Attention women of the world! The time has come for you to take action on the most important, valuable, and capable thing in the universe: YOU.
Yes, I am talking to YOU!
In a previous Mastering Your Mind post, we discussed the notion of success and the importance of having goals but still remaining focussed in the present.
For the record, the intention was not to devalue the importance of Goal Setting. In fact, consider this post as my personal ode to the skill of goal setting; a skill that is crucial to achieving career success and overall happiness. We just didn’t want the perfectionist in you to come flying out of the gates ‘til you were clear on where you were headed.
First and foremost, I invite you to applaud yourself. Your very choice to click on this post is indicative of your interest and intention to set goals and make positive change in your life. As we have discussed before, intention is key. So congrats, you are already on the road to self-mastery. Now it’s time to learn the value of goal setting in reaching any destination you wish.
Contrary to popular thought, the struggle associated with achieving our goals has nothing/bob squat/nada/nil/zip/zero/zilch/diddly-squat to do with our “inabilities” or what others might think of us. Rather it has to do with our own paradigms and fears; none of which stand a chance against a more self-aware, intentional and focussed YOU.
Irrespective of our past or present states of being, we all possess a limitless potential to achieve our goals. On the one hand, it is the setting of the goal that unlocks this limitless potential and opens the gate to infinite possibility. On the other hand, it is the process of moving towards the goal, one step at a time that turns potential into a concrete reality.
About six months ago, I attended the world’s leading coach training programme and learned the magic of the AIM SMART process. AIM SMART enables people to set goals in any and every area of life and develop an action plan to achieve them.
AIM: Establishing the parameters of the goal to be achieved:
- Acceptable – What is the minimum that you can do?
- Ideal – What is the maximum that you can do? What is the ultimate goal?
- Middle – What is a realistic medium? What would be a slight stretch for you? Shoot for the middle and you’re essentially golden.
SMART: Breaking down the larger goal into smaller, attainable steps:
- Specific – What will be the very first step toward reaching your goal? Be precise and consider the factors that might influence the achievement of your goal (e.g. time, money and personal flexibility).
- Measurable – Ensure that you have qualified and quantified the way in which you will measure your success. In doing so, you will be able to assess your progress and reward your achievements.
- Achievable – Is the initial step possible to achieve? This is a simple yes/no question. If the answer is negative, brainstorm what is achievable. Perhaps you might need to be more specific in setting the goal.
- Reasonable – How reasonable is the goal in terms of the steps that you must take in order to reach it? How ready are you? How able are you in your current circumstances?
- Time-Oriented – By when, exactly, will you complete this first step of the goal? Hold yourself accountable to achieving it in time, or ask someone else to hold you accountable.
The beauty is, even if you do not achieve your stated goal, the AIM SMART process equips you to explore what is holding you back. And voila!
You have reached an even deeper level of awareness.
So what’s next, Superwoman?
Focus on your goal and experiment with AIM SMART, ideally with a coach or a partner. Through taking action, you will progressively move toward your objective. By staying accountable, you will also be able to identify what might be holding you back.
To conclude, I want to give you a heads up that you might find that the feeling that you will experience while consistently taking steps toward achieving your goal may prove to be more powerful than reaching the goal in itself; sometimes the journey really is more rewarding than the destination.
A small suggestion before you go … after every baby step, do a well-deserved happy dance. Clap your hands and shake your booty for moving toward both your goal and toward mastering your mind.
Guest authored this week by Jordyn Benattar, intern at iPEC London Ltd and Owner of Speakwell Coaching & Consulting