Set Your Game Plan for the Coming Year

2021-12-29 ~ adminlife

You probably have goals that you hoped to achieve this year, but didn’t. This time of year, it’s natural to lament about goals you seem to have lost.

Thankfully, your goals don’t have to remain mere dreams. You can take yourself from a path with unachievable goals to one with attainable targets by just changing your approach.

Once you’ve committed to believing in your abilities, you can start to put things in place to actually attain what you’ve set your mind and heart on. And this holiday season is the perfect time to set that game plan.

Use this step-by-step approach to make an effective plan to achieve those goals:

Be thankful for the year’s achievements. Even if you didn’t reach the targets you wanted, there are undoubtedly things that you did accomplish. Take a few moments to run those accomplishments through your mind and give thanks for them. Feel good about yourself. You’ve most likely achieved far more than many others!
Start with a master list. Instead of just dreaming about the things you’d like to achieve in the coming year, take the time to sit down and write them on a master list. Be specific about exactly what you want and how much (make it measurable).

Prioritize your goals. By the time you’re done writing, you’ll probably have a list of 20-30 goals. First, arrange your list in the order in which you want to achieve them and then zoom in on the top four or five.

Plot and set attainable targets. Now that you’ve identified the four or five most pressing goals, plot out attainable sub-targets for each of these goals and give yourself a timeline to achieve each step.

- Remember that the best way to achieve mammoth goals is to break them down into smaller pieces that you know you can achieve. Now, you know it’s attainable because you’ve figured out how to achieve each step. It’s only a matter of completing each step, one by one. Once you complete your last step, you’ve achieved your big goal!
- Plan to give yourself a small reward when you’ve successfully conquered each phase of the master plan.

Reaffirm your commitment. As the old year is winding down, make some time to read through your list and reaffirm your commitment to achieving these goals in the coming year.

- With each goal, start by saying, “I reaffirm my commitment to …” and read the details of the goal from beginning to end.
- By reaffirming your commitment, you officially vow to do what is necessary to achieve the goals, which is a much better place than you were at the start of this year.
- Commit, also, to actively finding solutions to overcome any challenges that may crop up. When you mentally prepare yourself ahead of time for challenges, they’re not such a shock, and you can focus on solving any constraints and continue moving forward.

Now that you’ve changed your approach, you can expect to see a much-improved outcome with each goal you’ve set for yourself. Go get ‘em!

You can book your 15-minute “Get to know you” call by clicking on the blue button belowand we can talk about how we can work together to help you set your goals for the coming year and plan how you will achieve them

To your success

Michael

P.S. you know that living a life that is in balance is important. When you can balance your work, family, health, relationships, fitness and money, you feel better and can achieve your goals. You have the support of your family and friends which makes life worth living.

Check out my programs at Confidence and Life Coaching by clicking on the logo below:

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Top 6 Excuses That Limit Your Success

2021-12-26 ~ adminlife

Everyone wants to have a beach body, but no one wants to diet or workout. Being successful isn’t automatic. It requires concentrated effort and action.

Many of us have a series of excuses that we can pull out of a hat at a moment’s notice. There’s always one that seems to fit the bill perfectly. This is done largely to protect ourselves and to justify our current circumstances.

Are any of these excuses holding you back from success?

“I don’t know how.” This common excuse gives you permission to not even try. However, this excuse simply doesn’t hold water. At no time in the history of mankind has there been so much information available. Want to start a charity? There are hundreds of books on the subject. Need to lose 100 lbs? There are thousands of resources available.

- One of the best ways to figure out how to do something is to find a qualified mentor. Another effective option is to simply try and then adjust your approach based on your results.

“I’m afraid.” This is perhaps the most socially acceptable answer. Who hasn’t been afraid? But there is very little to legitimately fear in our modern times. In most circumstances, you’re not in danger of being eaten by a lion or falling off a cliff.

- Most of our fears are socially based and have no real consequences. Being afraid isn’t a valid excuse 99% of the time.
- Would you rather be successful or protect your ego?

“I don’t have enough time.” Do you really believe this? Nearly all of us waste time on activities that provide no real value, including watching TV, internet surfing, and a host of other time wasters.

- You know in your heart you could make the time for something that was truly important to you.

