Step 12 - Track your progress by asking questions

The measure of your success is not whether you have a tough problem to deal with, but whether it’s the same problem you had last year – John Foster Dulles

We’ve been talking about goals the whole year and for this last edition, I’d like to encourage you to think about the past year. To do this properly, you probably should write out your answers, or type them out – I’ve found that I think better when I type, so I even type my daily to-do list at work now!

What went right in your life this year that you want to continue?
What’s not working so well that you need to give attention to?
Which goals have you achieved? What was it about them that made them achievable?
Of the goals you didn’t, are they still important to you? Why?
Do you need to create brand new goals for next year?
Do you need to abandon some that don’t reflect where you want to go?
Where can I be more effective?
What am I afraid of? Where do I need to take more risks?
Which friends or contacts do I want to develop more?
What key choices do I have to make?
What do I need to learn more about?
What must I do to bring more balance into my life?
How can I improve my relationships?
Who do I need to forgive?
Am I living my passion? How can I incorporate more passion into my life?

As you answer these questions, you’ll get a better idea of where to focus for next year.

'Til next time…have a wonderful Christmas and a very Happy and Prosperous New Year!

Enjoy success
Marcia Francois
Do you want to use this article? You may, as long as you include this complete bio with it: Marcia Francois, the Take Charge coach and professional organiser, coaches people to reach their goals and maximise their potential. She publishes the popular “Take charge of your life” monthly ezine. If you're ready to finally live your dream life, get your FREE subscription now at http://www.takechargesolutions.org/

Step 11 - Take time to play

People rarely succeed unless they have fun in what they are doing. – Dale Carnegie

We’ve been talking about how important goal-setting is the whole year. Yes, reaching your goals is serious business but you should try to have some fun along the way. It’s called enjoying the journey.

I am a typical Type A personality - one of those people who wants to get everywhere as quickly as possible, no detours whatsoever. So I often have to remind myself to relax and take time out. It’s very difficult for me to take “me time” and just relax. This probably explains why I only had my first ever massage last Thursday.
But what’s all this got to do with goal-setting?

Firstly, when we make time to take a break and have some fun, we generally focus better the other 90% of the time. Notice I said 90%. Obviously if you’re having fun all the time, there’s no way you’re going to accomplish your goals. I’ll share a personal example with you. You all know that I’ve been doing the seminars since July and I felt that I also need to attend a seminar just for me so that I could recharge. I went to a Health and Nutrition thing in Rosebank this past Saturday which I thoroughly enjoyed. I learnt a few new things and also bumped into an old colleague so it was a lovely morning all in all.

Secondly, you’re more likely to do those things that you find are fun. If you see the process of reaching your goals as tedious and boring, then you won’t be committed to be successful in this area. If you take a playful approach, you’ll also find that you’re more productive, creative and original. When you play, you are more energised and enthusiastic. And remember what Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm.”

Right there you have two good reasons to incorporate more fun into your goal-setting and your life. This is especially important as the year draws to a close.

'Til next time…

Enjoy success
Marcia Francois
Do you want to use this article? You may, as long as you include this complete bio with it: Marcia Francois, the Take Charge coach and professional organiser, coaches people to reach their goals and maximise their potential. She publishes the popular “Take charge of your life” monthly ezine. If you're ready to finally live your dream life, get your FREE subscription now at http://www.takechargesolutions.org/

Step 10 - Protect your time

The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing. – Stephen Covey
Don’t tell me how hard you work. Tell me how much you get done – James Ling

You have to protect your time so that you can accomplish your goals. I’ve heard it, you’re heard it, you might even have said it today – I just don’t have the time. Here are my 7 steps to use your time more effectively:

