Step into the real you & be on purpose all year round

This was originally published in an online magazine from Smart Healthy Women - link here

You set a New Year’s Resolution and here it is well into January and you have FAILED.  Summer got in the way, children got in the way, you lost focus and energy. Health goals, life goals, business goals…all lost. What are you planning to do for the next 11 months of the year? Complain and feel like a failure.

Maybe you are ready to hit the reset button and start again. A very plausible thing to do. Limiting yourself to new beginnings for only the start of the year will lead you to failure – always.

By setting yourself well thought out goals and intentions for the future year. Breaking those down into quarters, month, and weekly actions. You not only space out your success over the whole year, you also now that little-by-little daily you are working towards your big goals. Then at the end of the year when you reflect you will see many reasons to celebrate and feel achievement.

There are many tools you can use to gain clarity and stay focused throughout the year, both on the daily things and the big picture. You can also join programs which help you with accountability and support to keep moving forward.

You may find yourself experimenting with different tools until you find something which works for you and your style. You may also find as part of this process you start to reflect on you, your weaknesses, your strengths, who you are as a person or who you would like to be as a person. How you want people to see you, what you would like to be known for and how you want to show up in life and business.

It is essential when you set goals it encompasses all areas – your business, life, and self. Goals which excite you, scare you, stretch you and take you out of your comfort zone. Goals which will grow you as a person. Step into that person. Bring along your support people and your cheer squad. Enjoy it. Do it with intention and integrity.

Here are some steps you can take to create an amazing year – and you can do this whenever you need to:

Step One: Create a vision board or write down your inspiration. In a snapshot what qualities will you improve. What will keep you inspired to achieve your goals in each area of business, life and self – how do you want each area to look, feel, be seen. What is your word for the year. The word which will remind you about your inspiration.

Step Two: This is for those in business. Create a one-page snapshot of your business plan. What is your super power, what keeps your energised in business, your passions, your why, your mission, what are you disrupting and finally your goals for each business or project.

Step Three: Create a one-page snapshot of your life plan. Your I am statements, your purpose, your vision, your values and finally your goals for different areas of your life.

Step Four: I use a planner for this step – you may choose another format. However, add your goals to the planner, breaking them down into quarterly, monthly, and weekly. Look at the time you have available (do you need to consider school holidays for example) and deadlines you may have. Be realistic as to what you can achieve.

Step Five: Stay focused and accountable. Everyday spend the time bit-by-bit working towards the big picture goal. Enjoy the ride. Find an accountability buddy or group, this is the best way to stay focused on what you want to achieve.

Step Six: Always celebrate. Take time to celebrate the small wins and the big successes. Give yourself a reward for all your hard work. While some goals may seem easier than others to achieve; every time you tick a goal of you are closer to becoming the best version of yourself.

You can apply these steps to any goals you may have in life. They could be about business, money, career advancement, your children or partner, your health, weight or stress levels. Any combination of these – your unique life is yours. Your goals, your wants and needs are as unique as you. There is no one shoe that fits everyone.

You need to choose how you want to show up in life. What does success look like to you? What does balance look like to you? Once you determine these things for yourself and you set the goals or pathways to becoming that person, only then will you become the best version of yourself. Living a life that is purely on your own terms.