“I don’t have enough money.” This is another common excuse, but there is usually a way to work around a lack of financial resources. For example, if you’d like to learn to play the piano but can’t afford one, you could:

- Find a free piano on Craigslist
- Pick up an inexpensive digital piano in a pawnshop
- Ask a local church or school to use their piano after hours
- Locate a piano you can use at your local college

“It’s too late for me.” It’s too late? A person climbed Mount Everest in his 80’s. People have gone back to medical school in their 60’s. What would you like to do?

- Getting a late start might be less convenient and more challenging, but there’s nothing wrong with that. It means that you’ll only take on the challenges that are really important to you. That could be a good thing.
- To be fair, there are a few things that require an earlier start than others. You’re not likely to play in the NBA if you take up basketball in your 30’s. But you could be a coach or work in the front office.

“It’s too hard.” Some endeavours are certainly more competitive than others. But claiming that something is “too hard” is really just another way of admitting that you’re afraid.

- The truth is that people with limited resources and talent can still be extremely successful.
- We tend to imagine the competition is much tougher than it really is. The average person doesn’t have a lot of control over himself. He’s not truly committed. Those with motivation and stamina are really the ones who succeed.

People that are successful on a regular basis tend to have the fewest excuses. How could it be any other way?

Those with excuses are able to justify not taking action. However, no action equals no results. So put aside your excuses and go after what you truly want. You’ll be glad you did!

You can book your 15-minute “Get to know you” call by clicking on the blue button belowand we can talk about how we can work together

To your success

Michael

Check out my programs at Confidence and Life Coaching by clicking on the logo below:

Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay

Learn to Achieve More, Even When You’re Unmotivated

2021-12-22 ~ adminlife

Motivation can be an issue for many of us. While motivation is great, there are many things in our lives that need to be done, regardless of whether motivation is there to propel us. Most of us need to go to work, brush our teeth, pay our bills, and more. It really doesn’t matter whether we’re motivated. These things still have to be done.

Unfortunately, the tasks listed above are usually done from a place of negative motivation. We do them because the consequence of not doing them is so uncomfortable. But it works.

However, negative motivation usually won’t work when there isn’t an immediate negative consequence. For example, it’s easy to put off exercising and to sit on the couch instead.

What’s important is to create a system that makes your challenging activities more appealing. It’s also important to make it easy to get started. Thinking too much makes it easy to talk yourself out of taking action.

Try this system to achieve more of what you want, regardless of your motivation:

Accept the fact that you might not “feel” like taking action. The best athletes in the world don’t always feel like training. The most successful business people in the world don’t always feel like going to the office.
Create a compelling future. Think about how much you’ll gain by taking action and moving toward your goals.

- Think far into the future and then bring it back to the next few months. Imagine how great it will feel when you’re really making significant progress.

Consider what will happen if you don’t take action. Most of us keep living the same day over and over. If you want your life to change, it will take some new actions.

- Imagine how you’ll feel if your life is exactly the same next year.

Make a list of the most important actions. What activities will create the greatest results? Frequently, these are the actions that are less than enjoyable. But if you can get yourself to do these things, nothing can stop you.
Create a schedule. What are you going to do each day to make your compelling future come true? When are you going to do the activities you identified in the previous step? During what part of the day are you the most productive? Make it easy to get started.
Reward yourself. When you successfully stick to your schedule, reward yourself. You could go get a massage at the end of the week or head out to your favourite restaurant. Choose something that appeals to you and makes you want to get busy.
“Punish” yourself. Create some additional motivation by setting up a punishment if you come up short. Maybe you’ll have to clean all the toilets in the house. Maybe you’ll go run a mile.
Re-evaluate at the end of the day. What did you do well? What could you have done better? Start over tomorrow with your analysis to guide you.

Motivation is great, but if we all waited to be inspired by motivation, little would ever get accomplished. Commitment will usually result in greater accomplishment than motivation. Learn to get started and be “self-motivating.” All anyone really needs is to get busy. Avoid waiting for inspiration. Get things done and your success can serve as inspiration.

You can book your 15-minute “Get to know you” call by clicking on the blue button belowand we can talk about how we can work together

To your success

Michael

Check out my programs at Confidence and Life Coaching by clicking on the logo below:

Photo by Jackson Simmer on Unsplash

8 Reasons Why Getting Started is So Critical

2021-12-19 ~ adminlife

Did you ever have dreams of a project that you really wanted to do, but you just never got around to it?

For example, what if you always wanted to write a book? But then life always got in the way and you kept putting it off and putting it off and putting it off again. Every time you thought about it, you found a reason not to get started on it.