1. Realise that you only have 24 hours in every day. When you add up your hours for sleep, work, travelling, exercising, cooking, etc, etc, you’ll see why you’re running out of time. It is okay not to be Superwoman or Superman.
2. Make time for your goals. Don’t just wait for the time to magically appear – I promise you, it won’t just happen. Your goals are priorities and should be treated as such.
3. Plan your life on a weekly basis. A Sunday is a good time to take 15 – 20 minutes and write down what you need to do during the following week. Consider this time priority. This way, you can stretch things out over the whole week. For example, if you want to get your paperwork sorted out, balance your credit card statement on Monday, file all paid accounts on Tuesday, tidy desk on Wednesday, sort through old magazines on Thursday and relax on Friday. If you try to do it all at once, it can be overwhelming and demotivating if you don’t make the progress you were hoping for.
4. Sharpen your axe and learn some time management skills. Register for my Help! I need more time workshop or brush up on your existing skills by buying a good book like Stephen Covey’s First Things First, Judi James’s More time less stress or my Help! I need more time e-workbook or CD.
5. Simplify your life. I remember when I first started working I had 5 or 6 things to wear. I was so quick in the mornings because life was simple and decision-making was really quick J Do you really need to cook from scratch every night? Do you really need 40 mugs? Do you really need to go to gym? Only kidding! Yes, you do have to go!
6. Learn to overcome your procrastination. If your case is really severe, you might want to consider coaching with me, or with someone else, so that the accountability in the partnership forces you to deal with things. One of the biggest differences between winners and losers is that winners do something and losers think/ talk about things.
7. Get organised. Remember that being organised does not mean being a neat freak. It does mean having systems that work for you, so you can find things quickly and that enhance and don’t hinder your life.

'Til next time…

Enjoy success
Marcia Francois

Do you want to use this article? You may, as long as you include this complete bio with it: Marcia Francois, the Take Charge coach and professional organiser, coaches people to reach their goals and maximise their potential. She publishes the popular “Take charge of your life” monthly ezine. If you're ready to finally live your dream life, get your FREE subscription now at http://www.takechargesolutions.org/

Step 9 - Believe in yourself

The number one problem that keeps people from winning in the US today is lack of belief in themselves – Arthur L Williams, entrepreneur
Sooner or later, those who win are those who think they can. – Richard Bach, best-selling author

You all know how much I love scientific research! Well, there was a study done in Texas on patients with bad knees whose only hope was surgery. All the patients were told that they’d be operated on to scrape out the knee joint. Some of the patients were genuinely operated on and their knee joints were scraped. Another group was given the anaesthetic but then the surgeons only made the incisions and sewed up the knees again without doing anything. After two years, this group of patients reported the same amount of pain relief as the group who underwent the actual surgery. You see, all the patients believed that they would be well after the surgery and they were. This just goes to show that our beliefs can change our body’s physiology.

One of my favourite examples of believing in yourself is the story of Roger Bannister, the man who first ran the mile in less than four minutes. Before he did it in 1954, almost everyone considered it impossible. Together with physical training, he “saw” himself breaking the record over and over again. (For more on visualisation, read the April issue of Achieving Your Goals). As a result, he developed a belief that he would do it. When he broke the record, he also broke the mental barrier in other runners as they also began to believe that it could be done. Amazingly, in the next 6 years, 36 other runners also ran sub four-minute miles.

Let these examples inspire you to also believe that you can achieve your goals. All of us already have some good beliefs, e.g. I’m a good listener, I’m good with my hands, I can talk to people easily, I’m good with numbers, etc. The next step is working on those disempowering beliefs. Do these sound familiar? I’m too old, I’m too quiet, I’ll never lose this weight, I’m not clever enough, I don’t have a degree (hello! 20% of America’s millionaires never set foot in college), etc. You must challenge them to overcome them.

I leave you with this wonderful quote:
You have to believe in yourself when no one else does. That’s what makes you a winner. – Venus Williams, tennis champion and gold medalist

Action steps for the month
1. Which of your current beliefs are working for you? Keep saying those things!
2. Which beliefs do you need to address so that you can reach your goals? Challenge and replace them with empowering beliefs.

'Til next time…

Enjoy success
Marcia Francois
Do you want to use this article? You may, as long as you include this complete bio with it: Marcia Francois, the Take Charge coach and professional organiser, coaches people to reach their goals and maximise their potential. She publishes the popular “Take charge of your life” monthly ezine. If you're ready to finally live your dream life, get your FREE subscription now at http://www.takechargesolutions.org/

Step 8 - Overcoming obstacles

Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off your goals – Henry Ford
Never, never, never give up – Winston Churchill

Many people give up on their goals when they encounter obstacles. If only they’d realise that a huge part of achieving goals is navigating the obstacles. It’s like having your house painted – you know that to have a beautiful end result, you’re going to have to put up with the inconvenience of having dust everywhere. Goals are just the same. To achieve any goal, you are going to encounter an obstacle or two along the way. If you’re prepared for them however, and realise that it’s a natural part of the process, you’ll know that you can handle them and won’t give up.

