In this article, LADZ partner and life coach Craig A. Drake uses his experience to guide you through how to change your thought patterns and start working towards your goals. Connect with Craig and hundreds of other wellbeing professionals through the LADZ app.
Why Read This Article & How To Use It
This article is not intended for you to read once, have a moment of motivation and then be forgotten about.
This article is for you to have a moment of “Transformational thinking” and take “unprecedented action”.
- Start With The End In Mind
- So, Who Do You Want To Be?
- Start Where You Are
- What Could You Do?
- What Will You Do?
- Make A Commitment
- Be Accountable
- Next Steps….
Start With The End In Mind
Stephen R. Covey expressed the importance of starting with the end in mind in his book 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. What Covey suggests is that to get where we want to, we must first know where we are going.
In this article, we will ask the critical question of who do you want to be?Where you are going is more important than where you have been. Let’s not look back in the rearview mirror other than to realise how far we have travelled.
The first 4 tips are based on the ‘GROW’ model by John Passmore. What is the goal, what is your reality, what are your opportunities, and what will you do?
The 6 steps on becoming who you want to be are:
- So, who do you want to be? (GOAL)
- Start where you are. (REALITY)
- What could you do? (OPPORTUNITY)
- What will you do? (WILL DO)
The last 2 tips are the action reinforcers. One is internal (commitment) and the other is external (accountability).
- Make it a commitment.
- Seek accountability.
So, Who Do You Want To Be?
Start by examining who you want to be. What characteristics does that person have?
A coaching exercise to visualise this is to…
- Picture yourself walking down a street or park. What do you see? What does it smell like? What does it feel like? What is the weather like?
- You see a person approaching in the distance. What do they look like? What are they wearing?
- They then greet you. How do they greet you? What do they say? How do they say it?
- You then sit on a bench, and they give you advice. What do they tell you? What can you ask them?
This is only one way to discover who you want to be. Some people like to find someone they admire and wish to be more like that. For some, it will be a religious figure. Some people like to visualise, some like to journal. Some like to discover it in private, and some like to talk it out.
There is not one way but find your way.
Start Where You Are
We can either accept where we are and move forward or be resentful of the past 10 years and sit there for another 10 years. Facing reality and realising where you actually are is important. Focus on what you can control.
If your goal is to become healthier. What is your current weight? What is your current fitness level?
If your goal is to attain a particular job. What skills do you have? What skills do you need?
This is an area you can critically reflect on yourself, use a friend to talk about it and get a true picture of where you are. It is easy to be discouraged at this stage, but keep referring back to your vision of the person you want to become. It is possible; we just all start from different places.
What Could You Do?
Now you know who you want to become and have a clear picture of your starting point, what steps could you take?
You don’t have to have concrete steps at this point. This is just to explore your opportunities. If you try to narrow it down too soon, you may miss opportunities. Brainstorm, make notes, brain dump, and do what you can to get as many ideas flowing as you can.
What Will You Do?
This is the step whereby you decide what actions are most important.
Break down the steps into major milestones and minor milestones. It is discouraging when losing weight to think ‘I need to lose 3 stone’ (long-term goal) than it is to think ‘I need to lose 6 pounds in the next 4 weeks’ (short-term goal).
It is critical to know where you are going in the long term, but if it’s a long journey, it can be off-putting. So, break it down into bite-sized chunks.
Celebrate the small successes and reward your short-term wins.
Make A Commitment
Be committed to your goal but flexible in your approach. Stay committed to your goal, write it down and remind yourself of it consistently. If we do not keep a consistent focus on something, it is easy to be distracted from it. Also, the plans we make to achieve it are not always the right steps; adapt and be flexible in your approach. If it isn’t working, change your approach until you find what does work.
Be Accountable
Find a way to be accountable. Being held accountable for our actions is a great way to be kept on track. We do more for others than we will for ourselves. If we know someone is going to be watching or checking in, then we are much more likely to keep to the plan. We do not want to let them down. They will be able to give you motivation when you need it, reassurance, and a pick me up. Who can keep you accountable?
Next Steps….
Life coaching is a tool to help facilitate growth and attainment of a goal. We all need someone to listen without judgment, pick up on signals that others would miss and ask powerful questions about new ways of thinking.
As a life coach, I help clients who are struggling to achieve their goals, create new ways of thinking and unlock their potential. If you would like a free 30-minute clarity call to discuss your goal, book your free session on my profile.
