How to Achieve your Goals

Well, it’s the beginning of March already and I was just wondering where are you up to with your New Year’s Resolutions (if you made any)? Have you stuck with them or have they fallen by the wayside?

For many of you, especially if your goal was to get fit and lose weight, I’m guessing that you gave up some time towards the end of January. If you didn’t and are still going, well done! You’ve achieved what probably 95% of the population haven’t.

So what makes the difference between achieving and not achieving a goal? Well I’ve discussed in other posts why goals fail generally (see ), however, what I have noticed is that people who achieve their goals somehow place that goal in a different part of their brain. Now I know that sounds a bit odd, but bear with me.

I had a client that no matter what she did, she couldn’t lose weight; I told her that it was because it wasn’t important enough to her; it wasn’t a ‘true desire’. Our true desire’s we achieve, because we reallywant them and they are of the utmost importance to us. . Here’s the analogy I used with her ….

“If you were going on holiday and had to be at the airport and on a plane at a certain time, would you be on that plane?”

“Well of course I would!”

“How do you know?”

“Because I just would! There’s no way I’d miss that plane.”

“If I said that I would give you £1m if you lose 10lbs, would you be able to do it?”

“Damn right I would!”

So what’s different between knowing that you would lose weight if you were to get £1m and achieving a ‘regular’ current goal? They are true desires – something that you reallywant and will make happen regardless of anything else – you simply won’t let anything stand in your way.

If you aren’t achieving your goals, my guess is that it’s because they are ‘nice to have’ rather than a true desire. So how can you turn a nice to have into something more important? Either, change your goal to something you REALLY want or put the current goal it in the place in your brain where you put important things. Now, that may seem a little odd or even simplistic, but it does work.

If there’s some goal that you want to achieve, but haven’t quite been able to manage it, try this little exercise. Read it through it a couple of times before you try it:

1. Imagine being given £1m for losing 10lbs or imagine arriving at the airport in time to get on the plane for your dream holiday or simply imagine something you know to be absolutely true eg the sun coming up in the morning.
2. Where do you see the picture in your mind? What colour is that picture? Is it a movie or is it a still picture? Is it colour or is it black and white? Is there sound or not? Is the picture large or small?
3. Now think of something that you’ve been trying to achieve but haven’t quite been able to achieve it.
4. Where do you see the picture in your mind? What colour is that picture? Is it a movie or is it a still picture? Is it colour or is it black and white? Is there sound or not? Is the picture large or small?  I’m guessing that the picture of what you want to achieve is in a different place to the picture you saw in the first part of the exercise (No1)?
5. Now, mentally move the picture of the goal that you want to achieve (3) to the exact same place as where you see the picture of what you know you can achieve (1).
6. Make that picture bigger. If it’s black and white, make it colour. If it’s a still, make it into a film. If it’s silent give it sound and make it as big, bright and vibrant as possible.
7. Run and re-run that mini film over and over again and really feel that you have achieved that goal.
8. Whenever you get a free moment, run that movie (if should actually be quite fun!). The more you run that movie, the more you brain will get used to the idea and move you in the right direction to achieving it.

If you’ve never tried this kind of exercise before, you may find it a bit odd, but trust me it works. Give it a go. It doesn’t cost anything and you'll be surprised at how much it will help!

Jo