The key is to plan your counter-attack! All of us are aware of some obstacles. A common one I hear from many people is that once they get home, they get side tracked and can’t get to the gym. If you know that this is an obstacle for you, then all you do is go to the gym before you go home, or go first thing in the morning before work. Another example is the one of people who struggle to save money because they love spending. The solution? Go to the shops only with the amount of cash you have budgeted to spend, or take your accountability partner with you. A coach can also help you remain focussed on your goals.

Remember that obstacles will always be there – that’s life – you choose whether they’re a stop sign or a detour.

Action steps for the month
1. Think about potential obstacles to achieving your goals.
2. Write down some solutions to overcoming them.
3. Tell yourself continually that you can handle them and keep focussed on the very next step.

'Til next time…

Enjoy success
Marcia Francois
Do you want to use this article? You may, as long as you include this complete bio with it: Marcia Francois, the Take Charge coach and professional organiser, coaches people to reach their goals and maximise their potential. She publishes the popular “Take charge of your life” monthly ezine. If you're ready to finally live your dream life, get your FREE subscription now at http://www.takechargesolutions.org/

Step 7 - It's time to review

Be not afraid of growing slowly, be afraid only of standing still – Chinese Proverb

I'm sure most of you have heard about the definition of insanity. It's when you keep doing the same things and yet you expect different results. This is so true as lots of people keep doing the same actions and then wonder why their lives are exactly the same. There's a lovely quote that goes: if the horse is dead, dismount.

This month we're going to review our goals and action plans and make changes to them, if necessary. Reaching your goals is a process of lots of little steps. You are creating your life, remember. So take the time to look at what's not working, adjust your action plan and determine to commit anew to one day at a time.

On the other hand, if you find that you are well on the way to reaching your goals, and what you've been doing is working, keep doing it! Usually you'll find that there will be a bit of a mix - you'll be steadily moving toward some goals and others seem to be a bit stuck. Physically, I'm not even close to my weight and fitness goals for the year. My adjustment for this month will be to increase my workouts (should be easier now that I don't have to travel so much) and to avoid those gorgeous chocolate croissants at the bakery!

If you haven't yet found a support system like a coach, buddy or personal trainer, this just might be the time to do so...

Action steps for the month
1. Celebrate your milestones with a small reward.
2. Work through your goals and action plans and make changes to bring you closer to your goals.

'Til next time…

Enjoy success
Marcia Francois
Do you want to use this article? You may, as long as you include this complete bio with it: Marcia Francois, the Take Charge coach and professional organiser, coaches people to reach their goals and maximise their potential. She publishes the popular “Take charge of your life” monthly ezine. If you're ready to finally live your dream life, get your FREE subscription now at http://www.takechargesolutions.org/

Step 6 - Create a balance

A happy life should be in balance.– Lillian Gish

Picture a table with seven legs. If one leg is shorter than the rest, it will throw the table off balance. Now imagine if three or four legs are off balance. The table will be even more wobbly and unstable. This is exactly the same with our lives.

We all need to have balance in the seven areas of life - spiritual, family, health, work, social/fun/recreation, personal and financial. We're all different so balance will mean different things to each of us. This is why we have to select the emphasis we place on the different parts. For example, I might place more emphasis on my health than you do, and you might place a bigger emphasis on your social life than I do.

What happens if we get out of balance in just one area? You work too much and don't take care of your health, so your immune system packs in and you get seriously sick. Then, your family life is affected and so are your finances as you can't work for a while. See - that's already four affected areas.

If you liken each of the aspects of your life to a ball, imagine that we're juggling them all the time. If you drop any of the balls, the rubber balls will bounce but the glass ones will break. It is these glass balls that need to be given special attention as they are very difficult to replace once broken. I feel that health and relationships definitely fall into this category.

Balance doesn't mean that you spend equal amounts of time in each of the areas. As long as you spend a sufficient quantity and quality of time in each area, your life will be in balance. So then, balance is maintaining a level of success to your own personal satisfaction in each of your vital areas

Action steps for the month
1. Think about what balance means to you.
2. Identify three areas that you need to address to create a more balanced life.

'Til next time…

Enjoy success
Marcia Francois
Do you want to use this article? You may, as long as you include this complete bio with it: Marcia Francois, the Take Charge coach and professional organiser, coaches people to reach their goals and maximise their potential. She publishes the popular “Take charge of your life” monthly ezine. If you're ready to finally live your dream life, get your FREE subscription now at http://www.takechargesolutions.org/

Step 5 - Get support from others

Teamwork is the fuel that allows common people to attain uncommon results. –
Source Unknown

There is something special about working with and being accountable to someone that accelerates our progress. Merely telling someone your goal makes you feel more responsible to attain it. It probably goes without saying but you need to be able to trust the person!

