Category: Goals, Results & New Thinking

CategoriesActionGoals, Results & New ThinkingProgressReframe your thoughts

Must, Should, Want

Posted on August 18, 2022

Life’s to do list tends to have these three categories, whether you bunch them that way or not.

Things you must do would be things like eating, drinking water and sleeping. Arguably going to work, organising your day and paying bills are must do items too. However, they really are should do items. If you don’t do them, you won’t die from them.

Other less controversial should do’s would be calling a family member, especially a parent, maintaining great health and fitness and also keeping your house looking and working well.

But regardless of all of those items above, you may want to book a holiday, buy some clothes or eat pizza and chips while watching the latest movie in your pjs.

Should’s are often a bit troubling. You may feel guilty if you do not do them. Or the direct, or even indirect, consequences could be quite severe.

All the wants may seem unavailable but super desirable. However, these need to be tempered and prioritised as they are unlikely to all be done.

So make sure you get the big ones in your life.

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CategoriesActionGoals, Results & New ThinkingObserveReframe your thoughtsThink About It

Who Decided To Call Green Green?

Posted on March 19, 2022

Who created the word? Does someone get credit for it? Why did they call it ‘green’ and not ‘purple’, ‘cinade’ or ‘basketball?’

Why did someone choose these 26 letters? Or earlier letters than these? The creation and selection of these letters, words, sounds and phrases seems so strange.

They seem rather random. But also completely normal now that I am so used to them. They are the code and key to everything.

Pay attention to the words you use. They mean far more than you think.

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CategoriesActionGoals, Results & New Thinking

The End Game

Posted on February 12, 2022

You really should have an end game in mind, and written down, when you take aim at a new goal, challenge or desired achievement. I don’t say this lightly. These elements build on key themes that run through three of the seven steps in my new book Achieve Anything.

Step 1 is Think, which includes beginning with the end in your mind. It also includes the rhetorical question, ’Why?’ Why are you putting energy and time into this process to reach the outcome?

Step 3 is Write. You need to take the thoughts and turn them into written words that you, or anyone, can refer back to.

Step 4 is Plan. You really should collect those written thoughts and turn them into a structured plan with dates, times, desired outcomes and the finish line.

Notice we skipped Step 2? Lots of people do. That is a big reason why many people do not achieve their goal. More on that in the book.

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CategoriesActionGoals, Results & New ThinkingGratitudeObserveProgress

Review Your Progress

Posted on December 14, 2021

‘Are we there yet?’ Clearly wanting to know how far from the finish we are is a natural desire. ?

If you’ve ever had a long journey with kids in the car, you’ll know the phrase I am referring to. But adults want to know to. They check maps, or their satnav, to see if they are ‘making good time’ and where the next rest station is.

Employers want to see ‘progress reports.’ Athletes need to track their gains and PBs. We all want to be a little better or further along with something at sometime in our lives.

It’s easier to review your progress if you have a plan to track against. Then you can course-correct if need be because you’ll know when you are a little off course. Tracking your progress allows you to see your plan unfold. And, spoiler alert, you’ll also know when to celebrate as you reach milestones.

This may be the most skipped step in the 7 step process. People are averse to tracking and reviewing. There are a variety of reasons for this. But the impact is that they usually make less progress. Often this occurs because they don’t know the progress exists so they give up too early and throw out the plan. If only they doubled down their discipline and tracked their progress and reviewed their plan daily. There would be a lot more achievements in this world!!

Review is step six in my forthcoming book – Achieve Anything – The 7 Simple Steps to Shift from Uncomfortable to Unstoppable. Be sure you include a daily review element to your plan to greatly increase your chance of success. Review your progress!

PS. On Tuesday, I received the Advance Copy of the paperback!!! Looking great! Amazing to have it in my hands. A couple of tiny tweaks is all it needs. Hopefully the hardback will look equally fantastic when I receive it later this week!

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CategoriesActionGoals, Results & New ThinkingTime

Pick One Thing

Posted on July 18, 2021

What is it that you really want before you go? What would you like to be, do or have to celebrate and enjoy? Pick one thing and decide right now that it is your goal.

Get specific around this goal. Be so clear in what you see that you can describe it in detail. Write down the date you would like the success to come. Write down the time and the place. Note who you are with as well as the temperature and weather.

Ideally it will be something in the next 5 years. However, you can make it 10 years at the maximum. Almost anything can be achieved in that time with focus, discipline and persistence. This is especially true if you work out a plan and work on it daily. You need some key milestones to ensure you are getting the compound effect.

