a list of your accomplishments. Too often we are overwhelmed by all that we have to do in order to reach our goals. You ll find that by increasing awareness of your past accomplishments, as well as your accomplishments along the way, you ll gain confidence and motivation. Welcoming in a New Year is a perfect time to do some work on your business and life. A business example is that most entrepreneurs spend almost all of their time working in their business, providing service and products, managing employees and handling the tasks that seem urgent each day. The resulting problem is that your business becomes a product of whatever seems most urgent each day, not necessarily what is important in the long run. Begin by making a comprehensive list of your business and personal accomplishments over the past year. It should consist not only of large achievements, but also smaller successes in your business and life. Celebrate these accomplishments and think about what you d like to achieve a year from now. In the New Year I encourage you to make a list of accomplishments each week because it will help to keep you motivated. A list of my 2008 accomplishments. List at least 10, but challenge yourself to list as many as you can think of

10 Section 6 Using the Climb Higher Goal Setting Template 1) Select the 3-5 areas in your life that you would most like to improve. Prioritize them with the most important being labeled as #1. 2) Print the template. I suggest you print 1 page per month for the length of your goal. In the first column, labeled Goal, write 1 goal per row. Make sure that your goal is specific, realistic but challenging, measurable and time -limited. It is best to write this goal as an affirmation in the present tense. Example: I have lost 10 pounds. 3) Decide on the target date for reaching your goal. Write the specific date in column G, Goal Date. Make it as specific as possible. For instance if your goal is 1 year, write in the numerical date, example: 12/31/08. 4) Now think about who or what is available, or could be asked or obtained, to help you reach this goal. Write down all of the resources you can imagine. Your power to obtain goals multiplies by leveraging resources. Don't hesitate to ask people, most people enjoy helping others to reach their goals. The worst that can happen is they say no, and then you are no further off then if you hadn't asked at all. 5) What are a few actions you could take within the next 24 hours towards your goal? Remember to make your action steps small enough that you will do them. Most action steps may make you slightly uncomfortable and that is okay and to be expected. Do them anyways - you will gain confidence as you proceed. Doing some action steps immediately after setting the goal gets you off to a powerful start, provides momentum for more actions, and solidifies your intent to reach your goal. 6) Now choose some small action steps you can take towards your goal at regular intervals. I recommend that you have at least 1 action step per week, usually no more than 3 so that you don't get overwhelmed. Write the specific actions in the columns. Check them off when you have completed them. 7) What is a milestone towards your goal? This is something that is measurable. For our sample goal of losing 15 lbs. it could be "have lost 4 lbs". Or it could be "I excecise 3 hours a week, every week." 8) Consider setting a reward when you reach milestones and your final goal. The best rewards are often "natural rewards" that occur as a consequence of your milestone/goal. Example, "my pants fit more comfortably", "I have more energy", "I feel empowered to lose the rest". Other rewards could include anything that you enjoy that is healthy for you. Perhaps going someplace special for your walk, eating an exotic fruit, buying a CD you desire, etc... 9) Continue working towards your goal in this manner for the specified timeframe.