Let's look at a number of ways to gather support:

1. Buddy system - find a like-minded individual who is also working towards some goals and make a coffee date once a month to discuss your progress. An objective view might help you come up with creative ways of problem-solving or getting out of a rut.
2. Personal trainer - this is a great way of working towards your health and fitness goals. A friend of mine recently signed up with a personal trainer. She is amazed at what this guy has already shown her and yet she's only had two sessions. Something simple like correctly exercising a particular body part can yield huge results.
3. Coach - a coach helps you to work towards your personal, financial, etc. goals in whatever area of your life. I do personal and financial coaching for two people at the moment. It is amazing how quickly your growth and development can be accelerated in this way.
4. Dream team/ Mastermind group - basically a group of people with whom you can share your goals, challenges, results and victories. There is nothing stopping you from starting a group of this kind to support one another. Be careful that this doesn't disintegrate into just a social J

All these methods will motivate you to stay on track if used correctly. You still have to do the work but hopefully it becomes a little bit easier with someone else as a sounding board.

Action steps for the month
1. Decide which of these support systems will best work for you.
2. Phone/ speak to/ email the relevant person(s) to talk about your goals.

'Til next time…

Enjoy success
Marcia Francois
Do you want to use this article? You may, as long as you include this complete bio with it: Marcia Francois, the Take Charge coach and professional organiser, coaches people to reach their goals and maximise their potential. She publishes the popular “Take charge of your life” monthly ezine. If you're ready to finally live your dream life, get your FREE subscription now at http://www.takechargesolutions.org/

Step 4 - Visualise your success

Losers visualise the penalties of failure. Winners visualise the rewards of success. –
Dr Rob Gilbert

A study was done by the University of Chicago in the 1920's to see how visualisation affected students shooting basketball hoops. The researchers tested the three groups before starting the 30-day experiment to determine their current skill levels. The first group had to practise shooting hoops from the free throw line every day for an hour. The second group did no physical practising but they had to imagine that they were practising. They were told to imagine themselves successfully shooting hoops - specifically how it would feel - also for an hour a day. The third group was not allowed to play any basketball for the entire month.

At the end of the month, the results were in. The first group improved by 24%, which proves that work does pay off. The second group improved by … wait for this…23%. Almost identical to the first group. The third group showed no improvement - no real surprise since they did nothing. Wasn't the second group amazing? This proves that if you're willing to visualise your success, it gets so much easier to achieve your goals.

Successful people train their minds to think about what they want to have happen in their lives. Unsuccessful people lack the mental discipline to do this. I heard a Penny Heyns interview on the radio a few months ago and she was asked about the two gold medals she won a few years ago. She told the interviewer that she'd already swum those two races at those speeds many times over before the actual race day. You see, her coach required that she visualise her success in the races.

I must admit that I'm not as diligent about visualisation as I should be but I do use it for big events like interviews. I picture myself being confident, self-assured, likeable and other such good things. It usually pays off as it has this time too - I've just been offered a fabulous position at another insurance company.

Let's end off with another good quote, this time from Michael Jordon: "I visualised where I wanted to be, what kind of player I wanted to become. I knew exactly where I wanted to go, and I focused on getting there."

Action steps for the month
1. Spend a few minutes at the beginning and end of each day visualising your success in different areas of your life.
2. Choose any specific activity this month (meeting, gym class, interview, etc) and picture yourself doing it well.

'Til next time…

Enjoy success
Marcia Francois
Do you want to use this article? You may, as long as you include this complete bio with it: Marcia Francois, the Take Charge coach and professional organiser, coaches people to reach their goals and maximise their potential. She publishes the popular “Take charge of your life” monthly ezine. If you're ready to finally live your dream life, get your FREE subscription now at http://www.takechargesolutions.org/

Step 3 - Creating your action plan

"Life rewards action" - Dr Phil McGraw

I've found that the bigger your goal seems to be, the harder it is to start on it. Yes, this is the big P - procrastination. The biggest secret to combat procrastination is to break the goal into small action steps. I've often said that small things, compounded over time, produce massive results. All you have to do is ask yourself this question: what can I do today to take me towards my goal? This works for anything you usually procrastinate about J

It's the very next action step that is so important. If your goal is to have a new job by June, it can seem like a huge thing until you start using the very next action step rule.

