The beginning of the year is the time, for many people to set goals. Whilst most people may be aware of the need to set SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and timebound) goals, arguably many also struggle to achieve them. There are ways you can set yourself up for success and achieve your desired goals.
Firstly, ensure that you
have clarity of what is being aimed for by writing and expressing your goals as SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and timebound). Secondly, make your goals challenging and motivating. Thirdly, set out an action plan and track your actions. Fourthly, get accountability partners and lastly, reward yourself for each milestone you achieve.
In my experience, achieving big or challenging goals requires more. I have found that the power of a compelling profound WHY to be one of the critical aspects in getting people to start and stay motivated to achieve their goals. The reason why you are setting out to achieve that goal is critical to enabling you go through whatever you have to face, especially if the goals are challenging. Focusing on the reason why you do what you do will take you to levels that you never thought you could go or achieve. The power lies in the WHY. It is the very reason why a company like Apple almost went bankrupt but continued to stay on the journey. Its founders had a compelling reason for its existence. When you have a compelling reason, you stop seeing the roadblocks. Failure will not be an option. The resolve will be to get to the other side. All fears will go behind you, all alibis or excuses will die. You will start to do what you originally thought was impossible for you. You will smash those goals.
My personal story
I disliked Maths in secondary school and always just did about enough of what was required to pass. I had a story I had told myself from such a young age that I was not good enough at Maths and I lived up to it. Things then changed when I joined University, partly due to my admiration of a particular impressive young female lecturer, whom I aspired to be like. I wondered what it would take to achieve her status; being in her place. This excited me a lot and inspired the goal to become a University lecturer. Then reality kicked in. I couldn’t become a lecturer if I failed to secure good grades in Maths. Now that got me into real thinking. I also thought hard about what it would mean to get high grades in a subject I disliked and was failing.
I asked myself what I may need to put in place to start getting on track. I calculated the weighting left and what grade I would need to get back on track. I realised that it was too high. The opportunity could slip from me. Some drastic measure was required if I was to have a chance of getting in line with this aspiration. This position had more meaning for me as well. It would mean that I could get enough money to help my single mother and siblings. That was so important to me. There was more at stake here. I started to change my schedule and committed myself to never compromise the time table I was drawing. This meant practicing Maths every morning for at least 20 minutes in addition to my maths study day. It also meant aligning my Maths study time with one of my friends who was very good at the subject so that I could be able to ask her for some help. I worked hard. I had to repeat the same calculation over and over again before moving on. I knew that my starting level was so low and avoided comparing myself with anyone. It was me against me. Then came the exams and I waited for the results. I knew I would be improving my grades but I did not expect what came my way. I came on top of the class above even those who had helped me along.
In due course and having completed my course as one of the leading students, I was offered a lecturing role, initially in Maths of all courses!! I declined (I guess there may still have been some inert fear) and instead decided on a role in teaching marketing and business management.
My lesson here is the power of having a compelling reason ( WHY) you want to get the results you set out to achieve.
Today I reflect upon the actions of that young girl and use her strength as my stringboard for further resilience and need to believe. I managed to connect so deep that no reason could stop me not even sleep or friends or hunger. Today, in my personal life and career as a lecturer and a coach, I use the seven levels deep (focusing on developing deeper reason why) method adopted from KBB training to help others in achieving their goals. Could this work for you?
My friend’s story
I have a friend who was never bothered with her weight. She was a size 22. She did not care or at least acted like she did not care about how she looked and what she wore. Then one of her visits to the doctor, changed everything. The doctor told her that if she continued with what she was doing there were two outcomes for her:
- Death which would mean her son would be without a mother. She is a single mother.
- End up in a wheel chair and having her son pushing her around for life.
She did not like both outcomes and had to make a resolve and agree to the next steps. She started to eat less, eat meals that she originally thought were disgusting, drop almost all her favourite meals and started to exercise. She had never really exercised in her life as an adult. She used public park equipment as she had no money for the gym or a personal trainer and no space to do her exercises. She visited the public park for 30 minutes every day.
Today she is an amazing size 12 and has been for the last 5 years after living as a size 22 for the almost 20 years of her life!
A compelling WHY connects your goal to the heart. My friend was going to do everything to ensure she survives to be with her son.
Once you connect with the heart and the spirit, your compelling reason will make you unshakable and unstoppable.
My Business story – creation of strategic business partners.
The compelling reason WHY, makes you stay on that pursuit and if well communicated will align you with the right business partners and staff who will take your business mission to the next level.
I recently hosted the amazing Monica Bradley MD MBAssociates (No.1 mortgage adviser in South – Mortgage Advice Bureau, UK), for our @IWAW Club money masterclass.
On her reflection in an email to me, she noted that she loved the work I do and is fully committed to supporting the mission to make women thrive through improving their financial literacy and position in the market place. Monica also noted that the masterclasses she gives to the club have stretched her own thinking and approach to business - The masterclasses have a global reach which her firm wasn’t focusing on before. It was great to learn that she too is benefiting and thinking about her own approach. All the Stellar Woman magazine expert contributors are completely serving from the heart because they know and love the Stellar Woman magazine’s mission. All our interviewees have shared their deep stories and knowledge because they understand the WHY for the Stellar Woman magazine. I also have the Stellar Woman magazine team working throughout the night to meet deadlines because they understand and appreciate the WHY for the Stellar Woman magazine. It explains why the compelling WHY is so important in bringing you great alliances.
Have you set your SMART goals? Do you have a compelling reason for the goal? Can you go deeper to find deeper meaning to this goal? Can you go further? Even further and further? Doing this will help you to connect what you do with your heart and soul. It is what I call seven levels deep.
Find out more about the power of the why by reading Simon Sneak’s book Start with the Why and watch Steve Job’s Stanford speech on YouTube. You can also contact me if need be via stella@stellarwomanmag.com
