By Tanya Hall, DTM
As January passes by and we move into February, the talk of New Year’s Resolutions starts to dwindle. The dreams and plans that we had, start to lose focus, and yet it is only February! How do we set goals or New Year’s Resolutions and work towards achieving them without losing your focus?
There are many great answers for this, but only one will work for you. The worst part is – no one can tell you what it is….. that is your personal journey, that you embark on. Of course, there are tips, tools, and best practices that you can incorporate along the way. In the end though, it all comes down to motivation.
How motivated are you to achieve your goal? What impact will it have on your life? I think when we can see what the result looks like; it is easier to see the path forward.
My mentor, Jim Carty, challenged me a few years ago when I was working on a project. He asked me, “What does success look like on this project? – how will you know when you have achieved your goal?” I think that mindshift got me to see the project in a different light. In knowing what I wanted to achieve, it was easier to build the path to get there.
Sylvain Auffret then challenged me to acknowledge that, sometimes our journeys take a different path. It doesn’t mean that the goal has changed, just that the destination and how to get there has changed. I must admit, this was a tough one for me to digest. I had set certain expectations for myself and the thought that I would not be able to achieve them was troublesome.
With much thought, research and practice I have concluded that the path isn’t my goal. The destination is my goal. If I know what success looks like, then the path to get there is the learning and success is the achievement. Thus, it’s okay to take different paths along the way.
What is your goal this year? Do you know what success looks like? Are you ready to embark on a path to achieve success? Will you be able to embrace the challenge of taking different paths to achieve your goals? I hope you are, and I hope you share them with me along the way – I would love to celebrate these achievements with you!