It becomes easier if your action plan looks something like this:
1. Make a list of job requirements
2. Pray and ask God for your job
3. Update CV
4. Phone 1 employment agency every day
5. Buy The Workplace every Monday and Wednesday
6. Phone for interviews

You see what I mean? A previously large goal actually looks like something manageable. After you write out the first action step and each subsequent step, the key is to keep asking yourself what the very next step needs to be.

When your plan is complete for each goal, organise your time so that you prioritise the activities in your diary. Be flexible and prepared to change activities around so that you are always able to work your goals.

Action steps for the month
1. Write up your action plan for each of your goals
2. Review the plan every Sunday of this month

'Til next time…

Enjoy success
Marcia Francois
Do you want to use this article? You may, as long as you include this complete bio with it: Marcia Francois, the Take Charge coach and professional organiser, coaches people to reach their goals and maximise their potential. She publishes the popular “Take charge of your life” monthly ezine. If you're ready to finally live your dream life, get your FREE subscription now at http://www.takechargesolutions.org/

Step 2 - Set SMART goals

"A goal properly set is halfway reached" - Zig Ziglar

What does it mean to set SMART goals?

S pecific - your goals must not be vague or ambiguous. For example, don't put down that you need to lose weight. Instead say that you need to lose 10 kg.

M easurable - how will you know if you've achieved the goal, or are on track to achieving it? If you've lost 2 kg over 2 months, you know that you're on your way to reaching your goal.

A ctionable - what action steps do you need to do to reach it? In our weight loss example, you may have steps like drinking 2L of water daily, exercising 3 - 5 times every week, eating 3 - 5 portions of fruit and vegetables, etc.

R ealistic - your goal should challenge you but not be totally unattainable so that you're constantly frustrated. Expecting to lose the entire 10kg in 2 months or going to the gym every day is probably unrealistic and you'll be setting yourself up for failure.

T imeous - your goal must have a deadline otherwise you'll procrastinate. The deadline will put some pressure on you to get moving.

Some bonus steps:
· Set some small goals that you can accomplish quickly (in the next month or two). This will help you to develop a success mentality about achieving the rest of your goals.
· Write them down - this is probably the most important step because writing them down makes them tangible and real. "Until you write down your goals they are just wishes and fantasies" - Stewart Cruse

Action steps for the month
Invest the time to set meaningful, SMART goals for each area of your life.
Write or type them and put them somewhere you'll see them every day.

'Til next time…

Enjoy success
Marcia Francois
Do you want to use this article? You may, as long as you include this complete bio with it: Marcia Francois, the Take Charge coach and professional organiser, coaches people to reach their goals and maximise their potential. She publishes the popular “Take charge of your life” monthly ezine. If you're ready to finally live your dream life, get your FREE subscription now at http://www.takechargesolutions.org/

Step 1 - What is your definition of success?

"As you climb the ladder of success, make sure the ladder is leaning against the right wall" - source unknown

You can achieve 50 goals this year and still end up feeling frustrated and unfulfilled if those goals aren't contributing to your purpose or mission. The problem is that most people don't have a clue about their purpose on earth. USA Today did a survey in 1999 and asked people what they would ask God if they could ask Him any question. A huge majority answered, "what is my purpose?" Do you know what your purpose is?

Here are some questions to help you: what do you most love to do - teach, nurture, create, mediate, perform, lead, communicate? How would you most like to help people? What do you feel is your true vocation? At the end of your life, what would you most like to know you'd made a difference in?

Your definition of success is very closely linked to your purpose. You can be sure that Mother Teresa's definition of success had something to do with feeding and caring for the underprivileged, and not much to do with accumulating as much money as possible.

The main thing to understand is that your definition of success is unique to you. It's the only way you can be the best person you are meant to be.

Once you have this settled, you can then start setting goals that are aligned with your purpose and that will be supporting your definition of success.

Action step for the month
Work on and write out your purpose statement and then write a paragraph on what success means for you.

'Til next time…

Enjoy success
Marcia Francois
Do you want to use this article? You may, as long as you include this complete bio with it: Marcia Francois, the Take Charge coach and professional organiser, coaches people to reach their goals and maximise their potential. She publishes the popular “Take charge of your life” monthly ezine. If you're ready to finally live your dream life, get your FREE subscription now at http://www.takechargesolutions.org/