5 Great Strategies to Help You Achieve Your Goals

I daresay, like many, you will have started 2015 with big intentions to make positive changes in your life. We’re a few months into 2015 now and often this is a good time to revisit those goals and actions you decided you were going to take. So, what were they for you? How have you progressed? Do you still feel committed to them?

If you feel like you’ve lost focus here are some great tips to help you get back on track with passion and purpose.

1. Re-connect with your purpose

When you decided on what you wanted to change in your life and what you wanted to achieve, what was the purpose behind those intentions? Why were they important to you? By achieving those goals, how would your life change? How would it make you feel? What, if anything, would it mean for others around you?

Having worked through that, do you still feel as passionate and committed to making those positive changes? If the answer is yes, that’s great and some of the strategies outlined in the remainder of the article will help you to keep on track. If the answer is no, then take time to consider whether your goals are still relevant for you now. Perhaps you may just need to tweak them or you may feel that you want to completely re-focus on other areas of your life.

2. Be Persistent

If you have a goal that is really important to you then persistence will play a major part in you achieving it. I always encourage clients to have goals that mean so much to them that they won’t let anything stand in their way, irrespective of what obstacles they have to face. Thomas Edison, when talking of his numerous attempts to create the light bulb has a great quote, “I haven’t failed, I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work”. When you think about it, if we weren’t persistent as babies then most of us would still be crawling rather than walking…now there’s a thought! Be persistent.

3. Believe in Yourself

Often the only thing that gets in the way of us achieving our goals is ourselves. That little voice in our heads that tells us we can’t do something when the reality is that we most definitely can. Recognise that it is just a thought that you can dismiss and let go. We don’t hold on to dreams and treat them as fact, and thoughts are exactly the same. It’s nothing more than a thought, a story we are telling ourselves. In addition, here are some steps that you can take to shift your thinking:

• Be aware of negative thoughts
• Write down what that limiting belief is and how it makes you feel
• Write down what you would like to do and how you would like to feel
• Write down an alternative way of thinking that will empower you to take positive steps forward

Here’s an example.

Negative thought: I don’t have the skills or knowledge to be successful in developing my own business

Empowering thought: If I go through the appropriate training, coaching and mentoring I can bridge the skills/knowledge gap and be successful in developing my own business

4. Be Around Positive Influences

There’s a saying ‘you are the average of the five people you spend the most time with’. Whether you agree with that or not, from personal experience I know how motivating it can be to spend time with people who are like-minded, positive, supportive and want to help you succeed. When you are fighting your way through difficult challenges in life, you also need to have the right people by your side.  Here’s a great video from Jim Rohn that sums this up perfectly. Be around people who motivate you. Read, watch or listen to something that will motivate you each day, even if it is only for 10 minutes. It will help you to focus on empowering thoughts that will, in turn, help you to move forward positively and take action towards achieving your goals.

5. Be Brave and Bold

When we create big goals there is usually an element of fear that comes into play. You then have a choice – allow that fear to stop you or feel that fear but don’t let it hold you back from achieving goals that are important to you. Recognise that fear is just part of the journey but boy is it a great feeling when you take action anyway and overcome those fears! Challenge yourself to be brave and bold, and have faith that you have what it takes to deal with the outcome. Take a leap of faith and take massive action. By being brave and bold you can completely change your life!

These are 5 great strategies to help you achieve your goals and keep making progress towards achieving the positive changes you want to make in your life.

Please do comment or ask questions below, I’d love to hear from you. If you think others may benefit from these tips then please share.