Try making those milestones monthly. Pick a day and a time in the month that it will be done by. Be sure to write out the specifics, even if it makes you a little nervous to do so. You will gain confidence in your ability to achieve the goal as you move closer to it on a daily basis.

Pick one thing today and work toward it daily.

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CategoriesGoals, Results & New ThinkingReframe your thoughtsThink About It

Expect To Win!

Posted on May 14, 2021

You need to begin with the end in mind. And the end result you should be aiming for is a winning one. Expect to win! You’ll feel better for it.

Life is a self-fulfilling prophecy. If you expect something to happen, it is more likely to. If you don’t expect it, it’s quite possible it won’t.

Part of the expectation is to see yourself in that final moment. If you can visualise yourself as successful or victorious, you will have won half the battle. You will feel more capable and confident. The sense of achievement will run through you. You may even straighten up a little and walk taller. Perhaps you will speak with more authority and determination.

Certainly the taste of the win will help to motivate you. In addition, you can run the plan backwards to see what you need to do to reach that moment. Then you can work harder, train harder, prepare better and feel like it is going toward something useful.

Seeing the result can be quite motivating. Think about it often and play with the finer details of the moment in your mind. The more real you can make it, the more real it should become.

The opposite is also true though, so guard those thoughts closely.

Expect to win!

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CategoriesActionGoals, Results & New ThinkingGratitudeHealth & FitnessObserveProgressReframe your thoughtsThink About ItTime

Embrace Your Future Self

Posted on February 8, 2021

It is hard to be an adventurer, exploring new realms, when your feet won’t leave the comfortable shoreline. Embrace your future self and ride headlong into the exciting world you are seeing for yourself.

There seems to be three main aspects involved in changing your life. The first one is simply recognising where you would like to be. The second one is deciding you are going to get there from where you are. Finally, you need to see yourself at the finish line and truly be that person.

One of the most difficult parts about change is truly being that person at the finish line. We can be hesitant, uncertain and uncomfortable. This may be for several reasons or just one. However, the quicker you can mentally and emotionally become that future person, the sooner you will be there physically too.

It makes sense too. If you would like to be driving a red Porsche, you will need to start thinking of it. The more you can clearly see yourself sitting behind the wheel, the more likely it is to happen. Your mind will shift nicely from ‘not’ to ’fully bought’. In doing this journey, even if only in our head, the easier it is for the mind to accept it as true.

Once something is true, it will be.

Embrace your future self.

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CategoriesActionGoals, Results & New ThinkingReframe your thoughtsTime

Have A Good Filing System

Posted on November 27, 2020

Do you spend time trying to find things? It does seem crazy, at times, how long it can take to find an item. Have a good filing system and that can change things.

We used to have an ok filing system. Now it is much better. I can recall times where I spent 10 or 15 minutes looking for one piece of paper. That rarely happens anymore. When you have a good system and you use it properly, you can save yourself a lot of time and aggravation.

It is good to have a strong process and system for physical filing as well as digital filing. Then it is particularly important that you stick with the process and system as much as you can. Of course there will be moments when you don’t replace a folder or file right away. Additionally, you may not get to the filing room straight away so you create a new pile.

If this happens, be sure to correct this as quickly as possible so that the system doesn’t fall over and you can’t find things again. This also helps to keep things looking tidy in other areas of the house or office.

It can take some time to set up a good system. However, when you weigh it against all the time you will save looking for things, it will be worth it.

Have a good filing system.

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CategoriesActionGoals, Results & New ThinkingProgress

MTO Goal Setting Technique

Posted on October 18, 2020

Have you ever felt worse for setting a goal and not achieving it? A fantastic way to avoid that is by setting goals using the MTO goal setting technique.

I first read about this MTO technique in a book called, “Double Your Income Doing What You Love” by Canadian author Raymond Aaron.

This is a different way to set goals. It is very useful to both get people started with smaller wins and keep their big goals in front of them. The way to do this is in the name. MTO stands for Minimum, Target and Outrageous.

To use this technique, you start by noting down the goal theme. Then you note down what the Minimum goal is, what your actual Target is and finally what an Outrageous win for you would look like.

So your theme may be to tidy your bedroom. You may seek to clear your bedside table as an easy minimum achievement. Your target goal could be to do the minimum plus clear out all your old clothes. An outrageous goal might be to to do those and get the repairs done on the wall and windows, while also getting new curtains ordered.

So now if you only achieve the easy minimum, you will still feel good about meeting a goal. And you might even crack part of the Outrageous goal.

Time to make the MTO goal setting technique a new habit.

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