How might your life be different now if you had just taken action – taken that first step – gotten started on your masterpiece?

Do you see something familiar in projects you always wanted to do? Even with the best plans, nothing happens until you actually get started!

Consider these reasons why being able to get started is a critical life skill:

Nothing actually happens until you get started. All the planning, scheming, and visualizing in the world won’t move the needle. At some point, you have to start doing something that will actually produce results. You don’t receive any results until you finally take action and begin.
Getting started can be challenging, but the progress builds with time. Once you begin, things start happening. As you continue, the magnitude of your results grows exponentially. But you have to get over the hump of getting started.
You learn while doing. Studying is good but learning on the job is better. You’ll never learn more about writing, internet marketing, sales, or playing the piano than you’ll learn by actually doing it.
Too much planning leads to inaction. It’s easy to fall into the trap of planning. The deeper you plan, the more detailed and tedious it becomes. You quickly reach a point where you can’t find a definitive answer because things become too vague as you look further and further out.
- Begin before you become trapped by your planning habit.
It makes the future easier. Getting started with something new becomes a habit. If you can get started today, the next project will be that much easier to start.
Your self-esteem will get a huge boost. We silently loathe ourselves when we procrastinate for too long. We know that we’re simply too scared to begin and to risk failure. You’ll be much more pleased with yourself after you get started.
You reach your goals faster. This seems obvious, but few people consider it. If you had started chasing your goal a year earlier, you’d be successful a year earlier, too.
You change how you see yourself. When you take action, you begin to see yourself as someone that takes action. This perception of yourself will eventually lead to creating a habit of getting started quickly.

Now that you see all these reasons why getting started is so important, you’ll likely want to get started on something! But how? Starting is often the hardest part!

To get yourself over that hump, break your project down into small, achievable steps. If those steps look too hard, break them down even further until you get to one small action you can take to get started.

Then do it! Take that one small action! You’ll be glad you did!

You can book your 15-minute “Get to know you” call by clicking on the blue button belowand we can talk about how we can work together to help you get started on achieving your goals

To your success

Michael

Check out my programs at Confidence and Life Coaching by clicking on the logo below:

Photo by Duncan Meyer on Unsplash

8 Ways to Turn a Bad Day Around

2021-12-13 ~ adminlife

Do you feel like you just got up on the wrong side of the bed today? Are you thinking that there’s nothing you can do about it and that the rest of the day is going to be unpleasant as well?

Yes, some days are like that. But take heart! Luckily, there are things you can do to turn your bad day around!

Try these strategies to transform your day:

Decide what it would take to have a good day. Once you realize that you’re having a bad day, take a time out. Make a list of what needs to happen over the course of the remainder of the day for you to consider it to be a good day.
- What do you need to accomplish at work or around the house? Would it be a good day if you met a friend for dinner? What if you just finished your report at work and hit the gym?
- Set some criteria for making your bad day a good day and make it happen.
Focus on yourself for 30 minutes. Give yourself your full attention for 30 minutes. You could go for a walk, read a book, watch the birds, or whatever else will allow you to catch your breath and reset. Forget your worries for just half an hour and do something that you enjoy.
Take a shower. A shower can change everything. The hot water hitting your skin has a way of resetting your brain and your perspective. A cold shower will certainly snap you out of a bad day. Ten minutes in a hot or cold shower can do wonders.
Take a nap. There are days that can only be helped by a nap. Shut the door and give yourself a short nap. Of course, you’re free to take a long nap if you have time.
List 5 things that make you feel grateful. A bad day leads you to focus on everything that seems to be working against you. Expressing a little gratitude will put your attention on everything that is right in your life. List five things that make you feel grateful and see if that helps.
Breathing heavy and sweating create a change in your biochemistry and reduce the negative energy in your body.
Do something nice for someone. Maybe you’ll feel better about your day if you do something for someone else. Take your attention off yourself and your bad day and put it on another person for a few minutes. Your kindness will please you as well as the one you’re being kind to.
Ask for a hug. Most people are happy to give a hug if you just ask for one. There are some days that just require a hug. Hug your dog or cat if you don’t have a human option.

Just because your day started out badly doesn’t mean that it has to end that way. Try these tips to turn your bad day into a day that pleases you. You’ll be glad you did!

You can book your 15-minute “Get to know you” call by clicking on the blue button belowand we can talk about how we can work together to make your days a lot better

To your success

Michael

Check out my programs at Confidence and Life Coaching by clicking on the logo below:

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