Write down twenty-two things for 2022 that you want and you think are hard. I know we are past the first quarter of 2022. Just do it. Dream big.
Now decide on one action towards one of the goals. Set yourself up for success.
If you don’t know where to start, look at how someone else did it and follow their example. Success leaves clues. If looking does not work for you, then ask. Yes, it’s scary and most of the time you get a “no” – but sometimes, you will get a “yes,” and you’ll never get the “yes” if you never ask.
What if it all worked out? I recently was talking with a millionaire; no one famous, but someone who tried to achieve his family’s dream for several years. He said that the first ninety days are the hardest when you think of how someone reacts to what you’re doing instead of believing in yourself, and this may continue for the next eighteen to twenty-four months.
Too long for you? You might have heard that you need to become the person who is their goal. You develop the behaviors and habits of your goal. You are driven more by your purpose and behaviors, less by your results. A semi-pro baseball player told me that you can’t ever take your eye off the ball or rest on your latest results, even if you just hit a grand slam in your last at-bat – even if it is your best year. When you take your eye off the ball, then the success can start to dissolve. That millionaire was asked about when he reached his goal – what then? Was he going to just relax and live on his residuals? He said no, that he now wants to help others get where he is, and that he would be bored just retiring early. He had become a different person in achieving his goals. He found that person by having financial freedom, time to be with his family, and by ensuring a legacy for them.
The point is that you become a different person with different behaviors habits, and values when you succeed in your goals and achieve personal growth. You need two things: unwavering belief and massive action. If you have never worked out, suddenly working out for ninety minutes each day is massive action.
How do you motivate yourself when you have obstacles, from without and from within? That is when your personal belief and dream need to be bigger than any temporary situations. Be resourceful. Think of how this is working for you and what you can learn.
You must make your goal a priority. Is it just a hobby, or is it truly your mission? Do you pursue it only when it’s convenient, or every single day? Did you schedule time for it? If you say you’re too busy, then you didn’t make it a priority. If you say you can’t afford it, how would you manage if it was some essential item, like a car or a ‘fridge? How important is that goal to you?
Accountability for what action you want to take is important. Find a buddy who is on a similar journey. Co-work with them, as in setting up a Zoom call and working at the same time or saying what you did that day or week to achieve your goal, what obstacles you met, what you learned from them and how you’re going to be resourceful in working through them. As your buddy helps you stay on target with your goal, you do likewise for them.
Decide on one thing you would like to achieve this week; this cultivates focus and reduces distracting thoughts. Write it down and post it where you will see it. State your intent. Outline project sessions during the week for you to work on meeting this goal. Try two sessions, thirty minutes each, over the course of the week – if you manage this and enjoy it, add more, but don’t overdo it. Log these sessions on the sign you posted. Log whatever you managed to do, without judgment. If you struggle, that’s fine; it’s good insight. Just try your best. At the end of the week, review and see how you did. If you don’t hit your goal, that’s OK. Write down your feelings and what you struggled with. You’ll learn more about yourself through a structured approach such as this.
Having a system is far more powerful than using only your willpower. Keep a daily journal. Read self-development books every day, especially ones geared toward your goal. Use a whiteboard for planning. Cut distractions and invest time and money into your business and personal development. Find a community of like-minded people to share your ambitions and goals; this may be a good place to find an accountability partner. Focus on building real long-lasting relationships. Start one project, not ten.
Know that the answer is within you. Go try things despite what other people might think. Everything you want is on the other side of that fear; it is your desires and your actions toward that desire. Imagine that future version of you: what do they do, where do they hang out, how do they show up when they interact with other people? What are their habits, what books do they read, do they gossip, do they have a different attitude? What are they doing that you’re currently not doing? What are you currently doing that the future you doesn’t do? Let these answers be your road map for change.
Your self-confidence depends on your ability to do things successfully. Build more skills and that will build your confidence. Your self-esteem is defined by the worth you give yourself. Value yourself and that will build your self-esteem.
Here are some of the strategies:
Keep learning. The ability and desire to learn are powerful skills that can have a positive impact on many areas of your life, including professionally.
Experience new things and places. When you are out of your usual routine, you learn and experience the unfamiliar. This expands your sense of the world. Opportunities can arise.
Evaluate your life. Look at all the areas of your life to see where you want personal growth and how each area is interdependent and affects the other.
Spiritual. Spirituality is the most personal aspect of our lives.
Mental. The mental aspect is the things we learn and how we express ourselves.
Social. The social aspect covers all of our relations.
Physical. The physical aspect is simply our body.
Manage your time. Prioritize your actions toward your personal health goals. Also manage your time so you have that morning time for thinking, meditation, exercise, journaling, visualization, reading, affirmations and recharge time.
Be kind to yourself. Don’t judge yourself by others’ progress or standards. Be kind if life situations that you can’t control change things. You have a choice in how you react and in your actions based on the current circumstances.
Start small. Read the book Atomic Habits. Small changes, habits, and actions can have a great impact in the long run.
Go at your own pace. The pace will vary from person to person and also with what you’re doing and where you are. At first, you may be doing a lot and it feels like the accomplishments are going slowly; don’t be deterred.
Learn from failure. Failure is a teacher. What did you learn from it? What would you do differently next time? Fail forward. Don’t rehash your prior failures and don’t let them determine what you might do in the future.
Develop your value compass. Sometimes opportunities show up and they weren’t how you thought they’d look or even in the area you would be looking. By knowing your values, you can determine if you’d be interested because they align with your values. Value and desire will become your compass.
Network and expand your circle. Ask all the people you know if they know someone in a specific area or in the area you want to work in or help people with. When you ask someone about who they know, even if the person you’re asking might become your client, it doesn’t seem like sales; it feels like a collaboration. Also, you plant seeds for referrals and raving fans even if they never worked with you because they know, like and trust you. You can network more, have more resources, and be exposed to different people, places, and experiences when you are around different people. Who are your friends’ friends?
Be an active listener. Ask questions. Be curious. When you confirm what you’ve heard, ask for additional information and are curious in a conversation, you will learn more than if you just quietly listened without comment.
Discover your reason why. When all else fails or when you have inspiration, it comes from your reason why. Not just why are you doing this but seven levels deep – the why of the why.
Start a 30-day challenge – if you are consistent with your habits and behaviors after thirty days, they’re no longer new and are integrated into your life. What can you do in thirty days?
Let Go of the Past. Look towards your future. You can’t change your past only learn from it.
Disengage from other people’s opinions. Others may not see the vision of where you want and who you want to be. They may not see why you are taking the path you are taking. Especially don’t listen to those who are not successful in where you want to go in your personal development.
Set up cues, rewards, & punishments. This is important in creating new habits and getting rid of old habits. Cues may be scheduling on your calendar time for your personal development every day, seeing a plan for your goal, and having your environment be conducive to your activity. Celebrate each day for the actions you took. For punishments, you might look at the consequences of procrastination or have it that you don’t have lunch until you have worked out that day.
There are many strategies for achieving your goals in personal development. You can try one at a time or develop a plan which uses many of these. Thoughts become desires and feelings that become actions that get you to your goals and to the growth you want on a personal level. The behaviors and the process will change you as a person and you will grow every day if you put your personal growth strategies into action. Find out where it takes you.
Ann Justi is a yoga therapist, author, speaker, and a desire-based life coach. She helps people with mental health issues and physical limitations. You can get additional resources from her website at www.devotedyoga.net