Achieve your Goals in less time

Introduction

• Are you living the life of your dreams?
• What is your potential?
• Are you living your life to your fullest potential?

Or are you living comfortable?
Not quite the life you envisioned, but also not bad enough for a change….

 

What do all professional athletes have in common? They all have a coach who helps them improve their performance, and reach their fullest potential. A coach guides them to their maximum performance and potential, utilizing various techniques.

Yet, most of us live like amateurs. Life is happening to us, instead of us making life happen.

If you don’t know where you are going, when will you get there?

 

Below are some of the benefits you can experience from coaching:

• Live in the present and transform your life
• Reduce stress
• Get (more) clarity in what you would like to achieve personally or professionally
• Overcome your limiting beliefs that may hold you back from achieving your dreams
• Stop negative self talk
• Achieve your goals in less time and with less stress

 

Happiness is a state of mind!

 

Find out how coaching can work specifically for your personal life and/or how it can improve your professional/business life by sending an email to: coaching@arelicoaching.com

 

 

Have you ever made a New Year’s Resolution or set a goal and not followed through with it?

Are you putting off getting things done until the last minute?

Or are you keeping yourself occupied with low priority “busy work” that prevents you from getting more important things done instead.

 

If the answer is yes to any of the questions above, you are procrastinating either knowingly, or subconsciously.

To stop procrastinating, you need to understand what it is, what your reasons are specifically for procrastinating and then change your “self-talk” to help you get things done in a timely manner.

The side effect will probably be less stress and a more positive feeling about you.

 

The road “LATER” takes you to NOWHERE

 

The road “NOW” takes you to your GOAL

 

What is Procrastination

Procrastination refers to the act of putting off things until a later time. It is normally referred to delaying urgent (high priority) tasks, and doing less important tasks instead. It is accompanied by justifying the delay with plausible (to you) excuses.

 

 

Why people Procrastinate

Why do people set goals, and never even cross the starting line, let alone get to the finish line?

Why do we procrastinate, and avoid the things we want to do or need to do?

There are different reasons why people procrastinate. The following list shows just a few examples

• I’d rather be doing something else
• I don’t know where to start
• I don’t have time
• I need to prepare
• It’s just too overwhelming
• I don’t know how to do it

And the list goes on….

Although people procrastinate for a variety of reasons, the underlying reason tends to be the Pleasure Principle. The Pleasure Principle stipulates that people are driven to do things that they derive pleasure from and avoid things that they deem to be painful. Our behavior and our actions are based on the theory that whatever we do is to experience pleasure and avoid pain. Our actions also have to be aligned with our core values, our deepest inner beliefs that we subscribe to.

In order for us to get started with something and take action, we have to associate immense pleasure with the task at hand, or tremendous pain if we fail to follow through. It can also not go against our core values, or our subconscious mind will not let us do it.

 

Stop Procrastination – 3 Step Process

Now that you know what procrastination is and you know the underlying reasons and symptoms, now what?

Follow our Stop Procrastination in 3 Easy Steps Program.

1. 1.     Why do you procrastinate?

Ask yourself why you are putting things off in the first place. Reference the following list and examples of “self talk” that you might be engaged in:

I’d rather be doing something else: My favorite show is on TV, I want to meet with friends, it is such a beautiful day today and I want to be outside, I am too tired, etc.

I need to prepare: It needs to be perfect and I need to prepare myself first. Perfectionists many times procrastinate because it just needs to be done “right”.

I don’t have time: I need to read all the emails first. I need to clean up my desk; I need to organize some other things first. One common “avoidance” technique is to keep yourself occupied with low priority “busy work”.

I don’t know where to start/it’s overwhelming: If you are working on a project or on achieving a goal that is just too overwhelming, break it down into smaller steps. Split it into smaller pieces and start with the first step. Remember, even the longest journey starts with the first step.

I don’t know how to do it: I would really like to, but I don’t know how. Ask for help, or find out how “online”. These days, there is so much information available online to research and learn. Just make sure that you are not using the excuse of “doing research” online as another excuse NOT to get started.

Now, that you have identified why you procrastinate and the “self talk” you are engaged in, let’s continue to the next step.

1. 2.     Why do you want to do the task, or have the goal in the first place?

Why specifically do you want to do it? What is driving you, motivating you? If you have to think about it a little bit, then your “why” is NOT big enough. You have to associate immense pleasure with it, and/or tremendous pain if you don’t do it/procrastinate. If the task is more like a “have to do”, for example in your job or business, think about all the benefits that are associated with getting it done.

1. 3.     Set the specific goal of getting it done, using the “AIM-SMART” system.

This easy to use system helps you to accomplish the task, by reducing the probability of “failure”, and therefore feeling “bad”.

AIM-SMART is an acronym:

A:   Acceptable minimum Accomplishment
I:    Ideal Accomplishment
M:  Middle

AIM is the “what”. What specifically do I want to accomplish?

Before you begin with the task, ask yourself what the minimum acceptable outcome for you will be and write it down. Then think about what you would like to achieve ideally. The middle would be something between your minimum acceptable and ideal accomplishment.

Let me illustrate it with an example of losing weight:
Let’s say, you would like to lose weight over the following month and you would be happy if you lose a minimum of 4 pounds. Ideally, you would like to lose 10 pounds, but that’s quite a stretch, you might think. The middle would be 7 pounds in one month. Aiming for a 3 level result ensures that you feel that you have accomplished your goal, even if you “only” reach the minimum acceptable goal, and also have a higher level left to aim for if you still have time before your “deadline”.

SMART is the “how. How am I going to accomplish this? What is my specific first step? How do I measure whether I “performed” this first step (is it quantifiable)? Is it achievable in the first place? Is it reasonable that I can be done by my target date? What is my target date, by when I want to have accomplished it?

S:   Specific            What is the specific first step I need to take?
M:  Measureable   How do I measure this first step, is it quantifiable?
A:   Achievable      Can I achieve it at this time?
R:   Reasonable     How reasonable is it for me to be finished by my target date?
T:   Timeline          What is my target date. By when do I want to be finished?

 

Let me illustrate this with our earlier example of losing weight. As part of your desire to lose weight, you would like to exercise. Walk, run, etc., and this is what it could look like:

S-(Specific):  I am going to buy new running shoes within the next 3 days.

M-(Measurable): Will I know when you have achieved this? Yes, by having purchased the shoes.

A-(Achievable): Will I have and/or make the time needed? Yes/No

R-(Reasonable): Is this timeline reasonable? Yes/No

T-(Timeline): I will have accomplished this 3 days from today. Write down the specific date.

Keep in mind that the SMART part is specifically for the first step of achieving your overall goal only.

It actually gets you started with a small step toward the realization of your overall goal.

Many times, it’s the first step we don’t take, but once underway, we won’t be stopped!

Once you are applying these steps, you will probably notice that you are spending less time on the task at hand, thus giving your more time to enjoy other things in your life.

 

Remember the steps:

 

1. 1.     Why do you procrastinate?
2. 2.     Why do you want to do the task, or have the goal in the first place?
3. 3.     Set the specific goal of getting it done, using the “AIM-SMART” system.

 

Download a printer formatted copy of this article NOW

 

By Hartmut Eggert – arelicoaching.com   ©